FOOTBALL

Winners and losers of the new super football conference

Joe Hofmann
Correspondent

We don't have to wait until next September's games to see that there are already winners and losers in the all-new North Jersey Super Football Conference.

NJAC-National public schools other than Morristown? Big winners.

Parsippany Hills and Chatham fans? Losers.

Morristown and its fans? Big losers.

Delbarton? Well, the Green Wave might have been the biggest losers of all but are in the midst of making scheduling changes.

Some fans won big, as their schools will face mostly familiar local rivals. Others will wonder what they have done to deserve not one, not two, but three visits to unfamiliar areas for Friday night football.

Here is a look at some of the winners and losers.

Winners: Roxbury football fans. The Gaels will compete in the all-Morris Group IV Freedom A Division. Roxbury not only kept many of its time-honored Morris County rivals from the NJAC or Iron Hills Conference-Iron Division (Morris Knolls, West Morris, Mount Olive, Randolph, Mendham). The Gaels also added crossovers such as Wayne Hills —one of the best public school programs in North Jersey — Sparta (ditto) and Parsippany Hills, which has become very strong under head coach Dave Albano and his excellent staff. While some coaches prefer tiptoeing through cozy, creampuff schedules, Roxbury coach Cosmo Lorusso doesn't back down from scheduling quality out-of-division opponents.

Losers: Chatham and Parsippany Hills fans. Get out your GPS, folks. Say so long to traditional rivals. The Cougars and Vikings will compete in the Group III Patriot B Division. Among the road trips will be Barringer (Newark), Ferris (Jersey City), and Orange. In 2017, the Vikings will play all three on the road. The Vikings are a short drive away from Hanover Park, Parsippany, Morris Hills, Dover, etc., but play none of them.

Why isn't Chatham scheduled to face nearby Madison or Hanover Park, among others? Those could be great nearby rivalries, but we're living in strange times when it comes to high school football conferences and schedules. Playing like-sized schools, no matter where they're located, trumps nearby schools that might be a little bigger or smaller.

Winners: Morris Knolls and Morris Hills fans. These two schools are in different divisions but were obvious crossover candidates. Thankfully, their newfound rivalry will remain intact. More of an effort should have been made throughout the NJSFC to keep rivalries in place.

Losers: Morristown and its fans. The Colonials will open 2016 with crossovers against traditional NJAC and Iron Hills rivals Roxbury, Randolph and West Morris. But then the team will play a who's who of ... Essex County? That's a schedule Ripley's Believe it or Not would love. The Colonials are in the Group V Liberty Division C Division and will face West Orange, Montclair, Bloomfield, Livingston, East Orange, and Columbia. The only thing familiar for the Colonials after the first three games will be when they play West Orange, coached by Morris County's very own Jim Matsakis, formerly of Butler and Jefferson. But that's it.

Winners: Morris County teams in the Group IV Freedom A Division. Morris Knolls, West Morris, Roxbury, Randolph, Mendham and Mount Olive will keep their current rivalries alive and well. Finally, some common sense in the NJSFC.

Losers: Delbarton. The Green Wave originally opened with behemoths Bergen Catholic, St. Joseph-Montvale and Don Bosco in three of the season's first four weeks, and then closed with St. Peter's and Paramus Catholic. However, Delbarton dropped Bergen Catholic in favor of St. Anthony's (Long Island) and replaced Paramus Catholic with Poly Prep (Brooklyn). Apparently, there are more changes in the works in Delbarton's schedule. Playing a few of the North Jersey parochial powerhouses is one thing, but playing all of them would have been suicidal.

Games of the Year

The 2016 season is nine months away, but it is never too early to look ahead to some of the more interesting games of next season. Mark your calendars!

Sept. 10: Lenape Valley at Madison. These two became strong rivals thanks to the NJAC.

Sept. 10: Hanover Park at Cedar Grove. Two perennially solid programs match up.

Sept. 16: West Essex at West Morris. Very interesting out-of-division pairing.

Sept. 16: Morris Knolls at Morris Hills. Great rivalry remains, thankfully.

Sept. 16: Wayne Hills at Roxbury. Gaels coach Cosmo Lorusso doesn't duck strong opponents.

Sept. 23: Morristown at West Morris. The Colonials face all Essex County schools after familiar Wolfpack.

Sept. 23: Hanover Park at Mountain Lakes. The Herd's new schedule might be the toughest they have ever had.

Sept. 23: Boonton at Parsippany. The Old Shoe game picks up after a seven-year hiatus.

Sept. 24: Pope John at Delbarton. A natural rivalry has taken root.

Sept. 30: Morris Knolls at Wayne Valley. These two will get acquainted in the playoffs Saturday.

Oct. 1: Madison at Pequannock. Welcome back to an old NHC-Suburban rivalry.

Oct. 9: Delbarton at Seton Hall Prep. These two should have been playing since football was invented.

Oct. 15: Pequannock at Hanover Park. Pequannock beat Hanover Park for a sectional title at Kean in 1999.

Oct. 15: Sparta at Roxbury. Two exceptional programs tangle again.

Oct. 23: Morris Catholic at Montclair Immaculate. A natural rivalry could form here.

Oct. 23: Indian Hills at Mendham. If you want to see an entirely different team, Indian Hills fits the bill.

Nov. 5: Roxbury at West Morris. Thankfully, Morris County's best football rivalry remains intact.

Nov. 5: West Essex at Hanover Park. The Cosmo Cardone Cup is back after an eight-year hiatus.

Nov. 6: Pequannock at Caldwell. One of the best NHC rivalries back in the day.

Morris County Top 10

1. Delbarton (7-2).

2. Roxbury (8-1).

3. West Morris (7-2).

4. Morris Knolls (7-2).

5. Chatham (7-2).

6. Boonton (8-1).

7. Madison (6-2).

8. Hanover Park (8-1).

9. Pequannock (8-1).

10. Butler (5-2).