Anthony Rea is in his 10th season as the Montclair Kimberley Academy football team, which has a bright future with a young roster.. (Photo Courtesy of Doug Allen)
BELLEVILLE, NJ — Belleville resident Anthony Rea is in his 10th season as the head football coach at Montclair Kimberley Academy and is currently guiding his young Cougars through the rigors of a rebuilding season with a 35-man roster that includes just six seniors.
A former standout defensive back at both Summit High School and Gettysburg College, Rea (44-47 record) has done a solid job at MKA where he helped guide the team through a transition when it moved from the North Jersey Super Football Conference into the more small-private-school-friendly Metropolitan Football League.
Rea guided the Cougars to the NJSIAA playoffs in his first three seasons at the helm (2014-2016). His 2015 team finished a sparkling 10-1 and earned a first-round playoff win over Mater Dei, before falling to Hudson Catholic in semifinals.
His Cougar teams have posted five winning seasons, including 5-4 last fall. Despite a rough start in 2023, the future is extremely bright, with 18 sophomores and freshmen on the roster.
“We have a great group of kids who come ready to work each and every day, and we’re very happy with our numbers, which have increased nicely thanks to our middle school program and the popularity of football in the school building,” said Rea. “We are going through some growing pains right now, but I like the way we have performed on defense and our offense is getting better each week.”
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