Our Final Top 10 Team Rankings

The 2020 football season was one we won’t forget anytime soon. There can be a case made for the number one team in the state for a handful of teams. We’ve studied quality wins, losses, strength of schedule and spread of victories. Let’s take a look at our final top 10 of the 2020 football season. <strong>1-Bergen Catholic:</strong> Bergen Catholic (5-1) suffered one loss, yes, but the work it accomplished this year cannot go unnoticed. The Crusaders picked up quality wins over St. Joseph (Mont.), DePaul and St. Peter’s Prep, three ranked teams. The lone loss came against a Don Bosco Prep team that is very dangerous despite its 2-3 record. Of course, it was a rivalry game, too. Steve Angeli and [player_tooltip player_id="27989" first="Ryan" last="Butler"] were effective for Bergen Catholic. Strength of schedule has to play a factor here, and you can make a strong case that Bergen Catholic would go undefeated against some of the competition other teams go against. Going up against teams with Division I talent on a weekly basis will obviously play a factor in results, and the one loss was only by a point. The Crusaders convincingly took down DePaul by 24 points. A showdown against Delbarton would have been nice to see. The team’s defensive front was strong, and the overall body of work earns Bergen Catholic the top spot. <strong>2-Holy Spirit: </strong>Holy Spirit finished the season perfect at 8-0, and proved it was the team to beat in South Jersey. The Spartans had quality wins over St. Joseph (Hamm.), Winslow, St. Augustine and Lenape. The win over Winslow was a 34-0 shutout, and Holy Spirit defeated Lenape and St. Joseph each by two touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id="27903" first="Patrick" last="Smith"], who will play at a Power 5 program next year, finished with 1,719 yards and 16 touchdowns on the season. Devin Lee was active on the ground in a backup role, too. [player_tooltip player_id="27988" first="Elijah" last="Steward"] and Gavin Roman led the receiving unit. Defensively, there were a ton of playmakers. Jahmir Smith had seven sacks, A’Johnnie Rembert totaled six sacks, Lee had two interceptions, Michael Francisco recorded five sacks and CJ Egrie finished with three interceptions. <strong>3-Delbarton: </strong>Delbarton had its toughest challenges of the season wiped away against Bergen Catholic and St. Joseph (Mont.), but the Green Wave still accomplished a 6-0 season with a ton of quality wins. The Green Wave easily defeated Seton Hall Prep, a team that defeated St. Peter’s Prep, while also taking down DePaul and Don Bosco Prep (on the road) in back-to-back weeks. Add in dominating wins over Pope John, Hudson Catholic and St. Joseph (Met.) – where Delbarton outscored those three opponents 119-16 – and the Green Wave overcame every challenge it was able to play. Cole Freeman had a great senior year at quarterback for Delbarton. <strong>4-Wall: </strong>Wall had a great year and takes the honor of top public school. It defeated Mater Dei and Donovan Catholic to end the season. While it didn’t play the competition level of the three teams above Wall, the group still had four shutout wins, which is very impressive. The Crimson Knights did it with defense, and [player_tooltip player_id="27929" first="Casey" last="Larkin"] was extremely effective in the backfield. <strong>5-St. Peter’s Prep: </strong>St. Peter’s Prep looked like the unanimous No. 1 team through October, defeating St. Joseph (Mont.), Don Bosco and a solid West Orange team, putting up 62 points in that effort. The group dealt with COVID-19 and finished the year losing two straight games to Seton Hall Prep and Bergen Catholic, by a combined eight points. [player_tooltip player_id="27881" first="Tahj" last="Bullock"], a Virginia Tech pledge, led the way in the air and on the ground, and guys like [player_tooltip player_id="28005" first="Paul" last="Lefkowitz"], Samuel Slade, Jaylan Sanchez, George Rooks and Ethan Rodriguez all made great contributions. <strong>6-St. Joseph (Mont.): </strong>St. Joseph comes in at No. 6 after finishing 6-2 and winning the last five games, including impressive victories over Don Bosco Prep, Cherokee and DePaul. The Green Knights lost tough games to Bergen Catholic and St. Peter’s Prep, but they were still one of the most dangerous teams in the state behind star running back and Michigan State commit [player_tooltip player_id="27865" first="Audric" last="Estime"], who put up video game numbers with 1,838 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. [player_tooltip player_id="27926" first="Frankie" last="Monte"] had a memorable season on defense with six sacks, 31 tackles, a pair of forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. <strong>7-Somerville: </strong>Somerville had another strong season on the field. The Somerset County squad relied on a number of weapons on both sides on the way to a 7-0 season. The Pioneers essentially dominated the competition, and they ended the year on a high note with an impressive victory over Woodbridge. Cookie Desiderio closed out a great career with over 1,500 rushing yards and 26 rushing touchdowns, and 28 overall. Sophomore quarterback Michael Miller had an eye-opening campaign with 1,600 passing yards and 17 passing TDs to just three interceptions. He also had four rushing scores. Jaimen Bryant had a team-leading 39 receptions for 671 yards and nine TDs, and Ethan MacNair finished with 31 catches for 425 yards and four scores. MacNair had 50 tackles and AJ Pena had a monster senior season with 44 tackles and 12 sacks. <strong>8-Lenape: </strong>While Lenape (5-2) suffered losses to St. Augustine and Holy Spirit to end the season, the team had a big win over Cherokee and made great strides through dealing with the pandemic. The Indians relied on players such as Brady Long, Hazma Bruce, [player_tooltip player_id="27876" first="Xavier" last="Coleman"], [player_tooltip player_id="27914" first="Tyler" last="Davis"], Kobi Ray-Reed and [player_tooltip player_id="27951" first="Luke" last="Cole"]. <strong>9-Cherokee: </strong>Cherokee finished the season 5-2. The Chiefs got off to a 5-0 start before falling to Lenape in overtime and then state powerhouse St. Joseph (Mont.) in a very close 36-35 meeting. The team’s two losses were by a combined four points. Brandon Boria was excellent as a sophomore and will lead Cherokee the next few years. <strong>10-Donovan Catholic: </strong>Donovan Catholic finished 7-1 on the season, with its lone loss coming against Wall, 18-15, in the battle for the top of the Shore Conference in the last game of the season. Evyn Menta threw for 771 yards and 10 touchdowns, and Jahdir Loftland was a near 1,000-yard rusher while finishing with 17 TDs. Jayden Farrar was another playmaker on both ends. <strong>Others: Phillipsburg, St. Joseph (Hamm.) DePaul, Don Bosco Prep, Seton Hall Prep, St. Augustine, Ocean City, Paulsboro, Newton, West Essex, West Orange, Becton, Randolph, West Morris, Mount Olive, Williamstown, Winslow, River Dell</strong>