Posted By Tim McCollum
“Football doesn’t build character; it reveals it.”
— Wayne Hills football coach Chris Olsen
After Neptune’s win over North Burlington to clinch a spot in the Central Jersey group III finals, I decided to leave the comfy confines of the Central Jersey forum and see if there was any Central Jersey championship chatter in the Statewaide forum. It seemed like the subject of every post was about an incident involving the Wayne Hills football team.
So I decided to do a little research.
I sifted through the dozens and dozens of posts. When it was clear the story was in the news I sifted through just about all of the articles I could find on the matter. I found it amazing that there was all this hoo ha for something very straight forward and something other schools like Matawan for example handled with no publicity whatsoever.
I criticized the players allegedly involved for not using their heads. Not for being guilty of a crime because they haven’t been. Not for being charged with a crime because that doesn’t matter. They shouldn’t have been there. There shouldn’t have been an altercation.
I criticized Coach Olsen for appearing weak by allowing the issue to fester and explode. I criticized the Wayne Board of Education for appearing wishy washy with their handling of the situation.
I decided to follow the situation closely through the news. First were the stories reporting that the players were suspended. Then the stories reporting that supporters of those players intended to sue to get back on the field. Then came the various stories reporting the rapid disposition of those suits. Then I found a video interview with Coach Olsen.
In it he made the quote above about character I got even more intrigued because I’m thinking “Wow this guy gets it. He demands excellence, holds the kids accountable and seems like everything you would want in a coach.” More than anything else that quote about character really stood out to me.
Fast forward to Championship Saturday. I was so excited to see the Scarlet Fliers run into the Rutgers’ stadium that I was ready to leave for a 4:00 game at 10 in the morning. I know they said to leave early but this is ridiculous. I fought off the urge as long as I could left around 11. Rather than go directly to the stadium I went to lunch at one of my favorite places which happens to be down the street from the RU campus.
I read the championship previews in both the Asbury Park Press (such as it was) and the Star Ledger, including the rather large article profiling Coach Olsen and the Wayne Hills program. Now understand I never really knew all that much about Wayne Hills football, coach Olsen, the championships etc. I just couldn’t get his quote out of my head and decided to use the day to do a character study. I’m going to jump around a bit but here’s what I noticed.
Football like any sport, or life in general, deals you alot of adversity. Your character reveals itself with how you deal with, and rise up from, that adversity. That is to say your character isn’t revealed when you fumble the ball. It’s revealed with what you do when you pick it up.
There was not one, but two teams playing not at full strength yesterday as Matawan was without a number of their players who were suspended from the game for disciplinary reasons. This was already an intriguing matchup because it was a reversal of roles from last year’s CJ II championship. Last year it was Matawan who was undefeated and rolling, including a convincing victory over a highly regarded Rumson team in the process.
This year it was Rumson that was undefeated (well at least they were until they ran into #1 RBC) including a convincing victory over a highly regarded Matawan team, and an even more convincing victory over eventual CJ I champion Asbury Park.
I realize that after the fireworks that was Neptune vx Steinert this may have been a let down but it cannot go unnoticed that Matawan returned the favor from last year and upset the favored Bulldogs to win the CJ II title.
Yep. Character reveals itself.
As I made the 20 mile walk from the outskirts of Piscataway to the stadium you could hear the announcer in the stadium very clearly. The score at the time was Sayreville 6 Manalapan 2. By the time I got there it was Sayreville 13 Manalapan 2 in the second quarter. Sayreville ended up driving to end the half but the drive was stopped by a Manalapan interception.
The Braves did a good job clawing their way back into the game with a big drive to make it 16-11 after a failed two point conversion. They then threw haymaker after haymaker at Sayreville.
In the end though every time Manalapan got the momentum going in their favor Sayreville, usually in the form of Delone Stevenson, make a big play on defense, or broke off a big run to nip it in the bud.
Yep character reveals itself on both sides of the ball in this one.
Now we move onto archrival Asbury Park who had their fair share of adversity this season. They were rolling right along when suddenly their special teams coach John Key was killed in a tragic traffic accident. Did they fold it up? No they pressed on and rolled right into a matchup between undefeated and fellow group favorite Rumson who absolutely blasted them on their home field.
Did Asbury fold up the tent? Nope they rolled right on through the first two rounds of the playoffs until they met up with fellow one loss team and sectional finalist for a good old fashioned slopperknocker Thanksgiving rivalry game against Neptune. Asbury lost this game in heartbreaking fashion to the Fliers 29-28 that culminated in a thrilling goal line stand from the Fliers in the waning minutes of the game.
Did Asbury fold up the tent?
No they rolled right along and won yet another CJ I championship in convincing fashion over Florence to continue what has to now be considered a dynasty run in CJ I.
Yep character has certainly revealed itself in Asbury.
Now for our last character reference we move onto the home team. For those of you who may not know one of the most touching stories of the season started with an innocent trip to the beach and ended with a terrible tragedy that cost the life of one of their own.
Character reveals itself in unusual ways like a young man willing to risk his life to try and save the life of a friend. Lost in the tragic outcome was this truly heroic act. As you know the Neptune team this season dedicated their season to Naisere Nelson and dubbed themselves “TeamNas”.
And what a season it was.
