Linden’s Deon Candia is HNT Football Coach of the Year

After his team reached the sectional semifinals each of the two previous seasons, Linden High School head football coach Deon Candia assessed the talent on his roster entering the 2014 campaign and asked one question.

“Why not us?” he said. “When I sat the kids down in May and June getting ready for the coming season, I felt like we had a special group. We came up with a theme.

“I challenged them. Let’s work hard and see the result. Why not us? Why can’t we be the team that can win the state championship this year?”

Linden, which had not won a sectional crown since 1985, claimed its first title in 29 years, avenging a regular-season loss to perennial state power Elizabeth with an impressive 27-20 victory at MetLife Stadium in the North 2 Group V final.

Candia, who starred at Linden and is a 1991 graduate of American International in Springfield, Mass., where he was a slot receiver, is the Home News Tribune’s 2014 All-Area Football Coach of the Year.

The Tigers (10-2) – whose only other loss was to Union on Thanksgiving Day – set a single-season school record for victories playing in the rugged Mid-State 38 Conference. The Tigers faced a total of seven NJSIAA playoff qualifiers including Elizabeth and Westfield twice.

Cousins Juwan Dolbrice, who passed for 1,091 yards and rushed for 887 more, and Kyle Phipps, who rushed for 1,671 yards, combined for 39 touchdowns on the ground and through the air to pace a dynamic offense that gained 4,150 yards.

Middle linebacker Tymir Hinton, who succeeded 2013 Home News Tribune Defensive Player of the Year Shaquan Champagne, anchored the defense, recording 109 tackles with four sacks and four interceptions.

In his seventh season at the program’s helm, Candia, who earned an undergraduate degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in education, said he and his assistants matured as a staff, tweaking their practices to ensure players would remain healthy and durable for a lengthy postseason run.

Candia’s ability to delegate to assistants Al Chiola, Anthony Reinoso, Mike Sellari, Al Reinoso, Ray Wegrzynek, Terrance Brown and Jim Smith allowed him to spend additional time making sure his players were doing well in school and at home.

“We are a family,” Candia said. “I do a lot of things and really get personally involved in the kids and their well-being. I had guys (on staff) that not only cared about kids, but were good coaches with Xs and Os to make my job easier. I feel very privileged to have some of the best (assistants) in the state who in their own right could be head coaches anywhere.”

Dolbrice, the team’s star quarterback who also played defensive back and on special teams in the sectional final, turned in one of the greatest all-around performances in NJSIAA championship history.

He completed 6 of 11 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown, rushed 16 times for 64 more yards, intercepted two passes – including a pick in the end zone to seal the win in the closing seconds – and returned a kickoff 75 yards for the decisive touchdown immediately after Elizabeth had knotted the score with less than three minutes remaining.

After rushing for more than 1,000 yards each of the two previous seasons, the senior unselfishly moved behind center to make room for Phipps, a star running back who transferred back to Linden two years ago after spending one season at Don Bosco Prep.

“He wanted to be back here and represent,” Candia said of Phipps’ homecoming, noting Linden’s theme entering the championship game was to win a title for the city.

“We wanted to show our community that Linden football is on its way up.”

Staff writer Greg Tufaro:gtufaro@mycentraljersey.com