GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The Glen Ridge High School football team last season got a taste of that championship feeling.
No, it wasn’t a state sectional title that the Ridgers won. Instead, it was a regional invitational tournament crown.
Still, winning the regional invitational title has motivated the Ridgers to strive for the state playoffs and win a state championship.
The Ridgers, with head coach Manj Singh in his first season at the helm, ended the 2022 season on a high note, winning the final three games, capped by the 36-13 home victory over Hawthorne in the championship game of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North, Group 1 regional invitational tournament. The regional invitational tournaments consisted of teams that missed qualifying for their respective state playoffs. It was the first year of the regional invitational tournaments.
With one of the area’s top returning starting quarterbacks in senior Dylan O’Neil and a cast of talented skill players, the Ridgers have reason to feel excited about this season.
“I like this team,” Singh said. “Last year we ended on a three-game win streak. The guys understand each other, they love each other, they bring a brotherhood.”
O’Neil had a fabulous junior season, setting the school single-season passing record with 1,598 yards and added 15 passing touchdowns with only seven interceptions.
The skill players are experienced. They are seniors David Kelly, Frankie Renois and Morgan Horan; junior Max Carbonnell and sophomore Zach Konetzni.
The offensive line will be anchored by returning senior starter Jesse Gibbs in the interior. The rest of the line is inexperienced, but has the potential to be a strength, said Singh.
Defensively, the Ridgers will be led by senior returnee Will Horan, Morgan’s twin, at the SAM linebacker position and junior returning defensive end Jake Lilioa.
Singh also said the Ridgers have “bar none, one of the best secondaries.” The unit consists of Renois, Kelly, Foster and Luke Olczak.
The Ridgers, indeed, are excited about the season.
“We’re returning a lot of varsity players,” Renois said. “It’s a lot of guys who have played together, at least four years. This even goes back to third grade. We have a lot of guys who have played together for like 10 years, so we have a lot of chemistry.”
Will Horan also said the offensive and defensive lines will be solid, and having a great quarterback returning in O’Neil will certainly help, too.
Kelly said he is excited to show the town what the Ridgers will accomplish in Singh’s second year at the helm and “hit the ground running this year.”
Make no mistake, the Ridgers want to clinch a state playoff spot.
“The goal is get into a state playoff game, not a regional invitational, and get their first playoff win in 40 years and then we’ll climb from there,” Singh said. “I think this team can go all the way to the top. If they want it, definitely. The coaches are all in. But we have to keep working at it.”
The Ridgers are in the National Red Division of the Super Football Conference. The other teams in the division are Cedar Grove, Shabazz and Newark Collegiate.
Glen Ridge was scheduled to host Immaculate Conception of Montclair on Sept. 30, but Immaculate Conception suspended its season this fall.
The Ridgers lost at Lenape Valley, 43-15, in the season opener on Friday, Aug. 25.
Schedule
- Aug. 25: loss, at Lenape Valley, 43-15
- Sept. 1: Cedar Grove, at Montclair St. University, 6:30 p.m.
- Sept. 9: vs. Belleville, 2 p.m.
- Sept. 14: at Dumont, 7 p.m.
- Sept. 23: vs. Tenafly, noon
- Oct. 6: at Newark Collegiate Academy, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 14: vs. Verona, noon
- Oct. 20: at Shabazz, 7 p.m.
Photos by Joe Ragozzino and Courtesy of Brianne Aumack
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