MONTCLAIR-It will be another season without a playoff berth for Montclair which slipped to a disappointing 2-6 on the season with its fifth straight defeat in Friday night’s (Oct. 16) 35-6 loss at Nutley (3-5); but the future could hold brighter hopes for the young Mounties as first-year head coach Manj Singh continues to try and build back his hometown high school’s football program to resembling more of its once proud heyday.
A big part of that continuing mission is keeping the new-look Junior football program in town on its current path which includes having had three different teams in the Morris County Youth Football League this fall.
Way back in late August, when Montclair's varstiy squad was humbled by visiting Ridgewood, 47-7, in the 2026 season opener, Singh took time during his post-game chat with the local media to talk about what junior football’s positive path will mean for his program.
“We have a whole lot of sophomores and even some older guys who never played football before, or very little,” said the Montclair rookie head mentor. “I feel that if we had our youth program up and running before this season the way Ridgewood has done for many years, perhaps you may have seen a different type of result here today.
“We have guys who are still learning about football fundamentals, and most of them never even played the sport before this summer which makes our Junior Mounties a real important part of the future of this program.
“In many ways we’re really starting all over and re-booting with the Junior Mounties a huge part of that effort moving forward!”
Montclair has had separate 6th, 7th and 8th grade Junior Mountie teams competing this fall in the Morris County Youth Football League. Helping to build the rosters of those teams is the fact that the Montclair Cobras, who had been such a big part of youth football in Montclair for a half a century, have now transitioned into the Junior Mounties program which will help all of Montclair football moving forward!”
Singh is the third different Montclair High School head football coach in as many seasons and constant coaching staff changes in any sport can be difficult for any high school athletes; however, the large-scale concept of trying to build a 45 to 50-man-plus varsity roster and overseeing the program's entire structure is a huge task for any new coach.
What Singh has showed in his previous stops at both Glen Ridge and Verona has been his ability to be that conductor in a musical sense who can put together a strong staff to work alongside him. His first-year Mountie coaching staff this season hes included another MHS alum and former teammate, Chris Ferrara, who is the team’s assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. Former Rutgers wide receiver Carlton Agudosi is the team’s passing game coordinator while ex-Bergen Catholic and University of Delaware standout Gene Coleman is the defensive coordinator. Others on the varied coaching staff include foirmer University of Alabama linemanr and ex-St. Joe’s of Montvale assistant Todd Picariello, who now coaches the Mounites'O-Line.
Former Mountie, Rutgers and Appalachian State standout Shawn Collins has worked with the Mounties' D-Line, while another local product, ex-Bloomfield High School and Rutgers player Joey Rivera is Montclair's assistant DC.
Others on the staff also include former West Orange standout Eliah Pean, who is the Mounties' special teams coach, and then there is Anthony Maffucci who has been a Mountie assistant with six different head coaches dating back to the ill-fated 2-year era of the late Len Rivers in 1991.
Former Livingston High School assistant coach Melissa Gromeck, who worked with the Lancer freshmen team under Bob Breschard, has been a big hit this fall in her first season as the Mounties' freshmen head coach.
“It’s a great group of experienced people who have done so many different things in football and are all very enthusiastic about being part of this revival of Mounties football,” said Singh. “We’re all on the same page and excited about the future of this program.”
Last spring as he visited the three Montclair middle schools to try and drum up interest for youngsters in grades 6-8 about eventually playing for their township high school team, Singh said he saw firsthand why a united junior football organization in town would be such a huge plus for the future of Mountie football.
“First off, I found more prospective football players than I ever thought were out there, but what I found disheartening was that many of them expressed the fact that they just didn’t know before where they should go to play Junior football,” said the Mounties’ first-year head mentor. "Some went to play in Glen Ridge - and nothing against what they are doing there - but we need to keep all Montclair kids here, playing for a team that is directly aligned with being a future Montclair High Mountie.
“The new Mountie Junior Football program will do just that, and it's great that this fall we have had three different grade-level teams for our 6th, 7th and 8th graders in the Morris County Youth Football League.
“I’m tremendously excited about the future of the great sport of football in this town which has such a tremendous history to uphold - including being the winningest high school football program in state history- while we continue to work together to bring back the winning ways that we should be able enjoy moving forward!”
Wil Young, who is also a Montclair deputy police chief, had worked for many years with the late Cobras youth football organization founder Howard Finney, and then served as president and continued as a coach of the Cobras after Finney's passing.
This past spring he contacted Cobra families about the importance of consolidating all into one when it comes to Montclair youth football,
“The Montclair Cobras program will be transitioning into the Montclair Junior Mounties, a move designed with one purpose at its core: the development of our student-athletes and the long-term strength of football in our community," Young said in his message. "This transition creates a fully-integrated pathway between youth football and the high school program.
"Aligning directly with the Montclair High School Mounties our young athletes will now benefit from: consistent coaching philosophies and systems, direct mentorship and oversight from the high school staff, a stronger and more structured development pipeline, and a renewed focus on fundamentals, safety and long-term growth.”
Montclair's updated approach to bring different factions together into one with its new-look Junior Mounties is part of the overall effort to try and approach the success of other communities such as in Ridgewood, Westwood or Ramsey among many strong in Bergen County youth football communities, or in Essex County, such as in Caldwell with its Junior Chiefs, or in nearby Cedar Grove with its Junior Panthers.
Cedar Grove, which has been able to produce Group 1 powerhouse teams on an annual basis; has a unified approach between the junior football and the high school program which has helped pay big dividends in terms of participation and corresponding success at the high school level through the years.
“The Cedar Grove Junior Football League continues to do a nice job and it is run and coached by guys that really care about football and especially Cedar Grove football,” said the high school's successful veteran coach Rob Gogerty. “They do their best to implement our terminology and parts of our system so the progression to high school is an easy transition
“I also believe the best youth programs make it enjoyable for the kid so they stick it out and have a chance to develop.
"We at Cedar Grove have been fortunate to have teams and players develop a little bit later and be able to help out our high school teams.”
As part of the newly-instituted Junior Mounties, while those in grades 6, 7 and 8 will continue to be involved on separate teams in tackle football leagues, those youngsters in grades 2-5 will be part of flag football programs with the hope that the elementary schools will also be more involved in fielding teams that can compete with each other.
Singh stressed that the Montclair Board of Education and school administration are fully behind the Junior Mounties.
“Wil Young has done a great job bringing the Cobras in with us, and we are continuing to move forward as one,” said the first-year Montclair head mentor. “Our high school varsity players are also part of this effort. They helped out this past spring and summer with teaching young players in town about things such as proper tackling technique and how to put equipment on; all basic things that kids have to learn about while getting ready to play this great game.
“Also, part of our structure moving forward is going to be stressing education first and every student-athlete on our high school team will be expected to carry at least a 3.2 grade point average in order to play.
“It’s a unified approach - on and off the field - which will eventually bring all together who have the common goal of helping to make Montclair football the very best it can be!”
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