Football North I & II -- Group 3

All standings, record and points are taken from information from www.gridironnj.com:

North I – Group 3 (after 8 games)

1. Wayne Hills (8-0; 72)
2. Wayne Valley (8-0; 71)
3. Paramus (6-2; 69)
4. NV-Old Tappan (7-1; 59)
5. Mount Olive (4-4; 39)
6. Teaneck (4-4; 37)
7. Passaic Valley (5-3; 36)
8. Parsippany Hills (5-3; 32)

North I – Group 3 - A look at the teams

1. Wayne Hills (8-0; 9-0; 72)

The perennial Group III power has outscored opponents 359-41 in their nine victories. The Patriots have won sectional titles in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 with undefeated seasons in ’05, ’06 and thus far in ’07. Dan DeCicco is an offensive power as the Patriots look for their fourth in a row. The Patriots beat Indian Hills 64-20 last week.

2. Wayne Valley (8-0; 9-0; 71)

Conference champions in 2005 & 2006 in the Northern Hills - Skyline, Matt Dortch and Derrick Bligh can punish defenses. The Indians are averaging just about 40 points a game. A 30-3 victory over Caldwell ended the regular season for the Indians.

3. Paramus (6-2; 6-2; 69)

T.J. Chickanos is a formidable passer while Jonathan Rizzitello is a key back handling the ball carrying duties. The Spartans are on a 3-game winning streak, with a Thanksgiving game vs. Ridgewood in the wings.

4. NV-Old Tappan (7-1; 7-1; 59)

Seniors Kyle Jansen and Jaime Rowe are scoring threats for the Golden Knights. Coach Dunn’s team is 5-0 on the road this year. The Knights are coming off a 41-21 victory over Mahwah.

5. Mount Olive (4-4; 4-5; 39)

A lot has changed for the Marauders who started the season 4-0. Injures coupled with the tough Iron Hills Conference schedule has taken its toll. Mt. Olive enters the playoffs under .500 and on a 5 game losing streak.

6. Teaneck (4-4; 4-4; 37)

The Highwaymen were finding wins in every other week until they met up with Eastside and Montclair on back-to—back weeks. Facing a must win to get in to the playoffs, Teaneck took down Ridgewood 21-14. Rashad White is a key receiver for QB Damian Miles.

7. Passaic Valley (5-3; 36)

Senior Quarterback Jim Niland is smart, fast, agile and accurate. Mike Governali is a key target for Niland, as is Dominick Corio out of the backfield. Niland threw three second half touchdowns and ran for two as the Hornets scored 6 times to come from behind and defeat West Milford earlier in the year.

8. Parsippany Hills (5-3; 32)

Eugene Fowler is top back in Morris County and Dan DePugh. The Vikings defense is strong and they’ll need Greg DePugh to fill in for injured QB Joe Scialampo. Fowler ended the Vikings regular season with 150 yards on 25 carries and scored three TD’s in a 28-8 victory over Weequahic.

North II – Group 3 (after 8 games)

1. Irvington (8-0; 89)
2. Morristown (7-1; 73)
3. West Side (7-1; 64)
4. Scotch Plains (6-2; 56)
5. Colonia (6-2; 55)
6. Union Hill (7-1; 50)
7. New Brunswick (5-3; 45)
8. South Plainfield (5-3; 41)

North I – Group 3: A look at the teams

1. Irvington (8-0; 8-0; 89)

The Blue Knights are nothing short of impressive this year. After losing a heart breaker to New Brunswick last year, you can be sure the Knights have tunnel vision peering straight to Rutgers. Explosive, the Knights are averaging 33 points a game. They have already beaten Scotch Plains and West Side.

2. Morristown (7-1; 8-1; 73)

The Colonials are co-champs of the rough and tough IHC-Iron. Morristown can be explosive. A come from behind victory over Morris Knolls was a key victory this season. Their loss came to Seton Hall Prep on opening day when the Colonials went for two, but were stopped. Colvin, Cater and Bass are key to the Colonials offense.

3. West Side (7-1; 7-2; 64)

The Roughriders are now on a two game losing streak. Their latter of the two coming to Irvington, 30-8. West Side needs to break out of this two game losing streak with a victory over Union Hill in order to meet up with either Morristown or defending champion New Brunswick.

4. Scotch Plains (6-2; 6-2; 56)

The Raiders caught Union on the upside of the Farmer’s season. That was one of the two losses Scotch Plains has suffered. The other came at the hands of Irvington.

Michael Chervenyak and Anthony Taylor spark the offense for past Kinnelon Coach Jim DeSarno.

5. Colonia (6-2; 6-2; 55)

The Patriots last two victories have come in overtime, 10-7 over South Plainfield in 2 OT’s and 3-0 over Carteret. These may be the Cardiac Kids of 2007, The Pats also have a 20-19 victory over Monroe as well as a 28-26 loss last week to Sayreville on their record. Colonia is led by D1 recruit Eric LeGrand

6. Union Hill (7-1; 7-1; 50)

The Hillers only loss was to Hudson Catholic three weeks ago. Tommy Velasquez and Jorge Evora are key to the Hillers offensive attack. A 7-0 victory over Hoboken is the Hillers standout victory this season.

7. New Brunswick (5-3; 45)

Another name that haunt the Mendham faithful for a few years … a Zebras loss to JFK would have gotten the Minutemen in, but John Quinn’s crew refused to help us out up here in MoCo. First, the Zebras had to win to be in … and they did. New Brunswick is the defending N2-G3 champions, as you already know. Marquis Hamm’s interception for a touchdown gave NB a 19-6 lead, and proved to be the nail in the Minutemen’s coffin.

8. South Plainfield (5-3; 41)

The Tigers are now a mortal enemy of Mendham, who they should pass on a tie-breaker. A 24-22 victory over North Plainfield basically secured the state birth. A key win for the Tigers came over Monroe when the Tigers had trailed 22-0 during the course of the game. Troy Russell's kickoff return for a touchdown helped start the comeback. Little did we all know the impact.