RHS Football Looks to Maintain Status Quo: Dominance

When discussing Ridgewood football, consistency is a word that quickly comes to mind. Over the past 12 years the Maroons have managed to qualify for the postseason 11 times, winning two state titles along the way in 2003 and 2004.

Such achievements have elevated Ridgewood as one of the most respected programs in New Jersey, which of course means there are lofty expectations for this upcoming season.

"All the credit has to go to the kids," said head coach Chuck Johnson. "We've been the little fish in the big pond for quite some time now, but the guys always find a way to step up to the competition and play to an extremely high level."

The 2010 Ridgewood Maroons will now be challenged to do as their predecessors have done, but it will be no easy task considering the team is only returning 16 seniors, the lowest total since 2005. The question also remains who will fill the shoes left by last year's leading rusher, tackler and starting quarterback, all of whom were lost to graduation.

"We're a very green team, there's no doubt about it," said Johnson. "Usually we have well over 20 seniors playing on the team, but this class is a different story. When they were freshman only twenty something kids total came out, but luckily for us most of them have stayed with the team."

Offensively, Vann Jorgensen will be tasked as the new starting quarterback. Jorgensen saw time as a junior but has yet to take any snaps from center on the varsity level. The quarterback play last season was iffy at best, as the Maroons completed only 36 percent of their passes, the worst percentage of Johnson's tenure.

"We'd like to be a more balanced team because that's what works," said Johnson. "I think we can accomplish that with Vann as our quarterback. He's a smart kid with a good arm and has some mobility in the pocket, so I look forward to seeing how he progresses during the year."

As much as Johnson would like to throw the ball, make no mistake about it, Ridgewood is a run-first team. Last year's unit, led by brothers Matt and Richard Biagi, rushed for almost 2,800 yards in just 10 games, the third highest total in school history.

Looking to replace the Biagi brothers in the backfield this season will be a whole new host of ball carriers including Eddie Blair, Kyle Gibson, John D'uva and Frank Paleno, the Maroons highest returning rusher after gaining 99 yards on 15 carries as a junior.

Defensively, Ridgewood will be lining up in a 3-4 base defense led by a solid group of linebackers in Blair, Gibson and Tripp Telesco. Blair will play on the outside once again after leading the Maroons with 6 sacks last season.

"These guys are active, athletic and tough," Johnson proudly said about his linebackers.

They'll have to be in order to play behind the undersized defensive line which features a number of players in the rotation weighing in at less than 200 lbs.

"Physically we're one of the smaller, slower teams in the entire league," said Johnson. "Because of that we simply can not play a high pressure style of defense. Instead we have to be more of a bend-but-don't-break type of unit."

Ridgewood will be competing in the newly aligned Big North Conference, which has them slotted in Division III along with Bergen Tech, Hackensack, Paramus, Teaneck and Wayne Hills. It'll be one of the tougher divisions in North Jersey, and the schedule doesn't have many gimmes with Don Bosco, Clifton, Passaic and Ramapo all slated to battle the Maroons, though Johnson says they may not be as strong as they look on paper.

"Right now it's tough to gauge how good some of those teams will be because even though schools like Wayne Hills and Ramapo won a lot of games, it was against lesser competition, so we really won't know until we play them ourselves."

As much of an emphasis as Johnson and his coaching staff put on winning, he was quick to point out that it wasn't the team's main goal.

"I believe football is a tool that can be used to teach more important things than just winning games. It's really more about teaching the kids to be hard-working, solid citizens who help out in the community," said Johnson, who paused before adding: "Ten years from now nobody is going to care about how good a tackler you were or how many touchdowns you scored; what people are going to remember most is how you represented your family and friends with class while treating others with the respect and kindness that we all deserve."

If history is any indication, look for the Maroons to compete for a league and state title in a way that all of Ridgewood can be proud of.