Nutley head football coach Tom Basile didn’t mince words when it came time to talking about his team qualifying for the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group III playoffs.
“We’re in the playoffs and we don’t belong in the playoffs,” Basile said after his team dismantled Barringer, 57-38, last Friday night at Newark’s Schools Stadium, rolling up more than 580 yards rushing in the game. “We’re not ready for this. It would make for a nice made-for-HBO movie, but it’s not happening. I have mixed emotions and feelings, because I think a team with a 3-6 record doesn’t belong. I don’t think teams that won three games should go.”
The Maroon Raiders will face top-seeded West Essex in the opening round of the state playoffs, the same West Essex team that defeated the Maroon Raiders, 28-7, in the North 2, Group III playoffs last year and the same West Essex team that knocked off Nutley, 27-7, in the season opener this year.
“I’m just not a fan of the way the playoff system is these days,” Basile said.
At 3-6, Nutley is one of six teams with a losing record headed to the postseason. Only Columbia (1-8) in North 2, Group V and Keansburg (2-7) in Central Jersey Group I have worse records than the Maroon Raiders. Glen Ridge (North 2, Group I), Florence (Central Group I) and Neptune (Central Group IV) have three wins each.
“Plus, we’re all banged up,” Basile said. “Two of our best players in R.J. Ferrarelli and Sabino Coppola probably won’t play. Coppola is on crutches and Ferrarelli has some sort of health issues. It’s going to be a challenge with the injury bug biting us. We really don’t have another inside linebacker who is ready to play.”
But the Maroon Raiders are coming off their best rushing game of the season, led by Nick Mainiero, who had 218 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Quarterback Josh O’Neill scored four touchdowns rushing.
“We ran the ball a lot,” Basile said. “We were more run-oriented out of the option and that worked for us. We went back to a lot of our old sets.”
Eight different players carried the ball for more than 50 yards each. Six individuals scored touchdowns.
“It was nice for our seniors to get a win,” Basile said.
But now, this weekend is a dance with the big time.
“I have tremendous respect for West Essex and their program,” Basile said. “They haven’t changed a thing over the years. We’ve had problems with them in recent years, last year in the playoffs, this year. We had a tough time moving the football.”
Basile knows that the odds are stacked against his 3-6 team going against the 6-3 Knights.
“We’re going to be battling,” Basile said. “Our goal as a coaching staff is to try to stop them. It’s tough to get our kids’ mindsets ready to face them. But we’ll battle. I know a lot of our kids are just not ready for this. We’re going to need more than two scores to win the game. Are we going to prepare like we do for every game? Of course, we are. Can we compete? Of course, we can compete.”
Knowing Basile and the way he gets his team ready to play, anything is possible.
As predicted last week, Harrison is indeed headed to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II playoffs to face Roselle Saturday at 1 p.m. The 5-3 Blue Tide lost a heartbreaker in overtime to Glen Rock Friday night, but the loss had nothing to do with their playoff standing.
It will mark Harrison’s first appearance in the state playoffs since 1989.
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”