By: Darren Cooper / Record Sports
For Garfield, the old days aren’t forgotten, but there is a new direction.
No public school in Bergen County can match Garfield’s storied football history, recently chronicled in Hank Gola’s book “City of Champions.”
But history doesn’t win football games.
First-year coach Pete Santacroce is a Garfield product. He knows about the school’s past and has made it a point to stress that history to his team.
He also knows what a lot of people say: Garfield is a Sleeping Giant (that’s what a history of success can do for you), but the program hasn’t won a playoff game since 1979. So one could say the giant has been snoozing for a while.
Santacroce is lucky in that he doesn’t have a problem getting players out. He counted 75 on the roster recently and expects to have a full freshman team. He believes he has athletes and talent to work with. Garfield finished 5-4 last year.
Santacroce is trying to establish a new culture. Well, every first-year coach says that, but what does it really mean?
To him, it means making practice quick, fun and instructional. It means explaining to the team that mistakes will happen, it’s the next play that counts. Also, he has to help his players realize that they all matter and can contribute.
He’s hoping a different voice and a different vibe can bring the Boilermakers back to prominence.
The tradition
Have you read the Gola book? Garfield has a glorious football history, which includes the 1939 high school national championship win in Miami. That era was dominated by the hard-charging Boilermakers.
But since film turned to color, Garfield has not been as relevant. They have made the playoffs seven times in the modern era and never won a sectional title.
The challenge
The division of the NJIC that the Boilermakers play in has been dominated by Rutherford the last two years.
That’s OK. Rutherford has won the last two sectional titles. Garfield needs to show it can be consistent and finally beat some of the teams in the division it usually struggles with. Its identity recently has been inconsistent.
Expectations
Santacroce feels like he has a team that can contend this season. The division seems wide open.
It’s crucial for Garfield to get off to a good start in Week 1 against Lodi if it’s going to truly make some history in 2019. It is the 80th anniversary of the national title team.
