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Crusaders earn accolades & rankings

The 2011 Bergen Catholic Crusaders surprised many people in the Garden State this season, reloading their roster, and making great strides in the midst of their most demanding national schedule in school history. While the Crusaders did not achieve their ultimate goal of winning a state championship, BC did accomplish many goals this fall, and have earned their fair share of accolades and high rankings.

BC was awarded the #2 ranking in New Jersey by The Star Ledger, and was also placed #2 in North Jersey by The Record. MSG Varsity ranked the Crusaders #3 in the entire Tri-State area, and the Red & Gold remain ranked in the Top 40 in the country in several national polls. These local and national rankings are a testament to the exceptional amount of work that the players and coaching staff put into the 2011 season, and the entire BC football program should be applauded for their tremendous efforts during the 2011 campaign.

In the past few days, several Crusader players were rightfully honored for their incredible performances during the 2011 season. 4 Crusaders were honored as 1st-Team All-Bergen performers, led on offense by quarterback Jon Germano, and wide receiver John Tsimis. Defensive end Hunter Kiselick, and cornerback Chucky Wingate also represented the Crusaders on the 1st-Team Defesive Unit. Offensive Tackle Mike Radespiel was a 2nd-Team All-Offense selection on the offensive line, while Mike Gerst and Austin Devine also were honored for their great seasons, being placed on the Honorable Mention list in Bergen County.

This close knit team will forever be remembered as a team that competed with a relentless drive and love of the game, and along with the 2010 team, helped lay the foundation for what is to come in the future under Nunzio Campanile. This team did not buckle under the pressure of a national schedule that put BC in the spotlight with games in Pennsylvania, Florida, and New York, and their work ethic will hopefully be replicated by BC teams in the coming years.

Congratulations to all the 2011 Bergen Catholic players, coaches, and families on an excellent season, and it was truly an honor to cover the team the last couple of months.

Crusaders fall in state final, 42-14

EAST RUTHERFORD---Sometimes it's as simple as the better team won, and that was the case on Friday night in the Non-Public Group 4 State Final. Don Bosco Prep earned their 6th straight state title behind a dominant defensive and special teams performance that kept the Crusaders off balance all night long in a 42-14 win. The Crusaders turned the ball over 7 times on the night, and the Ironmen cashed in countless touchdowns off of these forced mistakes. Despite the loss, the Crusaders continued to display their never-say-die mentality, and battled against their superior opponent.

BC fell into a quick 14-point deficit late in the 1st quarter off an interception and then a botched punt attempt. Don Bosco Prep is an exceptional team, and when gifted with amazing field position, DBP took advantage each time by putting touchdowns quickly on the board. Mike Yankovich's 1-yard run gave Bosco a 7-0 lead, which was followed up less than 2 minutes later by Elijah Shumate's 6-yard TD run to double the Bosco lead to 14-0.

The Crusaders bounced back from this quick body blow by taking the ball down the field and capping off the drive with a wide-open 10-yard touchdown run by Mike Gerst which pulled the Crusaders to within 14-7. While the Red & Gold had plenty of chances to knot the score up at 14 all, BC could never manage to find that big play that would get them back in the endzone. After Bosco blocked a punt in the 2nd quarter, the Ironmen turned the special teams play into another touchdown and led 21-7 at the break.

On the first play from scrimmage after halftime, Bosco's Leonte Carroo made a jaw-dropping run where he reversed field on a bubble screen, and nearly went the distance for the score. As Bosco was preparing to extend its lead, Ryan Kelly intercepted a pass in the endzone and kept BC alive at 21-7. But as quickly as Kelly's play gave BC hope, a tipped interception return for a score by Shumate crushed BC's chance to get back into the game.

While the Crusaders would score their second touchdown on a Germano fade pass to Kyle Queiro -- set up by a brilliant 90+ yard kickoff return by Mike Gerst -- BC would not get a real chance to make some serious noise in the game's 2nd half. The Ironmen continued to force turnovers, collapse the pocket and generate sacks against Germano and his offense. Another touchdown run from Mike Yankovich, coupled with a 37-yard touchdown run from Jabrill Peppers, accounted for the final scores of the night and left Bosco as state champions yet again.

Despite the frustration of losing, this 2011 BC football season was one to remember in regards to the various locations where BC played their games, and will forever be remembered in the style that they played them. BC played a non-stop brand of football where toughness, relentlessness, and accountability were on display on each and every down. This team outworked many foes, and the players fed off the enthusiasm and energy of the BC coaching staff. This program in still looking for its first championship since 2004, but are headed in the right direction and will get to that goal sooner than others may think.  This team made all those affiliated with the school proud to be Crusaders.

ABOUT DAN LONG

Dan Long graduated from Bergen Catholic in 2003 where he was the Sports Director of BCTV and coined the immortal phrase "Crusader Crazies" for the raucous BC student section. He is currently the radio voice of Bergen Catholic football, the founder of DL Sports Media, and a weekly contributor to BergenCatholicFootball.com.

The Legacy of the 2011 Crusaders

The 2011 Bergen Catholic Crusaders will never be remembered as a team full of superstars consisting of Division I football talent, and jaw-dropping ability. This team is full of grinders, guys who have bought into a team mentality that allows the group to circle the wagons in big situations, and use their common bond of toughness to will them past their opponents. This BC team has a great collection of skilled players, but their legacy will forever be rooted in the close nature of this year's team, and the bond they share will each other and every Crusader who has ever donned a BC uniform. This 2011 Bergen Catholic team will look to immortalize themselves alongside 16 other BC teams that have captured state championships in program history, and have already forged their legacy as a blue-collar team that plays a brand of football that BC fans can celebrate.

This year's team took to heart all the lessons that they learned from the 2010 team, a squad that brought BC back to the upper echelon of the football rankings in New Jersey during Nunzio Campanile's first campaign in Oradell. The 2010 team was loaded with future collegiate players, who made things look easy on the field with their abundance of natural talent. They dismantled opponents, advanced to the state finals, and gave Bosco all it could handle, before falling late in the game to the Ironmen. The 2010 team helped close the gap, and created a confidence that still surrounds Crusader Country, and it is now up to the 2011 BC team to finish the job and to vanquish Bosco from its place atop New Jersey high school football.

With a daunting national schedule that took the Crusaders to 4 different states, this 2011 team battled elite opponents on the gridiron and combated lower expectations from those outside the program. 2011 was derided by some to be a rebuilding year in Oradell, and that the Crusaders would be lucky to even qualify for the playoffs with a .500 record thanks to their scheduled games against a slew of quality opponents. In their first game of the season against LaSalle, BC quieted those critics with a completely dominant performance against a team that still has only one loss on the year. BC then undertook a trip to Florida, matched up against a national powerhouse program in Plant, and were one play away from pulling out a last second win in the Sunshine State. The Crusaders held a 4th quarter lead at Granatell Stadium, and despite falling to Bosco, had proven to be worthy of its national ranking among the nation's elite. Nothing has been given to this 2011 team; they have had to earn everything along the way, and skeptics still wonder if BC is all smoke and mirrors.

Heading into their game against St. Joe's, the Crusaders were told that the Green Knights were the more experienced team, full of playmakers on an offense that was firing on all cylinders heading into that tilt in Oradell, and sporting a defense that forced turnovers at will against their opponents. BC's 4th quarter onslaught was all the evidence that was needed that day to prove those critics wrong. Against St. Peter's Prep, BC withstood the kitchen sink being thrown at them in the most hostile of environments at Caven Point, and came out on top. Despite that huge win, all this 2011 BC team could hear for the ensuing weeks was that they fell into a win, and that the better team was wearing maroon that night. The playoff rematch 3 weeks later at Crusader Stadium cemented who actually was the better of the two teams, and the 2011 Crusaders had proven their mental and physical toughness against one of the roadblocks in the way of a dream ending.

Now as the 2011 BC football team prepares to run out of the tunnel at MetLife Stadium on Friday night for the last time this season, the blue collar bunch has one final chance to silence the haters. If the game was only to be played on paper, then this Crusader team would have no shot against the crop of athletes that will wear Maroon and White on the opposing sideline, but the best part is that the game will be played between those sidelines, and with everything on the line. This 2011 BC team have prepared just as hard as their opponents, have run just as much in the sweltering summer heat and in the blistering cold, and have gotten the chance one last time to play for a state title.

So many members of the 2011 team experienced the pain of a state final loss in the locker room last December, and also sat quietly on the bus pulling out of the DBP lot this September, reflecting after another loss to the Ironmen. That fire to compete has fueled the team to put its head down and just play, just outwork every team in its path back to the Meadowlands. Now is the time to roll up a decade's worth of frustration and disappointments and to discard it as nothing more than the past. Tonight the 2011 Crusaders focus on the one game at hand, and the one game that matters the most. They don't have any control over the past, but this team can be the ones to dictate the future.

What happens tonight, could echo for a decade, and Crusaders fans should feel fortunate that this 2011 BC football team are the ones in position to make history, because they have rightfully earned this shot at greatness. They have bonded with all the BC teams before them in a common Crusader identity of gridiron greatness, and it's their moment to shine and to grasp a championship by the horns. The 2011 BC team will forever have a legacy as a blue collar team that worked extremely hard in every game and performed on a national stage, it's now up to them to see if they want state championship rings with that legacy.

ABOUT DAN LONG

Dan Long graduated from Bergen Catholic in 2003 where he was the Sports Director of BCTV and coined the immortal phrase "Crusader Crazies" for the raucous BC student section. He is currently the radio voice of Bergen Catholic football, the founder of DL Sports Media, and a weekly contributor to BergenCatholicFootball.com.

Know Your Title Foe: Don Bosco Prep

If there is one team that BC knows as well as themselves, that opponent would be the Don Bosco Prep Ironmen, their opponent in Friday's state final game at MetLife Stadium. The Crusaders have been dominated by their rivals from Ramsey during the past decade, and BC would love nothing more than to find a way to supplant their rivals from their spot atop the football mountain in New Jersey, and reclaim their place as the top program in the Garden State.

• DBP: (10-0) having beaten Mission Viejo (CA), Manatee (FL), Ridgewood, BC, St. Edward's (OH), Passaic Tech, Paramus Catholic (twice), Clifton, and St. Joseph Regional.

Bosco is used to playing in the state finals under Head Coach Greg Toal, as the Ironmen are making their 11th appearance in title game over the past 12 years. DBP brings the longest win streak in the nation into the game, winning 45 straight games since their last loss in 2008 to St. Xavier's from Ohio. Bosco has not lost a single game in Jersey dating back to the 2005 state final against St. Peter's Prep, and have not lost to BC since the 2004 state final. An intimidating list of accomplishments to say the least, but BC is the only opponent who does not get caught in awe of the Ironmen, and is always game to meet up with their long-time rivals.

The game plan is always simple for the top team in the land, as the Ironmen use a suffocating defense to get the ball to their high-powered offense that finishes off all opponents with brutal efficiency. During their run of dominance, Bosco reloads their three units with stables of amazing athletes each season, and this season is no different. With one of the best defenses in the country as their safety net, the offense has the luxury of taking chances on big plays down the field, and have exploded for big performances since taking on the Crusaders in late September. Whether it be on offense, defense, or special teams, Bosco can roll out a tremendous lineup of athletes at any point in a game, and BC will need to contain these following players in order to win the game:

PLAYERS TO WATCH

#18 Jabrill Peppers (SO)-The sophomore already is the best player on the Ironmen roster, and that is certainly saying something when looking at the studs on the field for DBP. Peppers has become the team's top running back, closing in on 900 rushing yards on the year and finding the endzone 19 times. On defense, Peppers is an amazing corner back who is rarely tested by quarterbacks thanks to his speed and ball skills. Peppers ran for over 130 yards and scored a TD last time against BC, and the Crusaders need to find a way to make Peppers a non-factor in the biggest game of the year.

#1 Leonte Carroo (SR)-The senior has proven to be the greatest wide receiver in Bosco's school history, and can take over a game with ease. Carroo has exceptional speed and hands, and caught 6 ball for 73 yards and a TD last time against the Red & Gold. Carroo may be guarded by Chucky Wingate, but BC would still be wise to devote some extra protection in the secondary against one of the top receivers in the state. BC was fortunate to avoid some big plays from Carroo in last year's state final due to some wide open drops, but they cannot expect the same good fortune this time around.

#9 Mike Yankovich (SR)-The senior quarterback has done what has needed to be done for the Ironmen offense, and after struggling in the beginning of the season, Yankovich has been playing his best football of the season. A dual threat throwing and running the football, Yankovich had a great game last time against the Red & Gold, completing 13 of his 19 passes for 1 touchdown and no interceptions, while also picking up several huge third down conversions with pinpoint passes across the field. BC's defense will once again try to make Yankovich be the one to win the game on his own, by taking away several of his other offensive options, and forcing the senior to make plays from inside the pocket.

THREE KEYS FOR BC

• Provide Plenty of Time to Pass the Ball: BC's offensive line was outstanding last time against Bosco's heralded defensive front in affording quarterback Jojn Germano enough time to pass the ball down the field. BC has unwavering trust in Germano's decision making this season, (30 TD passes and only 7 INTs) and want to give him as many chances as possible to make big plays on Friday night. The O-Line will need to remain as solid as they've been all season long on the biggest stage, and not allow their QB to be hit and forced to make throws while under constant distress.
• Stop the Run with Solid Tackling: The Ironmen gashed the Crusaders for over 200 yards on the ground in September, thanks in part to shoddy BC tackling at the point of attack. Peppers and Shumate broke past several BC attempted arm tackles, and found their way into the endzone for 4 scores on the ground. The Crusaders need to play fundamentally solid defense in the trenches, and make sure their secondary play the rights angles on any runs that get past the front 7. Bosco's run game fuels their offense, and BC will need to do a much better job of getting off blocks and wrapping up runners before giving up chunks of yards.
• Have a TD lead late in the Game: Bosco has trailed twice this season in the 4th quarter, but both times it was by only 1 point against Manatee and BC. Bosco rallied to win both those games, and have never really faced true adversity late in a game, with a real shot of losing a game. BC needs to take a sizable lead into the 4th quarter, and actually create doubt in the minds of the Ironmen. Bosco prides itself on being a 4th quarter team, and BC needs to have a lead to build on heading into the game's final 12 minutes.

BC has waited for this chance at redemption since driving away from the DBP parking lot on September 30th, and they get one final chance in 2011 to take down the Ironmen while also capturing a state championship. This BC team is ready to take their next huge step as a program under Nunzio Campanile, and Friday night may be that time.

ABOUT DAN LONG

Dan Long graduated from Bergen Catholic in 2003 where he was the Sports Director of BCTV and coined the immortal phrase "Crusader Crazies" for the raucous BC student section. He is currently the radio voice of Bergen Catholic football, the founder of DL Sports Media, and a weekly contributor to BergenCatholicFootball.com.

Coaching to win

Each day, leading up to Friday's state final game, Dan Long will break down key aspects of the game that are vital for a Bergen Catholic championship victory. Here is a look at BC's coaching staff, and how the Crusaders' coaching mentality will play a huge part on Friday night:

When you are a coach at a school that has a rich tradition of winning championships, the spotlight is always brighter compared to other schools. With that added attention comes a greater sense of pressure and higher expectations on coaches. You are expected to not only win, but to win consistently, and to win the biggest games against your biggest rivals. It takes a special type of person to be able to deal daily with those lofty demands and stresses, and to thrive on the biggest stage. Bergen Catholic Head Coach Nunzio Campanile and his entire coaching staff live for these challenges, and yearn for another chance to take on Don Bosco Prep in Friday's Non-Public Group 4 State Final.

In the past 10 years, Don Bosco Prep has become the 800 pound gorilla resting on the back of the BC football program, capturing 7 of the past 9 state titles in the group, including winning 5 straight state crowns. Not only have the Ironmen dominated the postseason, but DBP has had an answer for BC in 17 of the last 18 overall match ups, and this prolonged era of Ironmen dominance has created a collective feeling of frustration in Crusader Country. The pressure to win falls upon Coach Campanile and his staff, and Friday night presents another chance for the second year coach to carve out his own historic place in the tradition that is Bergen-Bosco.

Whether it is fair or unfair, Nunzio Campanile understands that even though he has only be in charge of the Crusader program for 3 games against the Ironmen, in a way he inherits the other losses over the past decade as the current face of the BC football program. Campanile is building a program, not just a team, and his sights are always set on being the top gridiron program in the Garden State. As much as he can game plan against his former employer, the results are produced by the players on the field, and he and his coaches can only put them in the best place to win the game.

Every great coach knows how to gain the trust and respect of his team, and that is clearly evident in Crusader Stadium with the BC program. The BC players respond to their fiery, passionate, and energetic coaches, feeding off their intensity and love of the game. In his second year in Oradell, Campanile has instilled a toughness, aggressive mentality, and sense of confidence in his players that can be seen in his quick results. His team has made the state final in his first two seasons, have won 18 of 22 games, and have embarked on a new age of football at BC by engaging in a demanding national schedule. The one thing that Campanile and his coaches need to accomplish next is to defeat their nemesis in a state final.

Campanile has taken on the persona of a gunslinger, a confident coach that is willing to take gambles because of his unwavering trust of his players. Part Les Miles, part Jim Harbaugh, Campanile's passion and fire is never questioned, but his outside-the-box choices have been. Whether it be his onside kicks, the call for a deep pass in the 4th quarter in the 2010 state final, or this year's decision to go for it on 4th down deep in his own end, Campanile's decisions have been controversial and easily second-guessed by a slew "Monday Morning Quarterbacks". That is Nunzio Campanile's personality, and the Crusaders love him for it, and that is why the Crusaders are in another state final under their young head coach.

The BC coaching staff staff employ an aggressive coaching style that demands perfection and effort every time the players step onto the field. The dedication that all of these men have displayed since the summer months is unwavering, and all their work and time have been spent to get the team to this weekend's game, and to take the next step as a program, as a school, and as a family. The pressure of coaching football at a place like Bergen Catholic would cripple many other coaches, but not Campanile and his staff. They have become accustomed to hearing the naysayers proclaim Bosco's invincibility and BC's futile chances of knocking off the Ironmen from their football throne. They have heard the cackles of critics who mock after each loss, and the sour grapes of others who still believe that BC is not as good as their record and rankings indicate. They have transformed these negatives into positive motivation for their players, and more importantly, they have taught them how to properly live their lives as young men.

Obviously you coach to win, and Nunzio Campanile and his coaches have put in the work, have prepared their players to the best of their abilities, and have taught their group what it means to play at Bergen Catholic. BC is in great hands with Campanile and his staff, as they all perfectly embody what it is to be part of the BC Brotherhood, and will bring home a significant amount of championships to Crusader Country.

ABOUT DAN LONG

Dan Long graduated from Bergen Catholic in 2003 where he was the Sports Director of BCTV and coined the immortal phrase "Crusader Crazies" for the raucous BC student section. He is currently the radio voice of Bergen Catholic football, the founder of DL Sports Media, and a weekly contributor to BergenCatholicFootball.com.