NJIC football tournament championship game: By the numbers
By: Greg Tartaglia/ NorthJersey.com
The North Jersey Interscholastic Conference will hold its eighth annual football championship game Friday at Doc Lewis Field in Park Ridge.
Here is a look inside the numbers of the NJIC tournament, which began in 2016 and has crowned four different schools as champions to date.
All-time final results
2016: Hasbrouck Heights 14, Pompton Lakes 13
2017: Rutherford 14, Hasbrouck Heights 7 (OT)
2018: Hasbrouck Heights 48, Rutherford 24
2019: Lyndhurst 34, Park Ridge 12
2020: Becton 41, Waldwick/Midland Park 12
2021: Rutherford 27, Park Ridge 20
2022: Rutherford 24, Wood-Ridge 10
2023: Rutherford vs. Park Ridge
Tournament W-L by division
*Includes results of semifinals, finals and third-place games.
Colonial: 10-5 (2-2 in finals)
Meadowlands: 7-8 overall (3-1)
Liberty: 7-8 (2-1)
Patriot: 6-9 (0-3)
Average finish by division
Colonial (2.14): Rutherford owns the division’s two titles, plus one of its three third-place finishes – Waldwick/Midland Park has the other two. This division has yet to produce a fourth-place team.
Meadowlands (2.43): Has the most championships (three) and appearances in the final (four) but also has finished fourth three times. This division has yet to produce a third-place team.
Liberty (2.57): This is the only division to have finishes in every spot, 1 through 4. Lyndhurst captured the first NJIC title by a Liberty school, and Rutherford won the second in 2021.
Patriot (2.86): Park Ridge accounted for both previous runner-up finishes and will try a third time to bring home this division’s first championship.
2023 finalists’ all-time results
Park Ridge (5-4):
L to Hasbrouck Heights, 30-14 (2018 semifinals)
W vs. New Milford, 37-21 (2018 third place)
W vs. Cresskill, 29-28 (2019 semifinals)
L to Lyndhurst, 34-12 (2019 final)
L to Becton, 21-0 (2020 semifinals)
W vs. Pompton Lakes, 29-8 (2020 third place)
W vs. Hasbrouck Heights, 22-21 in OT (2021 semifinals)
L to Rutherford, 27-20 (2021 final)
W vs. Lyndhurst, 40-21 (2022 semifinals)
Rutherford (9-2):
L to Pompton Lakes, 14-6 (2016 semifinals)
W vs. Becton, 28-16 (2016 third place)
W vs. New Milford, 42-27 (2017 semifinals)
W vs. Hasbrouck Heights, 14-7 in OT (2017 final)
W vs. New Milford, 41-14 (2018 semifinals)
L to Hasbrouck Heights, 48-24 (2018 final)
W vs. Waldwick/Midland Park, 20-8 (2021 semifinals)
W vs. Park Ridge, 27-20 (2021 final)
W vs. Hasbrouck Heights, 35-7 (2022 semifinals)
W vs. Wood-Ridge, 24-10 (2022 final)
W vs. Hawthorne, 28-20 (2023 semifinals)
Coaching records, all-time
Most wins: Nick DelCalzo (Hasbrouck Heights), Steve Dunn (Rutherford) and Tom Curry IV (Park Ridge), 5; Andy Howell (Rutherford) and Greg Gruzdis (Waldwick/Midland Park), 4; Jack Maher (Becton) and Rich Tuero (Lyndhurst), 2; Joe Cutrona (Wood-Ridge), Scott Mahoney (Pompton Lakes) and Bill Wilde (New Milford), 1.
Best win percentage: Dunn (5-0), 1.000; DelCalzo (5-1), .833; Howell (4-2) and Tuero (2-1), .667; Curry (5-4), .556; Gruzdis (4-4), Maher (2-2) and Cutrona (1-1), .500.
Union Division champions
NOTE: This division, created to help programs struggling with participation, was formed in 2020 and began holding its own postseason tournament in 2021. Its teams are not eligible for the NJSIAA playoffs.
2020: Emerson (4-0 record)
2021: Saddle Brook 14, Bogota 7 (Semifinals: Saddle Brook def. Elmwood Park, 30-26; Bogota def. Palisades Park/Leonia, 35-6)
2022: Weehawken 21, Elmwood Park 6 (Semifinals: Weehawken def. Bogota, 29-0; Elmwood Park def. Palisades Park/Leonia, 28-14)
2023: Elmwood Park vs. Weehawken, Saturday, Oct. 28 (Semifinals: Weehawken def. Manchester, 35-15; Elmwood Park def. Bogota, 7-6)
Email: tartaglia@northjersey.com
Twitter: @njtags13
