Story by Greg Matura – Record Sports Department
GARFIELD — Everywhere they turn, in and out of school, Nakie Graham and his Garfield teammates are being congratulated.
Classmates, teachers, policemen and firefighters in the Bergen County town that stretches just beyond two square miles are acknowledging the football program’s first playoff victory in 40 years.
“There’s just good chemistry going around, and a lot of love going around from everybody in the community,” Graham said Monday.
The celebration began after Garfield (7-2) defeated host Rahway, 18-7, Friday night in a North 1, Group 3 first-round game. That marked the program’s first postseason victory since a 21-7 home win over Lenape Valley in 1979.
Garfield’s Josue Matias (32), shown here against Lodi, surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the season as the team defeated Rahway to earn its first playoff win since 1979.
Garfield’s Josue Matias (32), shown here against Lodi, surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the season as the team defeated Rahway to earn its first playoff win since 1979. (Photo: North Jersey Media Group Staff P)
Kacper Szuberski is one of several seniors who volunteer at a town firehouse, and firefighters were all too happy to congratulate him Saturday before he even opened his mouth.
“Before I even told them what happened, they all knew, everybody knew,” said Szuberski, adding, “We had like a little party at the firehouse.”
Szuberski and Graham had key interceptions against Rahway. Senior Josue Matias ran for 100 yards to surpass 1,000 for the season and scored two touchdowns. Jay Hawes threw a pivotal fourth-quarter TD pass to fellow senior Elias Chery.
“It’s such a great thing to see the program come here,” said Garfield vice principal Steve Mucha, the former Boilermakers’ longtime football coach and a senior center on that 1979 team. “It’s a great experience for these guys, because it’s something you never forget the rest of your life. They’ll never forget Friday night at Rahway for the rest of their life, the way I’ll never forget Lenape Valley out here.”
Friday’s win came in Garfield’s eighth playoff appearance, which began with that debut in 1979. The victory broke a seven-game postseason losing streak, with three of those losses coming this decade. The Boilermakers last playoff appearance, in 2015, ended with a 28-12 home loss to Sparta.
The Boilermakers were well aware that the program had not won a playoff game in four decades. First-year coach Peter Santacroce, a former assistant and 2004 Garfield graduate, made sure to pound home that fact as a motivator.
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“Our coach drilled it into our head almost every day since camp,” Graham said. “Even before camp, in June, in the weight room.”
“As a new coach, I wanted to bring the culture that, ‘We expect to be in the state playoffs, we expect to compete in these games,’” said Santacroce, whose seventh-seeded Boilermakers play at No. 2 seed Pascack Valley (7-2) in Friday’s semifinal.
Graham and the Boilermakers hope to be receiving more congratulatory texts and pats on the back after Friday’s semifinal at Pascack Valley.
“We started the season with a lot of momentum, the town was behind us, and we slipped up for two games, but nothing really changed,” Santacroce said. “People were still behind the boys, everyone was excited, and I felt we needed to run with that, and we needed to look forward and try to get this done.
“And we’re not done yet. I think we have a lot of momentum after last week, and we have the roster that can challenge anybody. So we’re hoping to get another one.”
