Following an 0-7 start to the season, J.P. Stevens High School’s football team has secured wins in its last two games. It will look to close the season out with a third victory in a row when it visits Edison High School in a Thanksgiving Day game. MATT DENTON ST. JOSEPH
This fall has not been what fans of the St. Joseph High School of Metuchen football team envisioned.
Last year, the Falcons went undefeated at 9-0 throughout the regular season (9-1 overall) and won the Greater Middlesex (GMC) White Division championship.
They did not find the same success this season, however.
St. Joe’s first foray into varsity football was in 2011, when it produced a 3-6 mark, which was followed by 5-5 the next season with Bob Molarz as head coach. Last year, Casey Ransome took over for Molarz, who moved over to East Brunswick High School.
To say Ransome’s first season at the helm was a success is a huge understatement. Unfortunately, St. Joe’s lost to St. Augustine College Preparatory School, 45-28, and the Falcons still haven’t won a postseason game in their young history.
Postseason aside, if St. Joe’s had been an initial stock offering, the dividends would be impressive and no doubt convince others to buy into the program moving forward. But this past season, the Falcons struggled through a reverse of last year with a 3-6 record and now have a game remaining against Bishop George Ahr High School on Thanksgiving Eve with the hope of salvaging a disappointing campaign with a victory against their parochial neighbor, which is just a 2-mile walk up Plainfield Avenue.
“We graduated 22 seniors and only returned four starters from last year,” Ramsone said. “We are also starting nine sophomores. I think sometimes people tend to forget our program is still in its building stages because we had such fast success, [particularly last year].”
There were also key losses outside of graduation, including the departure of Breein Tyree, who decided not to play football a few games into the schedule to focus on his best sport, basketball. Matt van de Sande transferred to Monroe Township High School, his hometown school, and saw playing time for the high school team in four games. He appears to be the heir apparent to Steven Karoly as the Falcons’ quarterback next year.
“Success doesn’t always translate in the wins and losses columns,” Ransome said.
“We’ve [faced] and overcome a lot of obstacles. It is going to take time to build the program, and we are not interested in instant gratification. We are going to build from the ground up with our young guys.”
Ransome said the foundation has been laid by a group of seniors “who have not quit,” despite the fact their effort hasn’t translated into victories.
“They’ve played hard and haven’t quit,” he said.
That will certainly be the St. Joe’s mantra as the Falcons close out the season at Bishop Ahr. The Trojans have been challenged by their own problems and have a 4- 5 record in Joe Vigilante’s first season.
Ransome, however, is only concerned about his own team.
“The only way our program is going to progress is by doing the little things every day,” he said. “It will start during the offseason workout program and continue with the summer practice schedule. The players need to be committed to doing the little things that win games. We don’t win in September through December, but rather January through August.
“There’s a saying I like to use. ‘There will come a time when fall asks what winter and summer are doing.’ I’m very optimistic about our young kids and what’s ahead.”
J.P. STEVENS
Bryan Holt, the football coach at J.P. Stevens High School, said he is pleased with how his team has bounced back from an 0-7 start to win its last two games — over Marlboro High School, 38-25, on Nov. 7 and a 44- 8 playoff consolation round win against William L. Dickinson High School on Nov. 13.
“Following our bye week (Oct. 25-31 and after the seventh loss), that’s when the team came together,” said Holt, in his first season. “Despite our record, the players were determined to not give up, and the result was victories in our next two games.
“But [their] decision is nothing new to me. These guys really have played hard all season.”
Holt said the Hawks have been energized in practice, knowing they will end the season against Edison High School (3-6), their traditional Thanksgiving rival. The game will be played in Edison.
The game isn’t quite like Army-Navy, when each team’s season is predicated on winning that game. But Holt said the Hawks still very much want to end the season with a victory.
“The Edison rivalry has been on our minds down the stretch,” he said. “We want to win this one for our seniors, our school and our community.”