Growing pains paved way to five-game winning streak
By: Ken Weingartner
It would’ve been nice if the Monroe High football team had won just one of its first five games.
After all, a victory in any one of the five three of which MHS had a legitimate shot at winning probably would have landed the Falcons in the playoffs. And after closing the season with five straight triumphs, who knows how far Monroe could have gone.
But the reality, according to coach Jim Griffin, is that there would have never been a five-game win streak without the hard-luck losses during the first half of the campaign.
"As a general rule, these things have to happen," he said after Monroe ended its season with a 30-7 win over Ewing in an NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II consolation game.
"You have to learn how to win. It’s a painful learning experience, but you have to pay your dues on these things. Hopefully, you don’t have to repeat the process. I liked the way the kids handled it. They were exposed to some very important lessons."
The Falcons’ 5-5 finish gave the school its best record since 1991, when MHS went 6-3. Before this year, the school had just seven seasons of .500 or better in its 26 campaigns. Five of those came between 1983-1991.
"There’s an excitement there," Griffin said. "There’s pride at the school, and at least as much surprise. There’s been limited success there. The highs have been few and far between."
Monroe completed its remarkable season under unusual and difficult circumstances.
Head coach Milt Theodosatos didn’t have his contract renewed over the summer, even though most of the players wanted him to return. Junior Sean Denehy suffered a severe spinal cord injury during the Falcons’ first game of the season, and endured two months of intense rehabilitation before returning home earlier this month.
There also was the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the closing of the high school after some students and staff became ill for unknown reasons.
"We had more than our share of distractions and challenges," Griffin said. "I was impressed with the way the kids handled themselves."
Griffin said the coaching staff challenged the players prior to the season to no longer accept losing or moral victories. He said the work was easier because Theodosatos had laid the groundwork over the past few season.
"We laid it on them," Griffin said. "We told them the problem was in the mirror and the solution was in the mirror. If they couldn’t come to grips with that, they’d be no different than most of the teams in the last 20 years.
"The kids over time were more willing to accept it. I told them my will was stronger than theirs. I wasn’t going to let them accept excuses. There would be no trap doors for them to go through."
A sign in the locker room, which read "We are accountable for how we play every day," set the tone.
"It was a matter of the kids buying into it and believing it," Griffin said. "Somewhere in the process, though, you have to win. It took time, and a certain amount of pain in there. But once you do it, it sort of becomes a boomerang."
Monroe saw improvement on both offense and defense as the season progressed. For example, the Falcons gave up just 9.6 points per game over the second half of the campaign after yielding an average of 24.6 the first five outings.
Brian Staffa and Mario Zygadlo, both seniors, led the defense. Staffa was in on 113 tackles and had five sacks and three fumble recoveries. Zygadlo had 110 tackles, two sacks and two fumble recoveries.
Senior Brian Ruane had a team-high six sacks and 82 tackles. Other top tacklers were junior Nick Asta (88), junior Chris Kovach (79), junior Joe Palach (75), and junior Jay Sideco (68).
Brian Swenson, a senior, had five interceptions while junior Jared Axelrod had three thefts.
Offensively, junior quarterback Eric Gaston had 96 carries for 804 yards and 10 touchdowns. He completed 26 of 61 passes for 451 yards and two touchdowns.
Sophomore running backs James Boyd and Vinnie Rizzo put up solid numbers. Boyd had 96 carries for 542 yards and five touchdowns while Rizzo had 91 hauls for 399 yards and three scores.
Swenson was the top receiver with nine catches for 179 yards and a touchdown. Senior Dennis Chieffo had seven receptions for 167 yards and a score while Szczepan Kowalewski had six catches for 129 yards.
The offense averaged 10 more snaps per game over last year, which helped the Falcons control the clock, Griffin said. The team was a minus-3 in turnover ratio.
Griffin said the leadership demonstrated by the seniors on the team made his job easier. The Falcons will lose a large group of contributors, including Ruane, Zygadlo, Swenson, Chieffo, Phil Esposito, Rob Friedman, Keith Hackett, Jim Gaston, Lou Nacanther, Steve Bordonaro, Staffa, Lewis Smith, Nishant Singh, Rich Narvaez and Kowalewski.
"It’s a tremendous group," Griffin said. "From a leadership standpoint, it was one of the best groups I’ve ever had. It was a very intense, competitive group. A lot of what they did was by example. A lot of it was on the practice field."
Griffin said the play of Staffa and Zygadlo made an impact on everyone.
"They got a lot of those other kids to play bigger and better," he said.
"It’s nice to have the older kids. They’re the ones the kids can rally around. They’ve got to be the leaders. All of them were leaders. All were a factor in the way the team was structured. They let the rest of the kids know that this was their team. When you have that, it makes your job as a coach very easy."
And when a coach’s job is easy, it’s difficult to watch the season come to an end.
"It was a nice run," Griffin said. "You’re usually looking forward to getting a couple more shots. You just want to see them play one more time."