By Jeremy Acosta 21’ and Will Tallant ‘21
2020 has been a peculiar year for everyone, and the SJR football season was certainly a unique one. It may have been a season held with no fans or playoffs but The Green Knights continued to wreak havoc in the North Group 4 NJSIAA division. St. Joe's finished their season with a 6-2 record with dominating performances on both sides of the ball.
First year head coach Dan Marangi carried on the SJR winning culture in the locker room and on the field. Marangi, who held the defensive coordinator position at SJR since 2017, took over for former head coach Augie Hoffmann. After losing two out of their first three games, Marangi and the Green Knights would win their last five games of the season, including two pivotal wins against Don Bosco Prep and Cherokee High School.
The St. Joe's defensive unit lost major pieces after the conclusion of the 2019 football season, but the 2020 Green Knights filled those roles in the biggest way possible. The leader of the defense, Frankie Monte 21’; totaled 78 tackles and 7.5 sacks. Other key contributors included: Logan Rivera 21’, Jimmy Mullen ‘23, Peter Schuh 23’, and Christian Abraham 21’.
Despite the dominance of the defense, for the majority of the season, the Green Knights were led by their offense. Senior phenom Audric Estime totaled 1,857 yards with 22 rushing touchdowns. Even though Estime had a historic senior season, the offensive line played a huge part in creating the opportunities for Estime. The men up front included Jack Centrelli 21’, Liam Mitchell 21’, Chris Servedio 21’, Kevin Loughlin 22’, and Geno VanDeMark 21’. VanDeMark and Estime have both committed to attend Michigan State University next fall to pursue their academic and football aspirations.
The 2021 senior class is truly gifted academically and athletically. Many of these seniors will pursue football at various universities around the country. These universities include Michigan State University, Harvard University, Fordham University, Middlebury College, The College of New Jersey, Temple University, Georgetown University, and College of the Holy Cross. There are many other seniors still undecided on where they would like to pursue their academic and athletic careers. Their decisions will come in the following months.
It was very unfortunate that this team was unable to compete for a state title, although they made the most of the situation given to them. The Green Knights hope to once again dominate the Group 4 division next season and bring home yet another state championship to Montvale.