Sports

Sports & Recreation

WITH Jim Hague

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Locals shine with Caldwell sprint football team

Head coach and Nutley native Kelly has Cougars roaring

CALDWELL – The

Caldwell University sprint football team recently completed a successful season, posting a 5-2 record, thanks to the help of five young men and a head coach that are from the area.

Jim Kelly, the Nutley native and former head coach of the Maroon Raiders, went to Caldwell in 2018 to take over the school’s new sprint football program. Sprint football, where all players have to weigh 178 pounds or less, is played at several colleges in the Northeast in the Sprint Football Conference. It used to be called lightweight football for several years.

Kelly, who also spent two seasons as the head coach at now defunct Queen of Peace, heard of the opening for a head coach at Caldwell in 2018.

“I got a call from (Bloomfield High School head coach) Mike Carter who told me that a job had opened up,” Kelly said. “I thought at first it was a high school job. But when I learned it was Caldwell University’s sprint team, I was intrigued. It’s a good school in a great location. I thought the demographics were good. The program was in its infant stages, but I was intrigued by it.”

However, there was the challenge of finding players who would be willing to make the sacrifice of cutting weight. Football is generally a sport where size matters.

“You can’t just take an 18-year-old receiver and make him a lineman,” Kelly said. “The challenge was finding undersized linemen. Plus, the nature of the game is so fast.”

Kelly liked the campus and the facilities.

“I knew that Caldwell had some success with their athletic teams,” Kelly said. “I knew that the school did the right things to be successful. But I knew no players, no coaches.”

It was certainly the biggest challenge of Kelly’s coaching career.

Kelly found 65 young men who were willing to make the sacrifice from all over New Jersey. His knowledge of New Jersey high school football and

Photo by Jim Hague The Kearny High School boys’ soccer team celebrates after defeating Freehold Township, 6-2, to win the NJSIAA Group IV state championship Saturday at Kean University, marking the 33rd time Kearny has won a state soccer title and the fi rst one since 2017.

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ing the Kardinals (22-1-1) the overall Group IV state championship.

It marked the 33rd time dating back to 1923 that Kearny won its respective state championship and the first time since 2017. Prior to 2017, the Kardinals also won state titles in 1999, 2002 and 2004.

It was also the second state title for current head coach Bill Galka.

“The first one was a little more stressful,” Galka said. “This one was a little more enjoyable. We received a lot of support from the town from people who came to watch us and others who watched online.”

And when the Kardinals’ team bus arrived back in Kearny after the win, they received pua police escort along Kearny Avenue, complete with flashing lights and sirens.

“Believe me, we appreciate all the supporters who took time from their busy days to come and honor us,” Galka said.

For all intents and purposes, the dream of adding another state crown should have died on the Kearny High field Tuesday.

The Kardinals surrendered the first two goals of the match to the upstart Minutemen, who held control of the match from the five-minute mark on.

After Rojas added a penalty kick with 20 minutes remaining, the lead was sliced in half and gave the Kards some sense of hope.

But when a Kardinal defender received a red card ejection with three minutes left, the Kards were forced to play the remainder of the game down two men – an almost unthinkable daunting task.

Miraculously, the Kardinals got the equalizer from Rojas with just 61 seconds in regulation and after both teams went scoreless in the extra sessions, they went to penalty kicks with Dalton Davila nailing the deciding kick, sending the Kards improbably to the state title game.

“That was crazy,” Rojas said. “To come from two goals down like that? Just crazy. But I never lost faith.”

The Kardinals were not about to let that happen again.

“We came out sharp and ready to play,” Rojas said.

At the 16 minute mark of the first half, Davila got a hold of a ball from Nico Gomez off a scramble in front of the goal and the Kards were in business, leading 1-0.

After Kearny goalkeeper Joshua Rodriguez kept the Patriots at bay, making three brilliant saves, the Kards struck again, with Rojas of course being in the middle of everything. Rojas made a sweet pass to Alan Antonelli, who blasted it home with just a little over a minute before halftime. The goal gave the Kards a little bit of breathing room – but not a lot.

“It’s always important to get the second goal,” Galka said. “But we didn’t get the third goal.”

The game remained that way until the 63rd minute, when Freehold Township got on the board off a direct free kick from Logan Mullaney. Just like that, the lead was sliced in half and the outcome was somewhat in question.

“To their credit, they came back on us,” Galka said. “We had to get a grasp of the game again.”

Rodriguez made two big saves in the 66th minute off another direct free kick, not allowing the game to get tied. One minute later, it looked as if Rojas had pushed the lead back up to two goals, but after he got in free on goal, he slid the ball just wide right.

Two minutes later, Rojas wasn’t about to be denied. He made an absolutely brilliant run with the ball, spinning once and then getting control of his body from about