Win this play.  This is something you'll hear a lot when you're part of the Delbarton Football family.  It's a philosophy that goes beyond the game.  On September 4, the Green Wave return to the field for the first time since they finished the 2020 season an undefeated 6-0, winning the SFC United White Conference.  This season brings big change, gone are over 25 seniors, many of them starters, and a schedule that has the Green Wave facing some of New Jersey's top football programs including Don Bosco, Bergen Catholic and St. Joes Montvale.  Despite all of this, the team remains optimistic and living by its team motto: win this play!  We spoke with head coach Brian Bowers about the upcoming season, the team's biggest challenges, talked about the 2021 roster and the goals for the 2021 season:

Q: Coach, what do you see as your team's biggest challenge this season?

A: That's really a great question.  I think the challenge this year is going to be taking it one game at a time.  Clearly, our schedule is challenging, probably the most challenging schedule our team has ever had, but we feel great about our talent and the commitment of our players.  We plan to stick with our win this play mentality and not get overwhelmed.  We need to just do our thing, believe in each other and in its simplest form, have fun playing football.  We plan on taking each game on its own, not looking ahead of ourselves and look to develop as a team and individually.  We are a strong group and are looking to create our own identity.  Right now, we're locked in, enjoying our time together and focusing on one thing, our September 4 opening game vs. Pope John.

Q: Tell me about your team this year.  What are your biggest assets, and what part of your game do you rely upon more?

A: While we did lose a ton of starters (QB, 3/5 of our offensive line, RB/WR, secondary, kicker and more), we have a strong group of returning starters on both sides of the ball, plus we have a ton of really great young players.  It really starts with our defense.  When you talk about guys on our front line, guys like Matt Gemma, Patrick Caughey, Chuck Nnaeto, Nigel McSween, Justin Slabaugh, they are all playing on a very high level and I think they are going to set the tone for us on defense.  We have a returning all-state linebacker in captain P.J. Casale who looks great in preseason and added Jack Eisenhardt to the linebacker crew from corner last season, who is looking great.  Offensively, we have two options at quarterback that can lead the team, either Robert Russo or Mike Van Raaphorst, both have looked very strong in preseason.  Our two senior running backs have looked very strong in the preseason and being a run-first offense, we look to use them as a dominating one-two punch this season.  Na Sean Hill and Aidan Papantonis have been explosive in our preseason games and we're really excited for both of them.  At receiver, we have David Link returning as a starter along with Dylan Hakes to go along with our standout tight end, Nicholas Petrillo, who has looked outstanding this preseason. Our goal is to be pretty balanced this year on offense.  On special teams, we graduated our kicker Pat Ryan, but luckily we have one of the best special teams coaches in the country in Gerry Gallagher. who takes special teams very seriously.  We have a Jack Peros taking over with a big leg, so we know we're in good hands with Coach Gallagher.

Q: Who are your captains this season?

A: We have a tremendous group of captains, chosen by our team this season.  We are proud to have Patrick Caughey, Chuck Nnaeto, P.J. Casale, Jake Checchio and Nicholas Petrillo as our captains for the 2021 season.

Q: What are your team's goals this season? 

A: Our goal is simple, to win each play and stick with that mentality the entire season.  We know the road ahead of us.  We see it every day.  Our goal is to not get outside of the moment.  We don't look at our schedule and by doing so, it keeps us grounded.  Simply put, we are excited to be together on the field, fingers crossed we don't have any unexpected changes.  Our players and coaches are truly excited to be back out on the field, and ready to take on the challenging schedule.  We will always take it one day, one game, one play at a time, having fun being together and if we improve as a team, improve individually, then we will meet and hopefully exceed our goals!

Thank you to Coach Bowers and we wish the Green Wave the best as it begins a tough 2021 season.  Delbarton kicks off the season on the road against Pope John on Saturday, September 4.  Delbarton is excited to host the home opener against St. Anthony's on Saturday, September 11 at 2pm.  Go Green Wave!