The realization that Friday’s Senior Night was almost certainly going to be the last ever home game made it an emotional night for Lyndhurst’s seniors. But Roddy Morinho, the emotions were perhaps a little stronger.
For more than three decades Lyndhurst has often had Morinho in a prominent role, including Roddy’s father, also named Roddy. But for the younger Morinho, Friday had the realization that it would not only be his last high school game at Joe Cipolla Field, but the last (at least for the foreseeable future) of the entire Morinho family.
“As of right now, I’m the last Morinho to play football. I don’t there’s anybody after me so I don’t want my season to end at all,” Morinho said. “The Morinho name has been here for 30 years and I don’t want it to go away so quickly. I want to leave my stamp on this program. Not just me, my father, my uncle. I want the Morinho name to be remembered.”
In Roddy Morinho’s last home game, he delivered a performance that won’t soon be forgotten
At linebacker, Morinho was an unstoppable force, recording 15 tackles, including five for a loss, with a sack. At running back, he ran for 101 yards and three touchdowns on just 14 carries as Lyndhurst rolled to its seventh consecutive win, a 35-6 dismantling of Park Ridge.
For added measure, Morinho further cemented his place among the best running backs in Lyndhurst history as he eclipsed the 2,000 yard and 30 touchdown marks for his career. It’s numbers that put him in select company with those like his uncle Ray, Petey Guerrero and Piotr Partyla among others.
Morinho’s all-around performance makes him The Observer Athlete of the Week.
“Roddy was fired up and he looked really awesome. He was a possessed man,” head coach Rich Tuero said. “He took it to heart that it was his last game on that field. There’s definitely a bloodline there for that family and (Lyndhurst football). So yeah, it definitely was a little extra for him that game.”
Morinho, who recently made a verbal commitment to continue his career at Norwich University in Vermont, concludes the regular season with 69 tackles on defense and 580 rushing yards on offense. Those numbers may pale in comparison to previous years, but that’s a testament to the way Lyndhurst has played this season.
During this current seven-game winning streak, the Golden Bears have outscored their opponents by an average by 42.6 points. This has resulted in Morinho and several other starters spending the second halves of games on the sidelines with younger players getting reps with the game out of reach.
“It’s not a me sport, it’s not an I sport, it’s the team. If the team’s winning, then I’m winning,” Morinho said. “Yeah, I could have some insane stats this year, but how is it going to be when I leave? When I come back to watch some of the kids I played with, how, how are they doing? Are they succeeding? Are they excelling the way that I know they can? Lyndhurst football is not ending when I leave and I want us to stay great.”
One added benefit in the short term is that Morinho feels significantly healthier than a year ago when Lyndhurst went to Newton for the first round of the state tournament. This time around, Morinho feels 100-percent heading into Friday night at Ramsey in what he hopes will be just the first game in a long state tournament run..
“A year ago I was banged up and I was definitely feeling it at the end of the season. All the guys were,” said Morinho. “This year, not having to play the full game every single game because we dominated in the beginning, I feel more fresh. I wasn’t always so banged up here and there this year. Everytime I stepped on the field for the later games this season, I was just fresh. I was 100-percent and I was ready to rock.
“We want to send a message to everybody that we’re not a force to be taken lightly. We want to show everybody that we’re here to play and we’re not going home soon. We want to play through the whole month in November. We want to be out here and we want to dominate everybody they put in front of us.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)