Football Notes from All Over
I missed a rare day of work Monday to have an epidural injection in my lower back as I have been dealing with sciatica resulting from spinal stenosis since late summer.
Things have been much better over the last few weeks but I’ve still experienced pain and discomfort and hopefully the injection will offer relief. Special thanks to the team that took care of me at the Toms River Surgery Center, including Jessie, Barbara, Deirdre, Lisa P, Doreen and Diane.
Today it’s the latest edition of “a little of this and a little of that.”
- From the field of 27 shore teams that qualified for the NJSIAA Football Playoffs only six remain but we are assured of having at least one sectional champ as Wall will face Rumson-Fair Haven in the Central Jersey Group 3 Finals on Friday night. That same night Jackson Memorial will travel to Hammonton to play for the Central Jersey Group 4 championship. The other three teams still playing make up the four teams left in the Non-Public Group 3 Tournament with Donovan Catholic to visit top-seed DePaul Friday while Red Bank Catholic hosts shore rival Mater Dei Prep.
- Belated congratulations to coach Kevin Callahan and the Monmouth University football program for clinching their first Big South title over the weekend following a resounding 47-10 victory at Campbell which also secured the league’s automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. The Hawks, who have moved up to #12 in the latest AFCA Coaches Poll, will host Hampton Saturday at noon in their final regular season contest before postseason play begins.
- The Lakewood BlueClaws will hold their 20th annual Breakfast with Buster Holiday Food & Toy Drive on Saturday, December 7th (9 a.m. -11 a.m.) at FirstEnergy Park. Buster will team up with Santa Claus to collect food and toys for the holidays. For more information visit blueclaws.com.
- The horrific incident that took place at the Camden-Pleasantville football game last Friday was just another reminder of what gun violence is doing to this country. And don’t by any means assume something like this could never happen here because you would be naïve to think that way.