Linden and Rahway open this weekend By: JR Parachini , Sports Editor 09/12/2002
The high school football season is about to kick off for Linden and Rahway, while Roselle will still have to wait a week.
Linden and Rahway are in action for the first time this weekend, with Linden hosting Irvington Saturday at 1 p.m. at Cooper Field. Rahway is at non-conference foe Delaware Valley tomorrow night at 7.
Roselle is one of only two teams in Union County Johnson being the other that opens next weekend. The Rams will debut Sept. 21 at home against Brearley.
I have a lot seniors returning this year, Linden head coach Bucky McDonald said. I m expecting a lot of leadership from that group.
In his 18th year at the helm of the Tigers, McDonald guided his team to a 4-6 mark last season.
We were a bubble team last year that squandered many opportunities, McDonald said. We lost three of our games by a combined 10 points.
Those defeats, all at home, came against Westfield 17-13, vs. Scotch Plains 40-35 and against Union 20-19.
Hopefully, well learn from last year, McDonald said. I definitely don t want to repeat that trend.
Roselle expects to be competitive in each game.
Were young, but I think that we re going to be okay, Roselle head coach Lou Grasso said.
I'm looking forward to a good season.
After losing five of their first six contests last season, the Rams finished strong by winning three of their final four to finish 4-6.
Roselle scored over 40 points in its last two games. The Rams posted a 41-7 victory over visiting Chatham in a North 2, Group 2 consolation and then whipped Thanksgiving Day rival Roselle Park 48-22, also at home.
In those games, Roselle was sparked by the superb play of wide receiver Jesse Holley.
Holley, whose also an outstanding guard on the boys basketball team, is ranked among the top senior players in the county.
Jesse is a four-year starter that has done a fine job for us, Grasso said. He s one of our leaders and he goes out of his way to help the younger players.
Rahway has a new head coach in Mark Ciccotelli, who played his high school ball at Johnson Regional.
Right now we re trying to prepare our kids, teaching them to become students of the game, Ciccotelli said.
Ciccotelli, a head coach for the first time, was previously an assistant at Johnson Regional, Sparta and Scotch Plains under brother Steve and an assistant at Keyport under brother Mike. He spent the past two seasons as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Middletown South under Steve Antonucci.
Middletown South was the Central Jersey, Group 3 champion last year, finishing 12-0 and ranked No. 17 in the state.
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