WW-P South hoping to reach CJ IV finals

Efstathios aids Pirates football on both sides of ball

By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
   Like a lot of seniors, Mike Efstathios was just hoping to get an opportunity to contribute during his final season of high school football.
   Turns out, he’s done quite a bit this year.
   A senior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High South, Efstathios is a starting linebacker for the Pirates. He’s also been a big contributor on offense after making a position change just before the start of the season.
   ”He didn’t get much playing time last year on the varsity level, so he had minimal experience,” WW-P South coach Todd Smith said. “But he’s made the most of his opportunity and done a great job for us this year. Our team is full of guys like that. They get their opportunity as seniors and make the most of it.”
   Efstathios and the rest of the seniors have played a key role in getting the Pirates to where they are right now, which is the semifinals of the Central Jersey Group IV playoffs. They will host Sayreville Saturday at 1 p.m. for an opportunity to play in the CJ IV championship game.
   ”On defense, I have a pretty big role,” Efstathios said. “On offense, I don’t get that many opportunities. But when I do, I try to make the most of them. We have so many good runners on the team with (David) Twamley, Henry (MacQueen), Dempsey (Page) and myself. I think we all just try to make the most of the opportunities we get when we’re in the game.
   ”The past three years I’ve been backing up J.B. (Fitzgerald) at tight end. Toward the end of preseason, Coach Smith pulled me over and said he wanted to switch me to fullback. So I had to learn a whole new position in less than half a preseason.”
   On offense, Efstathios has carried the ball just 25 times, but he’s managed to score six touchdowns. That’s not too bad for a guy with limited experience.
   ”Going into the preseason we had Steve Strothers, who was a kid we felt could handle the backup tight end position,” Smith said. “And that allowed us to be able to move Mike to fullback and he’s done a great job there. He finds the cutback lane like no one else. I’ve never seen a kid with that much presence of mind on the field.”
   While Efstathios has made an impact on offense, it’s on defense where he makes the biggest impact. Playing on the outside along with Strothers, he’s made the Pirates’ linebacker group one of the best around. And it certainly helps that he has Michigan-bound J.B. Fitzgerald playing right inside him.
   ”It makes playing outside linebacker so much easier when all you have to do is take on a couple of hard blocks and then let the inside linebackers, J.B. and Mike Garzone do their job,” Efstathios said. “Sometimes teams focus so much on JB it leaves it up to the outside linebackers.”
   Efstathios is glad he’s had a chance to be part of what has become a real special season for the Pirates. They’ve had just one bump in the season, an upset-loss at the hands of rival WW-P North. But that loss may have turned out to be a gain for South.
   ”The one surprise we’ve had this year was the loss to North,” Efstathios said. “I still have a hard time with that. But everything happens for a reason and to get where we want to get this year, maybe we needed that loss to teach us a lesson and come together as a team. Since then, every practice, there has been no laying back.
   ”I know all of us want to get a state championship. And if the choice is being undefeated and then losing before we get there, or losing a game and having that help us get there, I’ll take the loss.”
   The road to that CJ IV title means having to get past a talented Sayreville team, which improved to 8-2 with a 34-13 win over Brick last week. The Bombers have won four straight games since back-to-back losses to Piscataway and Edison. They have an offense that averages over 31 points a game and have posted four shutouts this season on defense.
   ”Sayreville is fast, athletic, tough, they play hard,” Smith said. “They have a good program. They’re a run the ball first team. But if they have to, they have the ability to pass. If I had to compare them, they’re a lot like a Hamilton or Lawrence. They run a lot of misdirection and they pull guys in different directions. We feel like we’ve done a pretty good job preparing and hopefully we’re ready for Saturday.”