While the unseasonably warm weather may not show it, the calendars turning to November and our clocks being set back an hour are among the signs that the NJSIAA state tournaments are set to begin for soccer and volleyball and our Observer-area teams are not only well represented in these tournaments, but poised to make extended runs.
In boys soccer, Kearny begins the defense of its North 1, Group 4 title on Tuesday when it hosts a familiar foe in HCIAL American Division rival North Bergen. The Kardinals shook off the disappointment of falling in the Hudson County Tournament finals with wins over Dickinson, Dover and Demarest, and as the No. 2 seed in North 1, Group 4, are once again one of the favorites.
Two other local squads are in this section and have earned first round home games as Bloomfield, seeded sixth, will welcome Fair Lawn. Belleville, seeded eight, will host ninth-seeded Union City.
In North 2, Group 1, North Arlington has turned its strong October into a three seed in the bracket. One year after falling in the N2G1 final, the Vikings, led by sniper Nico Stanzione, look to add to the championship hardware it started collecting by sharing the Bergen Invitational title with Lyndhurst.
Speaking of Lyndhurst, the Golden Bears are the sixth-seed in North 2, Group 2 and will host West Morris in the first round. Harrison, which quietly has enjoyed another fine season with 14 wins, is the third seed and will be home to Mendham. If they can get by their Morris County foes on Tuesday, Harrison and Lyndhurst will once again cross paths in the quarterfinals where the Bears delivered an upset victory a year ago.
In North 2, Group 3, Nutley is the sixth seed and travels to face Colonia.
On the girls side, which started on Monday, Nov. 4 after our deadlines, Lyndhurst is the second seed in North 2, Group 2 and with Kieran Meehan in net, the Bears have as good of a chance as any to emerge as the champions in this section. Their road will begin with a familiar face in 15th-seeded Harrison in the first round. While they lost both regular season matchups to Lyndhurst, the Blue Tide kept it tight with both games finishing 1-0.
North Arlington is the seventh seed in North 2, Group 1 and despite cooling off down the stretch after a blistering start, hopes to make a deep run with a talented young core, starting with its first round matchup with BelovED Charter of Jersey City.
Another young team hoping to make some noise is Nutley, who is the 11th seed in North 2, Group 3 and travels to play sixth-seeded Millburn.
In North 1, Group 4 a well-tested Kearny team has earned the sixth-seeded and will host an 11th-seeded Union City team it blew out in the Hudson County Tournament. A trip to third-seeded Morristown likely awaits.
Also in North 1, Group 4, Bloomfield is the eighth seed and will host Bloomfield Tech, while Belleville, seeded 15th gets the daunting task of trying to stun a state-ranked Montclair team.
For volleyball, Lyndhurst, which is enjoying a banner season, is the top seed in North 2, Group 2 and a potential favorite to win its first sectional crown in more than 25 years. The Bears earned a first round bye and will host the Leonia-Parsippany Hills winner in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Also in North 2, Group 2, 10th-seeded Harrison looks to snap a late-season losing streak on Tuesday when it goes to Newark to face Science Park. In North 2, Group 4, Kearny has put an 0-4 start in the rear-view mirror and is now the fourth seed and is ready to host Elizabeth. Belleville is the 12th seed in North 2, Group 3 and will face Chatham.
North Arlington earned a home game as the eighth seed in Central, Group 1 and will host Bard of Newark.
Back in North 1, Group 3, Nutley, which is enjoying a resurgent season at 15-8 is the sixth seed and will host Teaneck. Bloomfield is the 11th seed in North 1, Group 4 and plays Hackensack
In cross country, three local runners have advanced to the Group Championships which will be held at Holmdel Park on Saturday after strong performances in the North 2 Championships at Garrett Mountain.
Meya Ranges continued her fine rookie season, placing 10th in North 2, Group 3 with a time of 20:21.44.
In North 2, Group 2, a pair of Lyndhurst sophomores are moving on after running personal bests. Madison Mason took 10th place in the girls meet with a time of 20:37.15. In the boys meet, Gabriel Campos finished 14th with a time of 16:52.76.
Meanwhile the football season officially came to a close for the Observer-area. Lyndhurst saw its season end in heart-breaking fashion as Justus Favata’s 1-yard touchdown run with 72 seconds remaining gave Ramsey a 27-24 victory in the first round of the North 2, Group 2 playoffs. Lyndhurst, which finishes 7-2, used the familiar one-two combination of QB Shawn Bellenger (155 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and Roddy Morinho (91 rushing yards with a rushing and receiving TD) to build up a 24-7 lead in the third quarter.
Nutley, which entered its North 2, Group 4 game at Phillipsburg as heavy underdogs, was defeated 42-0 to finish its season 4-6.
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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.)