SPORTS

Highland Park could improve with healthy Griggs

Mike Becker
@realmikebecker

Not much went well for the Highland Park football team during the 2013 season.

The Owls dropped their first seven games, all in lopsided fashion, and finished 2-8 for the second consecutive season as they were a relatively young team working in a host of new players.

Outside of losing quarterback Andy Powell, head coach Rich McGlynn returns virtually the same team as he hopes the experience that is back can rise in an upward direction.

"I expect us to be a lot more competitive than we were last year," McGlynn said. "I think we have the ability to be in games. We'll find out soon enough – if we can find a way to win early then that's gonna help us because obviously coming off a losing season, you forget how to win."

One player McGlynn expects big things from is senior Jason Griggs, a 6-foot-2, 270-lb. two-way lineman who has drawn interest from several colleges as a defensive player in the 1-technique and 3-technique.

Griggs' season was cut short last year after he suffered a freak injury in the second quarter of the third game, dislocating his elbow.

"Our safety came up, he was pursuing a play, and put his helmet right on (Griggs') right elbow," McGlynn said.

Griggs missed the next six weeks before coming back for the final two games of the season, as McGlynn said "it was like he never left the field."

He was invited to several Big Man camps over the summer and attended ones at Rutgers, Temple, and Lafayette.

"The camps actually helped me a lot with my skills and the learning and technique and all that," said Griggs, who has received interest from Temple, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and at least 10 Division I-FCS teams including New Haven, Albany, and Bucknell according to McGlynn.

Penn State also came to Highland Park to look at him, as McGlynn noted "to me, them coming down is a big deal."

Dennis McCarthy, whose long-running "McCarthy Report" is the premier tool for college recruiters scouting New Jersey high school football, called McGlynn and told him he thinks Griggs is the second best defensive lineman in the state.

Even McGlynn was surprised to hear that about his player, as he told McCarthy on the phone, "Dennis, I appreciate you saying that, but there's a huge gray area there. It's tough to gage when he didn't play in that many games last year. He has the ability, don't get me wrong, to be one of the top guys – I don't know about top two, but maybe to be one of the top 10 in our state."

"I really believe he has the athletic ability and the size and strength," McGlynn said.

Griggs, who moved from Highland Park to Long Branch prior to his freshman year before returning to Highland Park for his junior year, will also man left tackle for an experienced Owls offensive line that McGlynn considers the biggest strength of the team.

The line will look to pave the way for the offense that struggled to score last season, as Highland Park plans to celebrate those touchdowns.

"In practice we work on scoring and we work on celebrating scoring and I said to them, 'This is something we didn't do last year – we want to be able to do that this year,' " McGlynn said. "We want to be able to score points and we want to be able to celebrate when we score."

Owls

Coach: Rich McGlynn, eighth season (36-38).

Assistants: Joe Policastro (quarterbacks, offensive assistant, special teams), Derek Nobles (wide receivers, defensive backs), Mike Warnock (offensive line, defensive line), Shawn Harrison (outside linebackers, running backs), Brian Merlo (middle linebackers, offensive line).

Stadium: Jay Dakelman Field (turf).

Colors: Maroon and white.

Classification: Central Group I.

Offensive formation: Multiple I.

Defensive formation: 4-3/4-4.

Last year (2-8 overall, 1-5 GMC Blue): South River 35-6 (L), Keyport 49-14 (L), Middlesex 34-0 (L), Spotswood 45-8 (L), Keansburg 41-6 (L), Dunellen 44-14 (L), Point Pleasant Beach 40-8 (L), Cardinal McCarrick Forfeit (W), Manville 42-19 (W), Metuchen 39-0 (L).

2014 schedule: Sept. 12 Middlesex, 7 p.m.; Sept. 20 at Keansburg, 1 p.m.; Sept. 27 at Spotswood, 1 p.m.; Oct. 11 Keyport, 3 p.m.; Oct. 17 Dunellen 7 p.m.; Oct. 24 at Point Pleasant Beach, 7 p.m.; Oct. 31 Mater Dei, 7 p.m.; Nov. 8 at South River, 1 p.m.; Nov. 26 Metuchen, 6 p.m.

THE SKINNY

Returning starters: Ivan Reyes (Sr., 5-10, 230, G-DT), Kamuran Akyol (Sr., 5-11, 190, G-LB); Kameron Petkov (Jr., 5-10, 210, C); Jason Griggs (Sr., 6-2, 270, T-DT); Hillel Adiv (Sr., 6-4, 255, T-DT); Dylan Boynton (So., 5-9, 195, FB-MLB); Jaloni Smith (Sr., 5-9, 170, RB-DE); Luke Schroeder (Jr., 6-1, 190, TE-DE); Noah Pointer (Jr., 6-2, 165, WR-CB); Justin Melgazo (Sr., 5-6, 160, WR-CB); Nasir Boykins (So., 6-1, 185, RB-SS).

Key losses: Jeffrey Mathis (RB/WR-OLB), Marcell Butts (G-DE), Andy Powell (QB-S).

Top newcomers: Ryan O'Shea (So., 5-9, 155, QB); Justin Sims (So., 6-1, 170, WR-S); Yuri Prots (So., 6-1, 180, WR-OLB); Ogenbi Nuodine (Jr., 5-10, 165, RB-CB); Evan Lanaris (So., 5-9, 150, K); Mario Urias (Sr., 5-10, 225, T-DT); Jose Ruiz (Sr., 5-5, 145, RB-CB).