A quick look at the Wayne Hills football team’s 2021 schedule would predict a fairly quick start for the Patriots.
Head coach Wayne Demikoff began his ninth season at the helm and 23rd overall in the program by taking his team out of state, for the sixth time in the past seven seasons. The Patriots played a talented from Harrisonville, Mo. and lost a 38-37 heartbreaker in the game’s final 45 seconds, on Aug. 27.
Hills came home and won back-to-back games, defeating JFK of Paterson, 32-7, and, most recently, Passaic, 35-6, on Sept. 17.
Now the fun really begins, as Hills’ final six games of the regular season are at home to Ridgewood, road games vs. Irvington and Pascack Valley, a gigantic home game opposite arch rival Ramapo, a visit to Wayne Valley and then the finale, at home, against Northern Highlands.
Demikoff will be the first to say there’s no break on the schedule. Not only will the Patriots be tested, starting Sept. 24, when Ridgewood arrives, but there’s also that traditional goal of making the playoffs and the ultimate, an 11th state championship, since 2002, this December. The program has also won 19 conference championships, the most recent coming in 2019.
Making the NJSIAA playoffs is nothing new to the Patriots. Since the inception of the post-season, in 1974, Hills has qualified 30 times, including 24 of the last 25 eligible seasons. (There were no playoffs in 2020).
This year, there are a lot of new faces. The starting quarterback has been Joe Riina, who has passed for 355 yards and six touchdowns in the first three games. A strong running game has been paced by John Sees and Ben Contella. Contella has looked good after missing the 2020 season with a knee injury.
Riina has a tremendous wide receiver in Matthew Geraghty and Makai Gray. Gray is also a dynamic open-field runner, who returned two punts for touchdowns, at Harrisonville.
A strong offensive line, led by AJ Conti, Angel Roman and Mike Fernicola, has helped the running game capitalize while the defense has pitched a pair of first-half shutouts the past two weeks, after having its hands full with Harrisonville’s running game in week zero.
Riina has been a stalwart on defense, too, along with Sees, Emmanuel Dankwa, Matt Quagliana, Roman, Matthew Lehman, Contella, Gray, Geraghty, Nick Hogan and Ryan Song.
Jeremy Kobrin has settled into the role as the team’s place kicker, and is also a good receiver, while Quagliana is the punter.
Ridgewood will be a good test for the Patriots. Hills has had success against the powerful team from Bergen County, including a 10-9 win last season. The schools also met in 2010 and 2011, with Hills winning both. The Maroon’s last visit to Hills was in 2011. Wayne Hills leads the all-time series, 3-0. Ridgewood is 2-0 so far this season, including a 24-0 win over Wayne Valley on Sept. 17.
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