yesterday Delbarton
By Kent Manno, Delbarton Archivist
One team, One mission: Delbarton Football 1998 In 1998, Google was founded, Apple unveiled the iMac, the Maastricht Treaty came into force, and the Yangtze River broke its banks, displacing more than ten thousand people. After many years of troubles in Northern Ireland both sides agreed to the Good Friday agreement. The Soviet Union Banking system suffered a meltdown when the ruble lost 70% of its value against US dollar in 6 months with several of the largest Russians banks collapsing. While these events made headlines, the Delbarton football players began their quest for the pinnacle of their sport, the NJSIAA Football Championship. Navigating this quest was in the hands of Head Coach John Kowalik and his experienced staff. Joe McCurdy ’00 says that Coach Kowalik “set the standards high” telling the team to “do the right thing when no one is looking.” Jeff Parros ’98 remembers that Coach Kowalik ran an organized program and was at times “scary, tough, caring, and passionate.” While Andrew Crocco ’99 found Coach Kowalik ‘mean’ early on, he would later see the method to his system.
In the immortal words of Vince Lombardi, “Football is a great deal like life in that it teaches that work, sacrifice, perseverance, competitive drive, selflessness, and respect for authority is the price that each and every one of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” Clearly, the 1998 football team manifested these ideals. Would this team be able to match the heights achieved by the Green Wave championship team of 1993?
After losing the first game of the season to Orange, in 1998 the Green Wave rolled through the rest of the season with crucial wins over West Milford, Wayne Valley, and Passaic Valley winning the conference title. Jeff Parros ’01 remembered the Orange game vividly as upon exiting the parking lot the players were told to “put their helmets on and duck.” A few of the more ardent Orange fans had decided to throw rocks at the Delbarton buses.
Spring/Summer 2022
109
