Season Recap

After the Montclair-Kimberley game, it kind of felt like a playoff loss because St. Joe's did not finish .500 so therefore were not eligible for the state playoffs. If the Falcons were somehow able to upset a very solid Montclair-Kimberley team, that would have been a definitive step in the right direction. And to finish at .500 would have been a good accomplishment too. Instead, they wound up getting a consolation game at St. John Vianney in Holmdel, and that was over before it even started. St. Joe's clearly saw the best receiver that they faced the entire season in Ishmael Hyman who finished the game with 174 yards on 5 catches for 2 touchdowns. Their quarterback Anthony Carlucci was very impressive going 12 for 18 for 358 yards and 4 touchdowns while rushing for 1. He did, however, have an interception. But St. John Vianney to me, looked like a very impressive team and am surprised they finished under .500. St. Joe's was able to move the ball a little bit in the first half but on their deepest drive, wound up turning it over. St. John Vianney's defense really did a great job of clamping down other than on a couple drives and St. Joe's only scored in the 4th quarter already trailing 41-0. The final would be 41-7.


So the season really ended on a disappointing note. In the last two games, the Falcons were outscored 61-10. Realistically both Coach Molarz and Mr. Smith, thought 5-3 was a best case scenario and they simply did not meet those expectations. While I think the defense played pretty solid at times this year and was competitve for all besides that Blair Prep game, the offense, specifically the passing game was an abomination at times and I expected a lot more of it. Because the passing game was so bad, I think the running game suffered too. Coach Molarz in his interview was considerably more optimistic than Mr. Smith about next season. While he knew the passing game wasn't up to par, he was optimistic about the future while Mr. Smith said if someone doesn't develop, next year could be very tough and he doesn't feel we'll be over .500 once again. The defense I think was undoubtedly their strongest point this season and the running game was a pleasant surprise at moments but at other times, particularly the Blair and Cushing games looked very ineffective. And to me, the receivers and passing games were pretty nonextistent and to get where they have to be will have to improve itself considerably over the next couple years. My grade for the season would be a C. I think we have the leadership in place to make good progress within the next two or three years but like many things, it is going to take some time. I think with a healthy Chris Blades, the Falcons could easily go 4-4 or 5-3 next season so they'll have to focus on winning the division first and winning states later. With both Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco in the state tournament bracket with St. Joe's, it is going to take years to make noise like I referenced in one of my earlier posts. Take things one step at a time and we'll see where it goes. I was surpised to hear Mr. Smith say that there has not been an improvement in kids going to St. Joe's because they now have football. He told me he thought that Bishop Ahr would close or at least become an all girls school because of the Falcons now having football. Personally, I think down the line I could see Bishop Ahr becoming all girls. He told me it is currently 175-75 in favor of girls for the freshman class and I have heard it is around 5-1 in favor of girls there. St. Joe's football is undoubtedly a work in progress and I think over the next 5 years, they will continue to improve and make some headway in terms of where they want to get and as long as they get some quarterback play, they should be a contender by 2020 or so...look at teams like Cranford this season. Cranford I believe was sub .500 in the state tournament prior to this season. They were able to find a quarterback in Reggie who kind of came out of nowhere (similar in my eyes to Cam Newton at Auburn last year) and he wound up leading his team to the North II, Group III sectional title. So all it takes is something like that to come out of nowhere to win a title. St. Joe's now has the foundation, they just need to continue the building now so we'll see what the future holds.