By Darren Cooper – Record Sports
For a lot of public schools, football is about cycles.
There are cycles when you’re loaded with talent and contending for titles, and cycles when you’re just trying to stay afloat.
The cycle at Lyndhurst is up.
The goal now is to try to capitalize on the talent and experience on hand (28 seniors) and bring the town its first sectional title since 1983.
Since taking over the program in 2014, Rich Tuero has slowly improved the Golden Bears and become a respected young coach in North Jersey. The team has gone from one win to four, to five and last year nine, which included an appearance in the sectional final (a loss to Rutherford).
Tuero is happy with what his program has accomplished, but knows the last step is the toughest one to take. Nine wins is awesome, but you don’t get banners for nine wins.
The Golden Bears didn’t win a league title and Tuero knows New Milford and Pompton Lakes will always be contenders.
The job for Tuero in 2019 is to get the Golden Bears to push themselves even further.
His message has been that his team had a taste of glory last year, but in the end, that taste turned bitter. He’s making sure his team focuses on all of the little details, because he expects big things at the end.
The tradition
Lyndhurst is one of the oldest football programs in Bergen County and is one of the best spots in the area to watch a game.
Arguably the best Lyndhurst team in history was in 1983, a team that finished 11-0 and only allowed 44 points. That Lyndhurst team is the last to win a sectional title.
The challenge
Coaches like teams with experience, but privately, they admit sometimes they prefer a better blend of seniors and juniors.
With 28 seniors, Tuero has to hope that ‘senioritis’ doesn’t poison the team’s attitude and he has to be able to balance playing time to keep some happy and engaged.
On the field, this Lyndhurst team is probably better than last year’s team that won nine games.
Expectations
Lyndhurst should start the season in the North Jersey public school Top 20 rankings. They have a legitimate two-way star in senior running back/linebacker Piotr Partyla.
The Week 4 game against Pompton Lakes looms as the first decisive point in the Golden Bears season.
