Head coach Manj Singh watches during a drill.
GLEN RIDGE, NJ — It’s the middle of August. And that means, high school football is back.
The Glen Ridge High School football team is gearing up for the 2023 season.
The Ridgers, under second-year head coach Manj Singh, will kick off the regular season on Friday, Aug. 25, against Lenape Valley on the road at 7 p.m. Lenape Valley is located in Sussex County.
By playing in Week 0, the Ridgers will have nine regular-season games. Last season, the Ridgers had eight regular-season games.
Glen Ridge is entering the season on a roll. They won their final three games of last season, capped by the 36-13 home victory over Hawthorne in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North, Group 1 regional invitational tournament championship game to finish with a 5-5 record. Interestingly, Glen Ridge was scheduled to visit Hawthorne in its first preseason scrimmage on Wednesday, Aug. 16, after press time.
The season opener is a battle of regional invitational champions. Lenape Valley won the North 2, regional invitational tournament title, beating Pequannock, 27-13, to finish 5-6.
The regional invitational tournaments consist of teams that just missed qualifying for their respective state playoffs. It was the first year for regional invitational tournaments.
Singh and the Ridgers are looking forward to playing Lenape Valley.
“It’s going to be a good battle,” Singh said. “They have a good line up front. I think it’s going to be a competitive game. We’re going to compete and hopefully come out with that win.”
Some of the Ridgers expressed their thoughts about the season opener.
“Lenape Valley runs a wing-T offense, so they run the ball a lot and we match up really well,” senior receiver-defensive back Morgan Horan said. “Carl Houser, our defensive coordinator, has drawn up a great game plan for us. I think it’s going to be a successful game.”
Senior linebacker Will Horan, Morgan’s twin, feels the Ridgers can shut down Lenape Valley’s offense. “I think our defense matches up really well and they’re going to struggle to score on us all game,” Will Horan said.
The Ridgers feel confident that they can hold their own against the Lenape Valley Patriots.
“We match up pretty well,” senior running back-defensive back David Kelly said. “They got some big boys up front, but I think we’re fast enough; we play physical.”
Senior running back-defensive back Frankie Renois said he is looking forward to the challenge of facing a Group 2 opponent.
“What I am really looking forward to is that they are a Group 2 school, so they are a group ahead of us,” Renois said. “We get to start off the season against a tough opponent that’s a bigger school and we get to show everyone that we can really play outside our group and play bigger than what we actually are.”
Senior offensive lineman Jesse Gibbs echoed Kelly’s sentiments, looking to prove to observers that the Ridgers can compete against a bigger school.
“I am looking forward to going out there and proving everybody wrong,” Gibbs said.
Photos by Joe Ragozzino
Photo details: Glen Ridge is shown during a morning practice at Hurrell Field on Saturday, Aug. 12.
Videos Courtesy of GRHS Football
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