Road to Glory: Title Game Details Set for Mendham Minutemen

Late afternoon on a cold Sunday sounds like the perfect time to bring home a championship.

That’s when the Mendham Minutemen football team will take the field to bring home its first sectional title in decades.

The team shutout sister school, rival, and defending champions West Morris Central High School Friday night, on the road, 16-0. The win advances the team to the North 2, Group IV state sectional title game against top-seed Philipsburg.

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. at Rutgers University on Sunday, Dec. 8. While the site is neutral, by way of seeding, Mendham is the away team.

Mendham is as hot as any team in that weekend’s title games, outscoring Central and its first playoff opponent, Colonia, by a combined total of 63-27. Overall, the team is now 6-4-1, and has won five of its last six games.

Led by quarterback Jack Horan, the athletic signal-caller hit tight end Jack Powers twice through the air Friday night on scores of seven and 60 yards.

After a seven-year hiatus, head coach Bill Carpluk made his return to the sidelines this season. Before the semifinal game against Central, Carpluk told Patch he saw the team’s talent and ability in the preseason, and that it was just a matter of everyone gelling at the same time to be successful.

Mendham last played in a sectional title game in a losing effort in 2004.