High school football is on the way

Northwest New Jersey high school football teams are getting ready for the upcoming 2016 season. Despite the heat of summer, camps and scrimmages are taking place during the month of August. Sussex County Technical School, Jefferson Township High School, Vernon Township High School and Wallkill Valley Regional High School are among the teams in action on the gridiron.
Many of the area football players have been preparing for the new season since school let out in June. Lifting weights, running and stretching to get fit and stay in shape. All around conditioning is important even during vacation time. Workouts are planned around family trips and part time jobs.
Informal practice sessions usually begin in early summer without pads. Then the intensity level rises along with the mercury in the thermometer as the weeks go by. Morning and afternoon sessions are the norm and then the pads are put on in August. By the time athletes suit up they should be at a certain physical and mental level.
The best football players can't be all brawn and no brains. They have to hit the playbook as well as the gym. A player has to know when and where to execute on the field. And that is especially true at the quarterback position. The quarterback is the rudder that steers the ship and that ship being the team.
Scrimmages usually take place mid to late August. A scrimmage is an exhibition game or informal contest or practice in a sport before the start of the regular season.
The Vernon Township High School Vikings hosted the Wallkill Valley Regional High School Rangers (Hamburg) in a scrimmage on Monday August 22. The two squads sparred for several hours on the turf field of the Glenwood, New Jersey facility. First and second string players got put through the paces as coaches shouted orders and observed.
After the conclusion of the scrimmage Vernon's assistant football coach Adam Coleman commented "We have guys that we think can play in certain spots and with every scrimmage that may change a little bit. We go in and watch the film and evaluate what we have then we go over things in practice." Coleman is temporarily filling in for longtime head coach Chuck Tepper who is away to tend to a family emergency.
Wallkill Valleys head football coach Adam Vazqeuz stated "As far as our camp is concerned I am happy how we are progressing. We still have some work to do and we don't want to become complacent. We are just going to keep working and get better day by day."
The Wallkill Valley Rangers and the Vernon Vikings will engage in several scrimmages with different teams before the start of the regular season in September. Both teams struggled in the 2015 season and will attempted to turn things around this year.
On Friday August 19 the Jefferson Township High School Falcons hosted the Boonton High School Bombers and the Kinnelon High School Colts for a scrimmage. The Morris County teams drew a good sized crowd of football fans who came to watch them get down to business on the turf.
Boonton finished the 2015 season with an impressive 9-2 record and made it to the semifinals. Jefferson broke even and finished the 2015 season with a 5-5 record. Kinnelon struggled in the 2015 season and finished with a record of 2-9.
But this is a new season coming with a new squad of athletes with veteran upperclassmen thrown into the mix. And football fans can be fickle with a "what have you done for me lately" attitude. The Jefferson Falcons will be starting the 2016 season with a new head coach who's name is Jerry Venturino. Venturino may be new to the Jefferson football program but he has experience, having been an assistant coach and head coach at Hopatcong High School for ten seasons.
When asked about his plans for the Jefferson Falcons Venturino said " We are running a whole new system regarding the offense, defense and special teams. And just a whole new culture change and it's a day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute process. You don't build Rome in a day and it takes one step at a time. The players need to be mature enough to understand that and let the coaches coach them and be able to take constructive criticism as we continue to move forward."
Like other area teams the Sussex County Technical High School Mustangs have been practicing football since June. Practice sessions have been conducted at the teams home field in Sparta Township as well as at an away football camp. From August 14 to the 19 the Mustangs spent time at Harmony Ridge Campgrounds in Branchville, New Jersey.
Though common in past years most schools do not send their football team to an away camp. There are various reasons for schools not allowing it and a couple of reasons are cost and liability. But Sussex County Technical High School has been doing this annually and has raised the money for the away camp through the booster club fundraisers.
The football team and coaches spend a few days in a beautiful surrounding with access to a playing field. No parents allowed even though they do have a big cookout for players and their families the first day of camp. The remainder of the time the team eats, sleep and practice together. Comfortable cabins shared with teammates on the campground they will call home for for a few days.
There will be fun and games mixed in with serious football camp drills. The time at camp will be to meld as a cohesive unit under the tutelage of head coach Bob Leach and his staff. Leach has lead the team since 2011.
In the 2015 season the Mustangs earned their first ever state-tournament appearance in school history. They accomplished the feat by beating Highland Park High School (Middlesex County, N.J.) on Halloween. The Mustangs foray into the playoffs would eventually be halted by Hawthorne High School in a 38-13 loss on November 13. Sussex Tech finished the 2015 season with a 4-6 record.
The Mustangs will attempt to get to the post season again this year. Most area teams will begin their season in the first week of September.
— Photos by George Leroy Hunter