All Montclair Jr. Football Teams Win In Impressive Shutouts On Sunday

It was a day when all Montclair Jr. Football teams won through impressive shutouts against the Union Rams. Indeed, the Montclair Jr. Bulldog Mitey Mites, Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, and Jr. Midgets all asserted their domination over the regional teams Sunday to advance in the Pop Warner league standings. A particular standout was the Pee Wees, coached by the young Lenny Banks — a team that remains undefeated.

It wasn't so much that they all won, but how they won. The four Jr  Bulldog teams all won in shutouts in their fourth game of the season —  the Mitey Mites 18-0,  the Jr. Pee Wees 6-0, the Pee Wees 35-0, and the Jr. Midgets 18-0.  

The Mitey Mites were the first to take the field and you could sense an air of confidence from the start.

As the game got underway, the Montclair defense plowed through the Union Rams offensive line almost contemptuously and virtually held them to a standstill with the Union Rams unable to even move the ball into field goal range. 

The game was still competitive at the half but the Montclair Mitey Mites kept the pressure on with a relentless hard-hitting running game that seemed to wear Union down. 

The 18-0 victory was the second shutout the Mitey Mites have achieved this season, but Coach Glenn Jenkins warned the boys that the goal of Pop Warner Football was not just to win games but to excel in school. He said: "... the quickest way to get taken off this team is for me to get a complaint from your parents that you are not doing your homework." And he was serious.

The previous week, the Montclair Mitey Mites had gone to Brooklyn in the rain to play a team called the Pitbulls. The Brooklyn coaches, players, and officials were all very genial, however, the playing facility was virtually non-existent. The football field had no goal post or seats and the grass was barely cut enough to play. One Brooklyn Pop Warner official expressed embarrassment to the Montclair group prior to the game for the absence of seats and said they were trying to raise money and community support for Jr. football but that it's been an uphill battle.  

The Montclair boys were also shaken by the news that a Pop Warner Jr. football player was struck by the vehicle of another parent and killed a week ago in Linden, New Jersey after a football practice. The Montclair coaches asked the Jr. Bulldogs to help raise a collection for the family of the boy. 

Montclair Recreation Activities Coordinator Garland Thornton reflected on the frustration of getting proper support for the Jr. Football league by highlighting his continuing effort to get lights installed at Nishuane Park. He said that at the end of  fall practice the park is too dark to see the children, adding that "we want to have a light system that helps the parents when they are dropping off and picking up their kids in the parking lot  to make sure that they can see all the kids so we don't have an accident like that [ which happened in Linden] ourselves."   

In the case of Montclair, the major problem is getting the residents to approve additional lights in Nishuane Park, Thornton said. But he has assured them that "the lights wouldn't shine on the streets, the lights would be directly on the field and we're just asking for the lights to be on until 8 p.m. so that we can get the kids safely to their cars."

The Montclair Jr. Bulldog players appear to be taking the turmoil around them in stride, however, by continuing to play winning football and by continuing to show a good amount of pride, maturity, and unity in the face of stress and adversity. After Sunday's  game there was a rousing scene in which the younger Mitey Mites engaged in an extended chorus of chants with the older Pee Wee teams that were getting ready to play next. Adversity not withstanding, the teams are hopefully going to continue to win.