Posted on

Former RHS Football Coach and Teacher Roger Sweeney’s Memorial Service and Time of Remembrance Celebration

345924922 126781193731602 2095708058480169969 n

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Roger Sweeney was a long-time football coach at RHS, who retired after the 1975 season. He remained a teacher and many remember him from gym class and Drivers Ed .

Roger Sweeney’s memorial service. In addition to the Church Mass, a Time of Remembrance Celebration has been added.

Continue reading Former RHS Football Coach and Teacher Roger Sweeney’s Memorial Service and Time of Remembrance Celebration

Posted on

Ridgewood Stops Passaic Tech 12-7 in the Battle of the Unbeatens

external content.duckduckgo 22

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Maroons were looking for  revenge over the Passaic Tech Bulldogs for their defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs in the the North 1, Group 5 semifinals last season, Ridgewood came out on top with a 12-7 win over Passaic Tech in a battle of undefeated squads despite losing senior quarterback Jack Forech to injury in the second quarter.

Continue reading Ridgewood Stops Passaic Tech 12-7 in the Battle of the Unbeatens

Posted on

RHS Football captures back-to-back North 1 Group 5 Sectional Champions

75196493 2481878535264258 6357456848336977920 o1

photo courtesy of Ridgewood PBA Local 20

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Congratulations to the RHS Varsity Football Team. With a 10 – 7 win over Passaic Tech, RHS Football captures back-to-back North 1 Group 5 Sectional Champions. This was their 5th appearance in the finals in the last 7 years.

Posted on

RHS Coach Johnson Fighting Serious Illness

State Champion RHS Maroons football team members , Coach Chuck Johnson , Recognized by Village Council

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

‘Ridgewood NJ, according to North Jersey Media, the North Jersey sports icon and Ridgewood football coach since 1984 has been in the hospital for more than a month, dealing with complications from a serious infection that had him in intensive care for five days.

Continue reading RHS Coach Johnson Fighting Serious Illness
Posted on

North Group 5 State Championship Today At MetLife Stadium Ridgewood vs Piscataway

Dp fbaZX0AAtQvq1

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ ,The North Group 5 title is on the line when Ridgewood and Piscataway meet at 10 a.m. Saturday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
At 12-0, Piscataway is considered perhaps the best public school team in New Jersey. They have rolled through the season winning games by an average of 33 points.
The 9-2 Maroons have won six straight, including a dominating performance against Montclair to win their fifth sectional title two weeks ago.

North Group 5 State Championship  game will take place this Saturday, December 1 at 10:00 AM at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Go Maroons!

Posted on

State Champion RHS Maroons football team members and Coach Chuck Johnson Recognized by Village Council

State Champion RHS Maroons football team members , Coach Chuck Johnson , Recognized by Village Council

file photos by Boyd Loving

January 12,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the positive highlight for many during last nights council meeting was the State Champion RHS Maroons football team members and Coach Chuck Johnson were presented with certificates of recognition and many well-deserved accolades receiving a huge round of applause to all of them.

DSCF7109

more photos on the Ridgewood blog Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/theridgewoodblog/

Posted on

Ridgewood beats back Montclair 31-20 With 4th Quarter Come from Behind Victory

RHS football
file photo by Ramon Hache
November 19,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Maroons scored 24 unanswered fourth quarter points to defeat Montclair, 31-20, preserving their undefeated season at the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 5 semifinals at Ridgewood.
Ridgewood will now take on third-seeded Passaic Tech in the sectional final on the weekend of Dec. 2-4. Last year in the final Passaic Tech beat Ridgewood, 27-0.

Montclair had led 14-7 at halftime behind its explosive offense and very opportunistic defense. Down 20-7 in the fourth quarter , Ridgewood Quarterback Jack Barclay connected with Drew Granski on a 54-yard touchdown reception  making it a 20-14 game. With that ,the momentum shifted to the Maroons recovering a fumble on the first play from scrimmage on Montclair’s ensuing possession then ,scoring another touchdown .

The Ridgewood defense forced a punt by Montclair and then on a 3rd-and-8 from the Montclair 48, Barclay connected with Dan Romero for a 35-yard catch.Zach Feagles finished the drive with his second five-yard score to put Ridgewood ahead 28-20. Another fumble by Montclair was just icing on the cake giving Ridgewood a field goal to pull out a win .
Posted on

Landmark vote splits N.J. H.S. football along public/non-public lines

footballyoubet_theridgewoodblog

DECEMBER 7, 2015, 12:01 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015, 12:46 AM
BY GREGORY SCHUTTA
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

EDISON – It was billed as a referendum on the state of public versus non-public schools in New Jersey high school sports.

And in little more than 90 minutes Monday, the membership of the state athletics governing body spoke, changing the athletic landscape as we know it – at least for the time being.

In a landmark vote, the members of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association approved historic proposals separating public and non-public schools in football and splitting non-public wrestlers into their own districts and region.

“I think a lot of people are realizing how huge the disparity has grown,” said Denis Nelson, athletic director at River Dell. “If there were an ability for level competition, we wouldn’t be having these problems.”

In one of the most highly attended NJSIAA membership meetings in recent history, officials from 345 of the association’s 433 member schools cast votes and approved the separation proposals by nearly identical margins.

The football proposal, which passed 215-128 with two abstentions, would remove all non-public schools from  their current conference for football only and force them to create a statewide conference of their own, with full schedules.

It’s the third time in the past decade that some type of football separation proposal has reached the membership of the NJSIAA – but the first time one was approved.

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/n-j-football-split-along-public-non-public-lines-in-landmark-vote-1.1469138

Posted on

RHS Football ‘redemption tour’ in full swing

RHS_Stadium_bike_theridgewoodblog

OCTOBER 23, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY JIM MCCONVILLE
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

RIDGEWOOD — All week leading up to last Friday’s game with Paramus, the Ridgewood High School football team was reminded of a year ago, when it came into that same game unbeaten and promptly got trounced.

That was the beginning of a season-ending, five-game losing streak that left a bitter taste in the mouths of the returning players.

The message got through. Thanks to a strong effort from the defense and an advantageous offense, the Maroons defeated the Spartans, 17-7, to improve to 5-1 and pretty much secure a spot in the North 1, Group 5 state playoffs.

Entering tonight’s game with Hackensack, Ridgewood sits atop the sectional power point standings, making the game with the Comets a huge opportunity.

“This was a quality win, no doubt,” RHS head coach Chuck Johnson said of the Paramus victory, “but it is only one game. And we have to be prepared to play better if we’re going to win going forward.”

A victory over Hackensack (3-2) might be enough to secure home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It also would be another step in the Ridgewood redemption tour, given that the team squandered an excellent first-half performance in last season’s meeting, and a second-half letdown resulted in a 20-17 loss

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/football/rhs-redemption-tour-in-full-swing-1.1439404

Posted on

Unequal’s Gyro helmet liner the latest in military-grade football protection

RHS_Stadium_turffield_theridgewoodblog

Under the brightest of Friday night lights, a little history was made on December 19 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. When Cedar Park took on Ennis for the 5A Conference, Division 2 championship, which Ennis won 38-35, it was more than a football game between Austin and Dallas-area schools.

A Pennsylvania-based company known as Unequal touted the matchup as the first time two opposing high schools would meet in a Texas State High School football championship game with supplemental protection — a product Unequal calls Gyro — inside their helmets.

The quarter-inch thick liner, which sells for $60, is made of a military grade composite — strengthened by Kevlar and Accelleron — which absorbs and disperses impact energy away from the head and body in a way that typical padding of equal weight and thickness cannot.

With growing concerns about traumatic head injuries in football, there are already coaches calling for this type of added protection to be mandated at all levels.

“I saw how effective the Kevlar products were for quarterback rib injuries, and running back shoulder injuries,” says former college and NFL coach June Jones, “and that triggered me to see if we could use it in thigh pads. The players were amazed at how good they felt after games. Finally, I wondered, ‘Why don’t we put it in our helmets?’ We did last year at SMU and it made a difference.”

Rob Vito, a Penn State business school professor who is president and founder of Unequal, says his company originally started with military contracts, until one day a United States Marine who was a student at Penn State told Vito, “You made a bullet proof vest that’s lighter, thinner and more flexible, and make soldiers safer. You should be able to dominate sports.”

https://www.si.com/edge/2014/12/22/unequal-gyro-helmet-liner-nfl-ncaaf-football-protection-gear#

Posted on

RHS Football Preview embracing the new

RHS_stadium_theridgewoodblog

SEPTEMBER 4, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY JIM MCCONVILLE
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

RIDGEWOOD — The opening of the 2015 football season is a week away for Ridgewood High School, and there is still plenty of jockeying for positions as the team prepares to break a five-game losing streak that put a major damper on the 2014 campaign.

Before they get going for real, the Maroons will play a game scrimmage tonight against a Ramapo team that should be a strong test for the defense. The 7 o’clock tilt should facilitate the finalization of starting units over the first three quarters.

A couple of spots opened up due to preseason circumstances. Senior fullback/linebacker Cooper Telesco will be sidelined for the entire season after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum in July. Two-way lineman Terrel Stephen moved to Indiana over the summer, leaving Ridgewood with some gaping holes.

“Any time you lose arguably your two best players it is a big blow,” RHS head coach Chuck Johnson said. “What I’m most pleased about is that this group is not letting that define them. They’ve stepped up to the challenge of carrying on, and they’ve worked very hard to prepare for this season.”

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/football/maroons-embracing-the-new-1.1403727

Posted on

Union City lights await Ridgewood Football in state playoffs

cropped-sept-15

file photo ridgewoodfootball.org

Union City lights await Ridgewood Football  in state playoffs

November 14, 2014    Last updated: Friday, November 14, 2014, 12:31 AM
By Jim McConville
CORRESPONDENT |
The Ridgewood New

RIDGEWOOD — The second season begins tonight for the Ridgewood High School football team.

The question is, will it be a one-act show, or have the Maroons learned enough throughout the fall to be able to make a serious run in the North 1, Group 5 state tournament? Ridgewood (5-4) enters the postseason as the No. 7 seed and will visit No. 2 Union City (7-2) tonight at 7.

While a 40-13 loss in the final game of the regular season may not sound like a good springboard into the playoffs, the Maroons’ effort against Bergen Catholic last Friday night actually was encouraging.

BC did hold out some of its walking wounded in a game that had absolutely no meaning to either team as far as playoff positioning was concerned, but the Crusaders’ offensive line was intact, and their quarterback and running backs did play.

The Ridgewood defense did a good job of keeping Bergen Catholic in check, and it was a 13-6 game late in the second quarter. Senior Mitch Campbell’s interception in the final minute of the period seemingly had RHS in solid shape, but a fumble on the ensuing play from scrimmage turned the ball over at the Maroon 1-yard line.

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/football/union-city-lights-await-maroons-1.1133427

Posted on

I-Team: Many Tri-State Schools Use Football Helmets That Don’t Protect Well Against Concussions

riddell-VSR4_0x650

I-Team: Many Tri-State Schools Use Football Helmets That Don’t Protect Well Against Concussions

By Pei-Sze Cheng and Gabrielle Ewing

When 16-year-old Tom Cutinella died after collapsing on the field following a collision during a football game at his Long Island high school, questions arose about concussions in sports and the safety of the children playing them.

While what happened to the Shoreham-Wading River High School student is extremely rare, research shows concussions in school sports are not uncommon

A survey of high school sports-related injuries compiled by researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health shows that football-related concussions are on the rise. In 2005, there were 55,007 reported concussions from football games and practice. By 2012, that number had more than tripled to 167,604.

“We tell our guys, we get anyone with a head injury, they are immediately out of it,” said Mike Carter, who oversees Bloomfield High school’s football program in New Jersey.

Football Helmet Safety Questioned at Tri-State Schools

With football-related concussions on the rise in high school sports, the I-Team set out to find out what kind of helmets schools in the tri-state use and how they measure in a ranking that evaluates the likeliness of football helmets to reduce concussion risk. Pei-Sze Cheng reports. (Published Monday, Nov 3, 2014)

Carter says his students wear some of the newest helmets available on the market. But the I-Team discovered that not all students at area schools have access to such equipment.

Over a period of two months, the I-Team asked about 200 schools in the tri-state area what kind of helmets they use and found many use helmets that received low marks in a Virginia Tech study that evaluates the likeliness of football helmets to reduce concussion risk.

To determine how well certain helmets absorb impact, Virginia Tech researchers placed them on a device and slammed them onto a steel block. Helmets were given one to five stars based on how well they absorbed impact — or how likely they would be to prevent concussions.

“The better the helmet, the better it cushions the impact and the more it lowers acceleration,” said Virginia Tech professor Stefan Duma, who helped author the study.

The VSR-4 helmet, for example, received only one star in the Virginia Tech study and was labeled as “marginal” in terms of its ability to reduce concussion risk. Riddell discontinued the helmet in May 2011.

“The game has since evolved significantly making room for major advancements in helmet technology,” Riddell said in a statement. “Riddell has programs in place to encourage those playing football to transition to new helmets that incorporate more advanced technology.”

Though Riddell’s VSR-4 was discontinued more than three years ago, Clifton High School in Clifton, New Jersey, lists mostly that helmet in its inventory, the I-Team found.

Clifton High School’s athletic director, Tom Mullahey, thanked the I-team for bringing the outdated helmet’s safety ranking to his attention and said the school purchased 26 new helmets for the team.

In a statement, Mullahey said, “This is the first we’ve heard of this study,” and that he ordered new helmets so that “every football player in our program is wearing a Revolution ( four stars) or Revolution Speed (five stars).”

Brentwood High School on Long Island, Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and Yonkers Public Schools in Westchester County also use one and two star helmets, the I-Team found. Among the Yonkers Public Schools, Yonkers Montessori Academy had the most low-star helmets.

Some of those schools stood by their helmet choices.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Football-Helmet-Safety-School-Concussion-Investigation-Injury-Death-281339821.html

Posted on

Ridgewood Football stays unbeaten with 47-12 victory over Clifton

imgres-5

Ridgewood Football stays unbeaten with 47-12 victory over Clifton


OCTOBER 11, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY JIM MCCONVILLE
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
THE RECORD

CLIFTON – Coming into the season, Ridgewood knew it had to make the most of the first half of the schedule. With a young and inexperienced team, the Maroons had five winnable games to open the year.

The quintet was completed Friday night as Ridgewood scored on the first play from scrimmage and never looked back. The 47-12 defeat of Clifton sets up an intriguing matchup next week with Paramus, the first team with a winning record the Maroons will face.

“Now we’ll find out how good we are,” Ridgewood coach Chuck Johnson said. “I can tell you that we are a whole lot better than we were at the beginning of the season, but just how good will be determined.”

The Maroons certainly took care of winless Clifton, which was playing its first game at the newly renovated Joseph Grecco Field. After the opening kickoff went out of bounds, Drew Granski was able to stretch out a sweep left and find a hole, racing 65 yards for a touchdown.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/football/maroons-stay-undefeated-as-big-test-looms-1.1107259#sthash.db0vsG4Z.dpuf

Posted on

Ridgewood Football breaks quickly from the starting gate

79283387

file photo

Ridgewood Football breaks quickly from the starting gate

October 3, 2014    Last updated: Friday, October 3, 2014, 12:31 AM
By Jim McConville
CORRESPONDENT
The Ridgewood News

RIDGEWOOD — Heading into Thursday night’s home game versus Kennedy, the Ridgewood High School football team was looking not only to continue its winning ways but also to continue to develop the chemistry, experience and execution it will need as the schedule toughens later this month.

There were plenty of positives through the Maroons’ first three games, and much of that had to do with the way the sophomores injected themselves into the lineup and made key contributions.

Members of the 2004 Ridgewood High School North 1, Group 4 championship football team gather on the field of RHS Stadium at halftime of last Friday’s game to be honored on the 10th anniversary of their state-sectional title.

The youth movement can be a double-edged sword, however. RHS benefitted from an early schedule in which its first three opponents were a combined 2-7, and the team won all three games by an average of 46-4 (Kennedy was 0-3 entering Thursday). That necessitates tempering any enthusiasm a bit in assessing the results.

Still, every win is important, and the schedule is what it is. Ridgewood need not make excuses for winning the games it is supposed to win while giving some of its rookies a dose of confidence at the varsity level.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/football/ridgewood-breaks-quickly-from-the-starting-gate-1.1101679#sthash.qMj2EYGh.dpuf