Retrospective From an Old Wolf

Long Valley Patch reporter Gerard Longo shares a first-hand account of what it was like to play for the West Morris Wolfpack football team in the playoffs.

It was a cold December morning. So cold, in fact, that when my teammates and I went out to run some plays before packing up the buses and heading to Rutgers Stadium, we found that the ground was frozen solid.

We were thankful for the invention of FieldTurf that day, but even if we had to play on the rock-solid ground at Wolfpack Stadium, we probably still wouldn't have felt it when we went to the ground.

This is the euphoria that the chance at a championship brings to all those who chase one. If you love the sport you play–whatever it is–your overall existence in that sport is for the sole purpose of earning the title of number one.

We loaded up the buses and headed to Piscataway on that morning in December 2004, where we would meet our sister school, West Morris Mendham.

That was undefeated West Morris Mendham, who we had beaten on our field in this same game three years prior. This time, not only were we considered the underdogs, lucky to have made the playoffs with a 4-5 regular season record, but our counterparts were certainly looking for revenge for what transpired in 2001.

Our story was filled with all of the twists, turns, ups, and downs of a rollercoaster. We were the favorites to win it all at the beginning of the year, but after starting the season 3-0, we dropped our homecoming game to Morristown.

A player suspension and the tragic death of a former teammate took their toll the following week, when we lost to Randolph. In fact, the only team we would beat for the rest of the regular season was Columbia High. That turned out being our most important game; if we were upset by them, we would have missed the playoffs altogether.

Having lost five of our last six games, we found out that we had made the playoffs as the sixth seed, due to a down year in North II, Group III. That would mean traveling to Malcolm X. Shabazz High School in Newark that Friday for a first-round playoff game.

A cold, driving rain fell. It was around 35 degrees at the start of the game. With the pouring rain and whipping November winds, it felt much colder than that. Only a busload of our most dedicated parents came out to the game, as the weather had turned all others away. We went into the harshest conditions possible for that day, and we somehow had to find a way to break our skid before the season ended before our eyes.

Somehow, we broke the cycle.

We beat Shabazz 13-7, on a night when most other games in the area had been postponed to the following night due to the weather. We would then find out that Scotch Plains-Fanwood, the seventh seed, upset number two-seed Warren Hills that weekend. That meant we would get one more home game; one more time to light up Wolfpack Stadium as the pride of Long Valley.

With what seemed like the entire town behind us, we beat Scotch Plains 28-21, in a game whose outcome was never really in doubt. Mendham defeated Emerson the following day, and suddenly, the team that everyone had written off was set for a shot at the title.

At that point, it felt like destiny. No way were we going to Rutgers to lose to Mendham after coming all this way. The only way to decide that, though, was to play the game.

After getting out to a 10-0 lead before halftime, it seemed like destiny was going to fulfill itself. However, this was an undefeated opponent, hardly even contested by anyone all season. We should have known that they wouldn't just lay down and hand us a championship.

They busted an 85-yard run on our defense in the second half to make the score 10-7. Our offense did just enough from there to keep them from having excellent field position, but each time, we sputtered before we could score the touchdown that would put the game away. Late in the fourth quarter, Mendham had begun to drive again.

They drove deep into our territory with about a minute and a half to go. Their quarterback then dropped back and heaved the ball to the end zone.

It was intercepted at the goal line.

I'll never forget the pandemonium in the stands and on the sidelines as Mike Critchley returned that ball up the sideline for about 30 yards. A town that had lived and died with its football team all season long had, it seemed, a true reason to celebrate.

A three-and-out series and one last defensive stand later, and we were champions. For all the football that I have played since, both at the collegiate and semi-pro levels, nothing has been quite as unique as that day.

Nothing has been as special as coming together, with the team and the community I grew up being part of, and accomplishing the improbable throughout that playoff run.

Nothing compares to winning a championship.

That was 2004. That was the story of fifteen senior players, with everyone else following their lead, coming together to overcome great challenges to complete a mission. That mission was to establish a legacy not soon to be forgotten, and is something that will always be a part of each of us.

This is 2010, and once again, the Wolfpack (7-2) finds itself just one game away from a State Championship berth. Defeat a bitter rival in Morristown again this Friday night, and West Morris will play in its second State Championship in as many years. Win that game, and the Wolfpack will have won back-to-back championships–something that has never been done in the proud history of the program.

For the seniors, now is the time for them to write their own story. A team loaded with both talent and heart has the chance to do something unprecedented. What legacy do they wish to leave as they close their chapter of Wolfpack football?