Classic Eyelash Extension
E Y E L A S H
ST U D I O
101 Newark Pompton Tpk. Little Falls 973.638.1078
$ Mon.-Sat. 10am-7pm Closed Sunday
No. 4 Vol. 2
Only
80
February 2022
West Essex-Caldwell Will Be Rekindled and Verona-Cedar Grove Also Back on SFC Slate
O
By Anthony Sorce ne of the best local rivalries in Essex County will be rekindled as Caldwell visits West Essex on Sept. 23, and the ‘Hatfields vs. The McCoys’ (a.k.a. Verona vs. Cedar Grove) is also back as well on Oct. 7 in The Grove after a 1-year absence as two of the highlighted 2022 contests unveiled during the first Super Football Conference Schedule Release Show held Thursday evening, Jan. 20, at the Franklin Steakhouse and aired ‘live’ on the SFC’s youtube channel. Irvington, which like Caldwell, Cedar Grove and East Orange Campus, is coming off a regional playoff championship season, has one of the more intriguing schedules for any public-school gridiron squad in the state as the Blue Knights will face South Jersey state power Millville (Sept. 2), EOC (Sept. 9), Seton Hall Prep (Sept. 23) and West Orange (Oct. 21) among its 2022 slate of foes. The Franklin Steakhouse filled its parking lot to capacity and a good-size crowd of more than 100 coaches were on hand along with athletic directors, players and members of the media to enjoy the interviews and unveiling of schedules for the nation’s largest scholastic football conference during a program hosted by Mike Quick, who is well known for his longtime New York-New Jersey Metropolitan Area high school football show that aired for more than 30 years on the MSG Network. There are 113 schools formatted into
20 divisions across seven counties (Essex, Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Sussex, Morris and Warren) in the SFC which was formed in 2016. Along with the Caldwell-West Essex and Verona-Cedar Grove matchups, another much-anticipated game to highlight on the 2022 North Jersey football calendar is when East Orange Campus travels to meet Clifton on Sept. 1st or 2nd. The game will be a rematch of the memorable North, Group 5 regional championship game at Rutgers SHI Stadium this past December when the Jaguars won in an exciting and very topical finish over the Mustangs. While a reloading Verona team will have an arduous American Gold Division schedule in 2022 with games including Weequahic (Sept. 9), at Caldwell (Sept. 16), vs. Morris Catholic (Sept. 23) and at Mountain Lakes (Sept. 30), coach Kevin Batty’s Hillbillies will certainly look forward to the restored regular season game with Cedar Grove after the two neighboring rivals didn’t meet this past fall causing must frustration both east and west of Pompton Avenue and environs for the two bordering Essex County communities which both love their football. Another much-anticipated matchup with a nice, local feel is Bloomfield vs. Belleville as the Bengals and Buccaneers have not met since 2014. Belleville coach Jermain Johnson, a former standout Bloomfield player, took over the reins of the Bucs in 2017 and the program has been improving each season.
Chris Benacquista of West Essex and Jermaine Johnson of Belleville discuss the 2022 NJSFC Schedule, The Knights and Buccaneers will meet in week 7 of the 2022 season.
It will be Johnson vs. his former coach Mike Carter when the two teams meet in the final regular season game on Oct. 21 at Foley Field. A North Jersey parochial clash with a real family feel will be ‘The Campanile Bowl’ on Sept. 30 when Vito Campanile’s Bergen Catholic Crusaders meet Nick Campanile’s DePaul Spartans. Seton Hall Prep will take on Bergen Catholic in Oradell, Sept. 16, and host Irvington on Sept. 23 in West Orange. The Pirates travel to Monmouth County to take on defending Non-Public B champion Red Bank Catholic on Sept. 30, before an appetizing October that includes a home game vs. St.
Joe’s of Montvale on Oct. 21, and a return to Jersey City and Caven Point on Oct. 28 to take on rival St. Peter’s Prep. The Pirates lost two very close games against the Marauders at Caven Point in 2021, including in the Non-Public A quarterfinals. West Essex, which has been one of North Jersey’s most successful programs for many years, has plenty of juice in its 2022 slate, highlighted by the resumption of the rivalry with Caldwell, which is coming off a perfect 12-0 season. “West Essex vs. Caldwell is always a great event,” said Knights veteran coach continued on page 6