Hopatcong's JV Football Team Will Play an Extra 5 Home Games This Fall

Hopatcong High School's junior varsity football team will play an extra five games this season to compensate for the loss of its freshman squad, Athletic Director Tom Vara said at Monday night's Board of Education work session at the administration building.

Vara added that all of the extra games will be at home and the referees will be funded by the football parent's fundraising account.

"We'll use no Board of [Education] money," he said

Vara said the games would occur midweek, allowing Hopatcong JV players to adhere to a state rule prohibiting players from participating in two games in a 24-hour span. Hopatcong's varsity squad usually plays Friday nights or Saturday afternoons.

The district cut all freshman sports and eliminated the field hockey program after it lost $1.7 million in state aid last May. The marching band and golf programs were also chopped, but have been resurrected via parent funding.

Vara said he approached schools Superintendent Dr. Charles Maranzano about the expanded schedule last spring to allow freshman players more playing time. Most football regular seasons last nine games, and Vara said that probably wouldn't be enough for the ninth-graders to gain experience.

Maranzano agreed.

"We made certain we would still be able to accommodate those children when it came to JV," he said.

Business Administrator Theresa Sierchio echoed the sentiment.

"This is a way to accommodate those freshmen who would have otherwise lost out," she said.

Vara said adding JV games hasn't been the easiest task. He said varsity head coach Gary Andolena approached him before the team's season-opener with questions on whom he could use for varsity.

"I said, 'Gary, it's real simple. The varsity program has to come first,'" Vara said.

So Andolena picked out his squad, leaving almost only freshmen to play the JV game against Mountain Lakes, according to Vara.

"I'm not going to lie to you," Vara said to the board, "99 percent of them were freshmen." He later added that most of the extra JV games will be played on days formerly reserved for freshmen games.

Board member Joan Reilly asked Vara why the extra games couldn't be moved to Wednesday to avoid player-availability conflicts with the varsity program. Vara said Wednesday is the varsity team's second-biggest practice day of the week, behind Tuesday, and that taking 25 players away from practice would hamper the team's preparation.

"It's the nature of the sport and how physical it is," Vara said. "You try to get as much rest as you can."