McCarrick loses, but team just happy to play

The more things change, the more they stay the same, but that made little difference to the Cardinal McCarrick High School gridiron squad, which was happy to be playing varsity football once again.

Under rookie mentor Mike Lange, the school’s fifth head coach in as many seasons, the Eagles endured their 11th consecutive on-field loss (not including the six games they forfeited last year), dropping a 41-6 decision at Newark Academy on Friday night.

Declining enrollment and instability in the coaching ranks has plagued Cardinal McCarrick, which suspended its varsity program last season after forfeiting to Keyport and Spotswood, the latter occurring days after the Eagles lost their 13th consecutive Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division game, 49-0 to Metuchen.

Cardinal McCarrick was released earlier this year from the GMC as a football-playing member, a maneuver that allows the Eagles to play an independent schedule this season and next as they attempt to increase their participation numbers.

Cardinal McCarrick has the eighth-smallest student population of the NJSIAA’s 347 football-playing schools. The Eagles have dropped 22 of their past 24 on-field games, with the lone victories both coming over Mater Dei.

The Eagles fell behind 42-0 at the half on Friday night, allowing five touchdown runs, a 65-yard scoring strike and a safety.

Cardinal McCarrick averted a shutout on senior quarterback Jaylen Correa’s 10-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

Junior running back Alonzo Green, who broke off a couple of long runs, also had a good game for Cardinal McCarrick, which enjoyed the game-week preparation including watching film, attending player meetings and participating in a walk-through.

“Obviously the score wasn’t what we wanted, but I think they enjoyed the whole experience of this is how you prepare for a game,” said Lange, who dressed just 22 players, only two of who were seniors.

“Even a game like this that we lose is a learning experience,” he said. “It’s a big learning curve. I had kids that never played a varsity game. We came out flat as a stone and they were on. We never got out of the (22-0 first-quarter) hole.

“They knew what was coming at them,” Lange said of his team being adequately prepared, “but sometimes their ‘X’ is a little better than your ‘O.’ We are going to get better.”

On Sept. 13, Cardinal McCarrick hosts Sussex Tech, which plays with a physical style that contrasts the misdirection of Newark Academy.

By the middle of last October, the Eagles were down to just 13 healthy players. During its division losing streak, Cardinal McCarrick was outscored 629-86, or by an average of 41.8 points per game.

Formerly known as St. Mary, Cardinal McCarrick previously shut down its gridiron program in 1932 and reinstated it 66 years later.