Coach: Scott Mahoney, 13th year
Last year’s ranking: 14
Rearview Mirror: The Cardinals will always be the answer to a trivia question….the team that lost the first North Jersey Interscholastic Conference championship game. Pompton Lakes was 7-0 before that loss, and then suffered a surprising defeat in the first round of the playoffs to High Point. Still, Mahoney declares the season was a good one since the Cardinals won their division and had sustained success.
COMPLETE RANKINGS:Top 20 countdown
Looking ahead: Despite losing several key players, no one should be writing the Cardinals off at all. Kyle Shafer has been waiting his turn at quarterback. He’s a formidable runner and a tough competitor. Mahoney said looking back he was surprised to see just how many kids got serious varsity action last year, he notes that you could say he has 11 experienced players back on offense. Mahoney is also thrilled to welcome back Leo Sylvestri to the defense, he was slated to make a big impact before getting injured in the preseason.
Bold Prediction: The secret to Pompton Lakes’ success has been the strength of their line play. They’ll ride that again back to another division crown.
