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School News
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December 22, 2008 07:28:01
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Hudson County high school football season in review
The Star-Ledger, December 21, 2008 10:37 a.m.
Player of the year: The outlook wasn’t bright for Hudson Catholic last April, but Jason Hendricks didn’t let the school’s imminent closing affect him.
Hendricks, a senior running back and linebacker, was worried about having to leave the Jersey City school, which was scheduled to close last June due to lack of funding.
But instead of dwelling on it, Hendricks used his time wisely, hitting the weight room and working out hard.
‘‘Coach (Rob) Stern said we should stick together and come up with a plan and see how things work out,’’ Hendricks said. ‘‘I just handled my business and continued to work out in the weight room. I have a good work ethic and I’m self motivated. I push myself.’’
‘‘That was a difficult time and I was concerned about the kids,’’ Stern said. ‘‘But it never got to the point where I was thinking about where I was going next.’’
In the end, Hudson Catholic alumni came up with money to save the school.
‘‘They wrote checks and raised $800,000 in three weeks,’’ Stern said. ‘‘They wanted to help save the place they went to.’’
And Hendricks and his teammates took full advantage of the opportunity, going 7-4 and reaching the final of the NJSIAA Non-Public, Group 2 playoffs, where it lost, 7-0, to Holy Cross of Delran.
‘‘In my four years, we’ve been in the playoffs every season and this year went to the final,’’ Hendricks said. ‘‘It was a great experience, especially for the young guys.’’
Hendricks, a 6-0, 185-pounder, rushed for 1,849 yards and 26 touchdowns and made 100 tackles. Temple, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Maryland are some of the schools interested in his services next season.
‘‘Jason is a special individual and made others better,’’ Stern said. ‘‘He has great cutback vision. He combines speed and power so he can run to the outside or go between the tackles. He was a tremendous leader and I’m thankful to have been blessed to coach someone like him.’’
‘‘I was happy to have finished my scholastic career at Hudson Catholic and that everything worked out well,’’ Hendricks said.
Defensive player of the year: Bernardo Nunez has been a fixture on the defensive line for Hoboken for four years, during which time he helped his team compile a 35-10 record and qualify for the playoffs all four years.
Nunez made two appearances at Giants Stadium. In 2005, Hoboken won the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 championship and it advanced to the final this season.
The 6-3, 220-pounder used his speed and quickness to pace Hoboken with 127 tackles, including 86 solo and 41 assists, and registered 10 sacks, two safeties and five fumble recoveries. He also was a guard on offense.
Coach of the year: Coach Robert Hampton went from the bulls and bears of Wall Street, working for Prudential Securities, to the Lions of Lincoln High in Jersey City.
‘‘My friends told me I’m a natural teacher and would do better in the classroom,’’ Hampton, 47, said.
Hampton, who teaches English at Lincoln, took over as head coach in 2005 and his squad went 2-8. Lincoln improved over the years, and this season went 6-4 and advanced to the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2 playoffs for the first time in 21 years. It lost to eventual champion Caldwell in the first round.
‘‘I want to emulate the success of teams like Newark West Side and Weequahic, which came from a bad situation in football. They’re my role models,’’ Hampton said. ‘‘Why not us? This year the kids started to believe in themselves.’’
Team of the year: This season was like many other highly successful campaigns at St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City. It finished No. 8 in The Star-Ledger Top 20 with an 8-3 mark and advanced to the semifinals of the NJSIAA Non-Public, Group 4 playoffs, where it lost to No. 1 Don Bosco Prep. St. Peter’s other setbacks were to Good Counsel of Maryland, which was ranked No. 10 in the country, and St. Joseph of Montvale, No. 5 in the state.
But this season there was a difference, according to coach Rich Hansen.
‘‘This year, we played without All-American Will Hill (now at Florida),’’ Hansen said. ‘‘We had relied on him. We had to find an identity. We had a lot of people injured, Nyshier Oliver, my son, Dan, Savon Huggins and Sean Pearson, but we were resilient — other kids filled in.’’
Despite the injuries, Hansen’s team won its 76th straight Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association game and ninth consecutive HCIAA-National Division title and defeated American Division king Hoboken.
Big numbers: It’s easy to see why Bryant Worts of Ferris, a 6-0, 215-pound junior linebacker, impressed opposing coaches.
Worts averaged 16 tackles per game through 10 games and used his 4.5 speed and relentlessness to register a total of 20 tackles for loss and 10 sacks and appears destined to play NCAA Division 1 football.
‘‘Bryant has the will to be good, plays with a lot of emotion and makes tackles from sideline-to-sideline,’’ Ferris coach Wilbur Valdez said. ‘‘He has size, speed, power and instincts. It takes a lot of work to be good and Bryant watches a lot of film and is intelligent and coachable.
‘‘And, he’ll be better next year.’’
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