JV Football ends season

The JV football team finished its season with an overall record of 5-4. There have been many improvements with the team throughout the season. “I do have to give a shout out to Mike Misner and Anthony Curcio who made big improvements on and off the field,” Coach Mike Padilla said. 

Despite the fact that the JV Raiders won more games than they lost, they managed to learn along the way to remain tough through each game. “The games we lost weren’t just one person. We gave up as a team. Some games we were down only a touchdown and we gave up in the second half,” freshman Matthew Iannitelli said. 

Although the JV Raiders had several wins, some think that their best game was actually a game that they lost. “We had a lot of great games this year beating some tough teams including Montclair and Passaic Valley, but our best game was actually a loss against Passaic County Tech who wasn't on our varsity schedule. They were the best team we saw this year,”  Coach Mike Padilla said. 

Gaining experience was one benefit that the young team felt made a difference in their confidence. Freshman AJ Del Greco said, “I didn’t feel confident early on in the season as it was my first taste of high school football, and the team was not the greatest at the start, though it got better as time went on.”

Their coach is also very proud of how far the boys have come. “All of the kids have grown so much as people and athletes. Their hard work and commitment to the program has been outstanding and anything we have asked of them they have done that and more. We are excited about what the future holds for Nutley Football,” Padilla said, adding that new personnel have also contributed to the team’s success. “We're fortunate to have Coach Helm leading the program. He's done a lot since his return to improve the facilities and modernize the way we practice,” he said.