The Westfield Leader Newspaper
The Times of Scotch Plains-Fanwood

Page C2 Thursday, April 15, 1999 The Westfield Leader and THE TIMES of Scotch Plains – Fanwood A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION

CYAN YELLOW MAGENTA BLACK

By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Eight seniors from Westfield High School's memorable1998footballteam have decided to take their athletic talents as well as academic talents to college this fall. Gabe Perez, Rob Albino, Todd Dowling, Tom Langton, Will Hannis, Tom Lee, Jason Merritt and Brandon Doerr will be great assets tothe variouscollegesandUniversities that they will be attending.

This group of eight, along with the rest of the Blue Devils, were directly responsiblefor bringingthefansback to the seats of Gary Kehler Stadium. They also brought back the winning spirit that temporarily eluded Westfield football. And most of all, they earned respect for Westfield football.

The 1998 Blue Devil football team completed a 7-2 regular season which was highlighted by a 29-10 humbling of the once dominant Union Farmers. For the first time since 1981, the Blue Devils qualified for the state sectional tournament. Next, they impressed newspaper reporters and fans with a 30-6 taming of the West Morris Central Wolfpack and a wicked 44-13 trampling of the Parsippany Hills Vikings. This earned them the right to play in Giants Stadium.

Plenty of colleges were looking at Perez and finally, he accepted an offer of a full four-year scholarship to Fordham University in the Bronx. He was strongly recruited by such colleges asMonmouthCollege,Montclair State, Towson State, College of New Jersey and several others.

Perez, who began playing football in his junior year, immediately impressed onlookers with his talent, especially against Scotch PlainsFanwood. There, he rushed the quarterback incessantly, batted down two pass attempts and had two interceptions. Shortly afterwards, he became the Madison Square Garden-Chase High School Heisman Trophy Player of the Week.

Despite having his 1998 season cut short due to a shoulder injury, Perez, as a tight end, scored four touchdowns, had nine receptions and led the Blue Devils with 27.9 yards

per-reception and was second in pass yardage with 251. On defense, Perez recorded 42 tackles.

Albino was the center of the Blue Devils' devastating offensive line. Offensive anddefensivelinemenusually get very little credit from the average fan, and their statistics usually go unnoticed by many; however, Albino got everybody's attention on several occasions with some of his thunderous, "cracking" blocks.

Presently, Albino is choosing between Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, New York, or Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.

Eight Blue Devil Griders Will Take Their Talents to College

As a fullback, Dowling came on strong midway through the season and crashed over the goal line seven times. He carried 103 times for 583 yards. He had his most memorable game against Parsippany Hills where he rumbled over the Vikings for 152 yards and scored one touchdown.

At inside linebacker, Dowling made contact with the opposition more than any other Blue Devil and led the team with 104 tackles. He also recorded two interceptions. Dowling will be attending Central Connecticut State in New Britain in the fall on a full football scholarship.

The 6' 9" Tom Langton was overshadowing at offensive tackle. Opponents could not see past him and were usually trampled underneath him when he opened up a hole for the running backs. Langton was an integral part of the offensive line that enabled the Blue Devils to accumulate 2,080 yards rushing.

After considering several colleges, Langton was approached by a recruiter from the faraway state of Michigan. Langton received a full scholarship and will attend Central Michigan UniversityinMountPleasant, Michigan.

Hannis, an offensive guard, was another valuable member of the formidable Blue Devil offensive line which made it possible for Doerr, the Blue Devil quarterback, to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in passing. Hannis will test his skills at Kean University in Union.

Lee, the "Hammer" at fullback, pounded his way to 261 yards rushing on 58 carries and four touchdowns. Lee also had two receptions for 45 yards and as an inside linebacker, had 74 tackles and an interception. Lee was the center of team and fan morale as he could always be seen raising his arms in the air to encourage the fans to cheer. Lee will attend either Jersey City University or Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.

At wide receiver, Jason Merritt had three touchdowns, was second on the team with 12 receptions and third with 207 total yards. As a defensive back, Merritt had 51 tackles, warned opposing quarterbacks not to throw his way and made them pay with four interceptions. Merritt will attend St. Peter's University in Jersey City.

left, then Polinitzia blooped an RBI single to right.

Segear relieved Meyer in the seventh. With one out, Majocha walked and was replaced by Perez at first. Chris Giaconewalked,thenMistretta went with the pitch and sliced an RBI single to right. Giacone face-dived successfully intothird.Mistrettastole second. McCormacksacrificedtoleft, scoring Giacone, then Turner hopped an RBI single past short.

Flynn dug in at the plate and slid a single past first as Turner flew to third. Doerr represented the tying run at the plate. Flynn stole second

and the pressure was on, but Segear got the strikeout to preserve the victory for the Cougars.

"I felt that we made a lot of mistakes today. We went right through the whole lineup. Everybody made them," said Blue Devil Head Coach Bob Brewster. "You don't blame any individual. I just wanted to have all of them look at themselves and try to realize where all the mistakes were made and if everybody could eliminate just one mistake, it was a different ball game."

Brewster added, "Cranford is a good team. You can not give them

any room because they are that good. If you don't play good defense, you are not going to win against them."

Perez settled down and mixed his pitches better in the later innings. After considering Perez's pitching performance, Brewster commented,

Cougar Nine Hold Off Late Blue Devil Rally; Win 8-5

CONTINUED FROM PAGE C-1

"We made a lot of mistakes behind him. He did not help himself with one or two defensive plays himself. He is always a traditional slow starter and gets better as the game goes on. He has a great change up. I just got to get him to throw it more. I don't think that he got tattooed. I think that he will get better as the year goes on."

The Blue Devils did make a gallant surge in the seventh inning, but the previous 11 strikeouts haunted Brewster. Describing the level of his team's hitting, Brewster pointed out, "Meyer is a tough pitcher. It was the

first decent lefty we've seen. Facing apolishedleftyearly onmakesitvery difficult. He moved the ball inside, outside. He moved the ball around and spotted the corners well. It would have been very easy for our kids to pack it in, but they did not. And that is what I am happy about."

Westfield 000 200 3 5 Cranford 123 101 x 8

Doerr challenged the Westfield High School record books. As the quarterback,he passedfor1,111yards and completed 15 touchdown passes. Only Westfield Hall of Famer, Joe Monninger, passed for more yardage and more touchdowns in a season. Doerr was also second on the AllTime list in (PAT) points after touchdown with 32.

Doerr was a total athlete and a total scholar. He was selected as The Westfield Leader Scholar-Athlete for the Month of October 1998. Doerr will be attending Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

It is the hope of the many Westfield residents and fans that another fine group of talented athletes and scholars will soon fill the uniforms of the Westfield High School football team to replace the many fine upcoming graduates.

Blazing Blue Devils Shell Rahway Indian Boys, 19-0

The WestfieldHighSchooloffense took a giant stride and trampled the Rahway High School baseball team, 19-0, in Rahway on April 7. Seniors

Luke Mistretta, Lamont Turner and Brandon Doerr each crushed towering home runs.

In the first inning, Mistretta led off with his homer which touched off a 10-run blaze. In that inning, Turner staggered the Indians with a tworun, 400-foot shot over the left field fence. Next, Brian Flynn slapped a single, then Doerr hammered his home run to make the score 5-0.

The onslaught continued as Mistretta added two doubles and Kevin McCormack, Flynn, Kevin Anton and Jeff Bendix added one each. Anton also thumped a triple. By game's end, the Blue Devils had shelled the Indians with 19 hits.

Mistretta allowed only two hits en route to his second victory. Indian Gary Ronkiewicz was handed his first loss of the season. Westfield upped their record to 4-1 while Rahway fell to 2-1.

Westfield (10) 35 10 19 Rahway 0 00 00 0

Linden Tigers Jolt Raider Boys, 9-3

The Linden High School baseball team jolted the Scotch PlainsFanwood boys with a seven-run third inning and came up with a 9-3 victoryinLindenon April5.DanGoehry and Joe Franzone each had two hits for the Raiders. Dave Herrmann and Tim Pai each had RBI singles in the fourth inning.

Sc PlFnwd (03) 000 300 0 03 Linden (10) 017 010 x 09

Viking Boys Dust Comets, 9-3

Senior Carlos Jefferson fanned 14 Comets as the Union Catholic High School baseballteamleveledHillside, 9-3, in Scotch Plains on April 8. Jefferson was also hot with the "metal stick" as he had two hits, two RBI and scored a run.

Ryan McKenna had two RBI and a single andteammateRogerBarreucco had two hits as the Vikings upped their record to 2-1. Hillside fell to 0-3.

Hillside 000 101 1 3 UnionCatholic 050 310 x 9

Blue Devils Silence Chief Nine, 11-1

The Westfield High School baseball team erupted for seven runs in the fourth inning and went on to crush the Caldwell Chiefs, 11-1, in Westfield on April 8. Junior Chris Giacone thumped a two-run triple to ignite the Devils' fire in the fourth.

Blue Devil pitcher Jeff Johnson tossed a five-hitter to pick up the victory. Brian Flynn and Lamont Turner each drove in three runs and Kevin McCormackscoredthreeruns. RandyMajocha smashedasolohome run in the fifth.

TheBlue Devilsuppedtheirrecord to 5-1 while Caldwell slipped to 3-1.

Caldwell 001 000 1 Westfield 002 711 11

Burstein, Russ Make All-State, 3rd Team

Westfield High School senior Seth Burstein and Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School senior Dave Russ have been named to the Star Ledger allStateBoys SwimmingThirdTeamlist for their accomplishments in the 100butterfly and 100-freestyle, respectively. Both Burstein and Russ made the Second Team All-Public list.

The Blue Devils finished seventh in the Boys Swimming Top 20 and the Raiders placed first in the Coed Top 5.

Cougar Boys Stun Raider Nine, 15-1

John Polonitzia tossed a four-hitter as the unbeaten Cranford High School baseball team stopped the Scotch Plains-Fanwood squad, 15-1, in Scotch Plains on April 7. Junior DaveHerrmann droveinDanGoehry in the fourth inning for the Raiders' only run.

Cougar Bobby Haber led off the first inning with a triple, then scored on Polinitzia's sacrifice fly to right field. Angel Navarette went threefor-three, including a double, and Cougar catcher Terry Donovan went two-for-two, including a double.

Cranford (40) 143 16 15 ScPlnsFnwood 000 10 1

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times

ROUNDING THIRD FOR THE FIRST SCORE…Blue Devil Lamont Turner rounds third and scores the first run for Westfield against the Cougars in Cranford on April 5. Will Hannis

Tom Lee Jason Merritt Rob Albino Todd Dowling Brandon Doerr Tom Langton Gabe Perez

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