Schools
Football: 'No Margin for Error' As Season Kicks Off
Red Devils open season against rival Immaculata Friday night in Somerville.
As the cool winds start to blow and the leaves begin to fall from the trees, student athletes prepare for the fall sports season at Ridge High School.
For many high school sports fan, that means varsity football. And Friday is the annual epic contest between Ridge football and their rivals, the Spartans from Immaculata High School.
The away game at Immaculata High School in Somerville begins at 7 p.m.
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Ridge Varsity Head Football Coach Bill Tracy said of the team's game against Immaculata to launch the season: "It is right out of the gate. It is a huge rivalry game. They are a great program." However, he added, "It may be the best to get it [the Immaculata game] out of the way so you can move on and it doesn't hang over your head during the season."
This year's Ridge varsity football players have won games against Immaculata as freshmen and with the junior varsity team, Tracy said. "So they are not afraid of them — and the varsity team beat them in 2009," Tracy said.
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Indeed, Immaculata suffered a heart-breaking 25-21 loss to the Red Devils two years ago, in 2009.
But the Spartans then took vengeance on the Red Devils in their first game of the 2010 season. In a 21-14 loss against the Immaculata Friday night, the Red Devils fought for a victory until the final seconds of the game in front of an unofficial crowd of 3,500 at Lee Field and on live high-definition TV, hosted by MSG Varsity.
With 1:53 left in that game, and the Red Devils trailing by seven points, Anthony Milito, last year's fullback, led defense to force a turnover on downs giving Ridge one last chance. The Red Devils fell short, however, reaching as far as the Spartans' 30-yard line.
"I hope it is a great game," Tracy said of this year's rematch.
Today we also take a look at the Ridge Varsity Football team heading into the upcoming season.
OVERVIEW
The Red Devils come back after a frustrating 2010 season losing 4 games by a touchdown or less. Marked by injuries, the hard working team struggled to win but never lost their desire to win. Although a difficult season, Coach Tracy said he has seen his team grow in intensity from last December.
Tracy made a point to remark about the development of players in Basking Ridge starting with Ridge Youth Sports noting that they integrate much of the same drills and offense as the Ridge varsity team.
LAST SEASON’S RESULTS
The Devils were 2-8 last season and failed to qualify for the post season after playing in the NJ State Championship game in 2009.
"We are in a great conference," Tracy said, But, "the margin for error is paper thin in this unforgiving league we are in."
KEEP YOUR EYE ON
Nick Franzese, Quarterback/Defensive Back (So.) - Nick is an excellent athlete and plays well on both side of the ball.
Evan Skea, Halfback/Defensive End (Jr.)
Robert Mullaney, Fullback/Linebacker (Sr.)
JD Moore, Halfback/Defensive Back (Sr.)
Mike Hilss, Halfback/Safety (Sr.)
The Line (“It all starts there” - Tracy) - Eric Zalkalns (Sr.), Joseph Accardi (Sr.), Calvin Pekola (Sr.), Alex Herrington (Sr.), and Joe Farinella (Sr.) are all coming together.
Johnny Graves, Kicker, (Sr.) - He is back and looks solid.
THEY’LL MISS
Anthony Milito, Fullback/Linebacker - Anthony is a walk-on at Rutgers and hopes to be playing football.
Anthony Domenick, End/Defensive End - Anthony is playing Strong Safety at Ithaca.
Cameron Radinovic, Linebacker - Cam went to South Carolina, but is not playing football.
Joey Roth, Punter/Defensive Back - Joey was a heck of a punter and is playing at a junior college in California.
COACH’S TAKE
“The lessons learned last season helped to cement this team together and provide motivation for 2011. We have a great schedule, maybe one of the toughest around. We have no margin for error. If we can eliminate our mistakes and take care of the football, I like our chances in every game. If we can get a little better every day and take care of the details, that is all we can hope for. Then the wins take care of themselves.” - Coach Tracy
THEY SAID IT
“We were all working hard in the weight room since December and we have been working hard as a team on the field. We are really excited to get the season started, especially the first game against Immaculata. We want to turn things around from last year.” - Captain Robert Mullaney
JERSEY # LAST NAME FIRST NAME YEAR POSITION POSITION HEIGHT WEIGHT 1 Linton Jonathan 11 HB LB 5' 7" 160 2 Boettcher Alex 11 HB DE 5' 10" 175 3 Grewal Rowan 10 QB DHB 5' 9" 139 4 Skea Evan 11 HB DE 6' 183 5 Franzese Nick 10 QB/HB DHB 6' 157 6 Hughes Conor 10 QB S 5' 11" 150 7 Moore JD 12 QB/HB DHB 5' 10" 165 8 Alirangues Michael 12 HB DHB 5' 11" 145 9 Mueller Chris 10 QB DE 6' 1" 152 10 Burckley Alec 11 QB/HB DHB 5' 10" 150 11 Fox Blu 10 QB/END DE 5' 11" 175 12 Falato Tim 12 QB/END DE 5' 11" 160 13 Chiriaco Thomas 10 END S 5' 11" 151 15 Jenkins Brian 10 HB DHB 5' 7" 135 16 Sibilia Michael 11 HB DHB 6' 1" 165 17 Baach Kyle 12 END DBH 6' 3" 180 18 Keel Thayer 12 END DT 6' 4" 170 20 Bell Ryan 10 END DE 6' 1" 175 21 Child Kevin 11 HB DHB 5' 7" 135 22 Bond Zach 12 END LB 5' 10" 175 23 Graves Johnny 12 K 5' 9" 150 24 Mullaney Tom 12 HB DE 5' 9" 170 25 Ord Tyler 11 END LB 5' 7" 167 26 Brennan Connor 11 HB DHB 5' 10" 150 27 Kirczow Garret 11 HB DHB 5' 11" 161 28 Hilss Michael 12 HB S 6' 175 29 DeMarco Paul 12 HB DHB 5' 11" 165 30 D'Ambrosio Max 11 HB LB 5' 8" 167 31 Stieglitz Connor 10 FB LB 5' 8" 168 32 Fiorilli Chris 12 FB LB 5' 11" 210 33 Soulas Matthew 10 FB LB 5' 7" 155 34 Dunsheath Michael 10 HB DHB 5' 9" 135 35 Derkasch Liam 10 FB DE 5' 10" 165 37 Hatala Alexander 10 FB LB 5' 8" 155 38 Marston Tim 11 HB DHB 5' 10" 125 39 Petrillo Charlie 10 QB DHB 5' 7" 135 41 Mullaney Rob 12 FB LB 6' 210 44 Schneider Drew 12 END DE 6' 1" 180 45 Nelder Kolton 11 HB DE 5' 11" 170 46 Pranzo Cristian 10 END DHB 5' 10" 145 47 Regan Evan 11 RB LB 5' 11" 175 48 Davidson Alex 10 HB DHB 5' 10" 140 49 Kim Jim 10 HB DHB 5'6" 145 50 Becker Jack 10 C DG 5' 6" 135 51 Keough Ezra 11 C DG 5' 10" 180 52 Scherzer Ryan 10 OG DT 5' 6" 210 53 Lusk Matthew 10 OG DE 6' 2" 165 54 Peterpaul AJ 10 OG DG 5' 8" 170 55 Herrington Alex 12 C DG 6' 3" 215 56 Feeney Tyler 10 OG DG 5' 9" 190 57 Farinella Joseph 12 OT/C DT 6' 4" 240 58 Riggio John 12 C/OG DT 6' 180 59 Connery Alex 12 OG DT 5' 11" 205 60 Ciongoli Frank 11 OG DG 5' 8" 214 61 Cabaleiro Yodalio 12 OT DG 5' 8" 260 62 Pelkola Calvin 12 OG DG 6' 2" 230 63 Labelle Felix 12 OG/T DG 5' 11" 190 64 Haddad Jack 11 OT DG 5' 10" 177 65 Menarguez Sean 11 OT DT 6' 2" 205 66 Fama Frank 11 OT DG 5' 8" 210 67 Gattoni Ryan 11 OG DG 6' 180 68 Dramalis Yianni 11 C LB 5' 9" 150 69 Zalkalns Eric 12 OT DT 6' 230 70 Accardi Joseph 12 OT DT 6' 2" 230 72 Scanlan Brian 10 OT DT 6' 192 74 Harcourt Kyle 10 OT/C DT 6' 168 75 Wadhura Ankit 10 OT DE 6' 1" 146 76 Thompson Alex 10 OT DT 6' 2" 210 77 Gallimore Craig 12 OG DG 6' 2" 185 79 Dethlefsen Kevin 10 OT DT 6' 198 80 Caruso Teddy 10 END DHB 5' 6" 118 82 Grabowski Tyler 12 END DE 6' 175 83 Errico Frank 12 END DHB 6' 175 84 Rand Josh 10 END DHB 5' 6" 130 85 Walker Adam 11 END DE 6' 1" 180 86 Ford Terry 11 END DE 6' 2" 171 88 Rowe Tyler 12 END DHB 6' 1" 185 89 Walker Patrick 10 END DHB 5' 6" 115
