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Livingston's coach Bob Breschard is thrilled to have his prize sophomore slot receiver to turn to in big spots as the talented Abel Paul (88) is the latest Parisi Fairfield/Sideline Chatter Athlete of the Week after his superb performance in solid 42-14 victory over Bloomfield. (Photos by Gene Nann and Don Schwartz)
LIVINGSTON- Abel, the young shepherd from the Biblical story of Cain & Abel, revealed just how generous the younger son of Adam and Eve was when he offered the first born from his flock to the Lord. Abel Paul, an up-and-coming sophomore star for a much-improved Livingston football team this fall, is a Haitian-American youngster named after the benevolent young man who is part of a story in The Old Testament, and like his namesake in the Bible he is giving a great deal in his own right as a key contributor to the success of the Lancers (4-3), who are very much in contention for a playoff berth in North, Group 5, while posting a nice rebound season after last fall’s 1-9 campaign. One of the more exciting, young players to emerge this season in the Super Football Conference, the elusive and productive slot receiver is a very generous contributor to Livingston’s success as evidenced most recently in this past Friday night’s 42-14 victory over Bloomfield as he accounted for 259 yard of offense and scored three touchdowns. For his superlative efforts, the Lancers’ speed merchant is the latest Parisi Fairfield/Sideline Chatter Athlete of the Week. To say that Paul is an ascending talent would be as factual a statement as any assertion about the current North Jersey gridiron campaign. In just his second year of organized football, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound speed merchant is proving very tough to defend. Displaying good hands as a receiver and outstanding ability to be elusive after the catch, he had 6 receptions for 159 yards and 2 TDs plus had 8 carries for 100 yards and another TD. Paul was off to a fast start vs. Bloomfield scoring on his team’s third play from scrimmage after a 3-and-out by Bloomfield when he hauled in a pass from senior QB Noah Ramos (11-of-18 for 227 yards, 3 TDs) and then took off down the left sideline to complete a 65-yard TD pass play for a 7-0 lead with 9:24 still remaining in the first quarter. The sophomore standout then hauled in an 11-yard TD pass just six minutes later to make it 14-0. Senior wide receiver Conor Healy (3 catches for 44 yards) hauled in a 2-yard TD pass from Ramos to make it 28-7 with 1:57 left in the second quarter, and just 16 seconds later sophomore D-Lineman Kodi Gbanite recovered a Bloomfield fumble at the Bengals 45 leading to a quick 8-play drive which culminated with Paul’s third TD, a 4-yard run with just 15 seconds left for a commanding 35-7 halftime lead. The 15-year-old rising star came out for football for the first time last year as a freshman and was first used as a quarterback. However, his coach Bob Breschard knew that there could be even better ways to utilize some special talents in the young man. Plus, Paul was more than willing to put in the extra work this past summer to become the ascending talent he currently is. “Every Monday through Thursday during the summer he would stay two-plus hours after practice – and sometimes longer – to learn our offense,” said Breschard. “We always look for kids who we can move around in different spots on offense and Abel is definitely one of those special talents. “He brings a great passion and excitement to the team in addition to displaying his great talent and we’re thrilled to have him as part of our football team!” Paul has become very much the life of the Lancers locker room and his love of football and being part of the action is fully evident for anyone watching him perform on Jacobson Memorial Field. “We have very enjoyable guys on our team who I can lean on and Coach ‘B’ (Breschard) pushes us to our limits, which I love,” said the effervescent Paul. “I want to play at a high level to help us win and all my hard work has been paying off.” While it may have taken a while to convince mom Lydia and dad Jean that football was definitely the sport for him, he is certainly making up for any lost time in his second season of high school ball. “My mom is big on safety in sports and was concerned about me playing football,” said Paul. But, I finally convinced my parents that it would be a great sport for me and I couldn’t be any happier than to be a member of this terrific team.“ “Our goal is to make the playoffs and continue to win as many games as we can the rest of the way,” added Paul. “I am really looking forward to our next game at Montclair.” The Lancers, who travel to Woodman Field to meet the Mounties (3-5) this Saturday afternoon (Oct. 26) at 2 in a big final regular season contest, are 16th in the latest North, Group 5 playoff 16-team field according to gridironnewjesey.com, with just one weekend to go before the official pairings are revealed Sunday and made official on Monday (Oct. 28). The sectional state playoffs begin Friday, Nov. 1. Now that he is very much living the day-to-day excitement of his favorite sport, Paul has also included the hopes and aspirations of one day playing college football. “That is definitely in my plans,” he said. “I love watching college football and really like Penn State and the big crowd and energy that they have at their home games,” he said. “I’m enjoying all there is surrounding football and having the opportunity to play this great game is a dream come true!” Follow Steve Tober on 'X' @Chattermeister *** Parisi Speed School has been empowering athletes for over 30 years, since 1992. As the industry leader in youth performance training in the country, they have successfully trained over 1,000,000 athletes to include schools, teams, youth organizations and individual athletes from 7 years of age to the Pros in MLB, NFL, MLS, NBA and WNBA. Parents and coaches are invited to visit their website for additional information at www.parisifairfield.com or contact their Director, John Cirilo at 973 227-0199.
Abel Paul (88) gets together with senior teammate John Marco Maiello following this past Friday evening's 42-14 win over Bloomfield in a game where Paul tallied three touchdowns and Maiello contributed two TDs. copyright 2005 Sideline Chatter - to comment contact the webmaster
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