Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

11/14/2008 - Fitting End For SCIL Football

At about this time in 1975, the very first Sussex County Interscholastic League fall sports season was wrapping up.

It was an exciting time for the fledgling league, which was formed with the idea that Sussex County should have its own league and not have to play teams from Morris and Passaic counties in the old Skyline Conference.

Boy, how times have changed.

The league’s forefathers, like late Newton athletic director Art Disque, felt Sussex County had grown enough to support its own league with a new school popping up in Vernon, regional schools forming in Kittatinny and Lenape Valley and with plans for Wallkill Valley already on the board.

They were right. The SCIL has had a great run and I will be sad to see it go in many respects being a former player and having covered the loop on a professional level since 1988.

So it only seemed fitting to me that on the final weekend of SCIL football that the three programs that put the SCIL on the map played a major role in what school or schools would win the final SCIL championship.

Pope John, which ushered in the SCIL by winning its first crown in 1975, was playing Lenape Valley for a chance to win or share its 19^th banner. Lenape Valley, which has won six SCIL crowns under Don Smolyn, who didn’t come on board until two years after the league formed, is also synonymous with success when it comes to SCIL football.

And the final member of “The Big Three,” Sparta, was also playing for a piece of its seventh crown, while relative newcomer, Jefferson, needed to beat Wallkill Valley, which joined the SCIL in the same year as Jefferson in 1982, for its third title.

There was a certain symmetry to it all. Just as the league came in, it went out, with Pope John and Sparta, along with Jefferson, out of Morris County, sharing the crown. It put a nice bow on the 33-year-old league that has now gone the way of the Skyline Conference.

In 1975, Pope John was just starting to enjoy great and consistent success on the gridiron under Vic Paternostro, the only coach still left on the sidelines since the opening day of the league. Sparta was the top team in the county then under its legendary head coach Dick Cassels, but Sparta didn’t join the league until 1977, if my memory serves right.

And Smolyn started to make to make his mark with the Pats by winning the title in 1977. In fact, no other team besides Pope John, Sparta and Lenape Valley won the league until 1984 when Newton, led by Sussex County Hall-of-Famer Erik Pederson, won the crown.

So seeing Pope John and Sparta share the last league title was no surprise. The bitter rivals have shared the crown three times, in 1979, 1982 and 2000. And Jefferson, which last won the title in 1993, was only the second team outside “The Big Three” to capture the crown when the Falcons won the SCIL in 1986.

The league has seen its share of changes over the years. Franklin High School shut its doors in June of 1982, leaving Newton as the oldest high school in the county. Wallkill Valley opened that fall and I remember what a beautiful facility it was and still is.

True story. When I was playing for Vernon, we played at Wallkill in 1982. I remember how large the school was and the maze (or it seemed to me) that you had to go through to get to the locker rooms. It was a bit confusing, to say the least, and part of our team got lost in that maze and missed the start of our pregame meeting because we had no idea where to go.

Anyway, Sussex Tech left the league as a fulltime member that year too and Jefferson was placed in the SCIL in the first of the five statewide realignments that have been employed since 1982.

The league has built a very solid reputation in all sports over the years with football, wrestling, girls hoops, baseball, softball, field hockey, cross country, swimming, bowling and field hockey all having teams winning state titles.

But has the power structure in the SCIL changed that much since 1975? Well, let’s look at the first champs that fall and this year’s champions. Keep in mind, Sparta was not a charter member.

*Boys Soccer---High Point (1975), Sparta (Large School), Newton (Small School) (2008).

*Girls Soccer—First year was 1990, Vernon. Pope John (Large School), Wallkill Valley (Small School) (2008).

*Football---Pope John (1975), Pope John, Sparta, Jefferson (2008).

*Field Hockey—Newton (1975), Newton/Kittatinny (2008).

*Boys Cross Country---Hopatcong (1975), Pope John/Vernon (2008).

*Girls Cross Country---First year was 1977, Vernon. Pope John (2008).

*Girls Tennis---First year was 1983, Sparta. Sparta (2008).

So maybe not so much has changed, huh? But the only thing for sure is that the 2008 champs will be last ones and the answer to a trivia question. And as the final SCIL season chugs on into the winter and spring seasons, I will have the same feeling of sadness. So enjoy it while you can, folks.

ON THE RECORD…I have been in journalism in some shape or form for 20 years. And one of the most confusing terms for those not in the business is “Off the record.” This is a courtesy given to people who are being interviewed who do not wish for their comments to be made public.

Now, there is no such law against printing or airing what someone says to a journalist, but it sure doesn’t help when trying to get information from that person in the future. In fact, if you violate that trust, you are sure to never to get a good quote or inside information again from that source.

And quoting someone who doesn't know they are being quoted, is just as bad, or even worse. I always make it a habit of making sure my interview subjects know exactly what is going on, especially when you are dealing with kids.

Not following those rules is just bad practice and it also makes everyone else in the business look bad.

Trust, accuracy and fairness are the three things I strive for everyday in this business. Without it, you may as well be an anonymous poster on one of those online forums.

It is just something to think about the next time you read or hear something that seems like it came out of leftfield.

That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.

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Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

11/14/2008 - Fitting End For SCIL Football