Against Caldwell the quarterback draws, bootlegs or bursts off tackle were all working to fruition while West Essex’s O-Line was controlling the proceedings up front.
Perhaps- depending on how all proceeds - a more familiar aspect of the spread offense- that being the steady use of four receivers - could be more often an option in the game plan at Lakeland.
Welcome to a new offensive frontier in terms of West Essex football, which is the first-year, spread attack instituted over this past summer by new head coach Dan Fulton, who had previous success at Hanover Park where he guided the Hornets to a state sectional playoff title last fall.
Under several coaches in the school’s history, dating back to Fred Keil in the 1970s and Ron Anello in the 1990s before Dave Drozjock and then his successor Chris Benacquista directed Wessex football for more than a quarter century, the ground-oriented Wing-T was the base offense run by the North Caldwell regional high school.
Fulton inherited an inexperienced West Essex squad this past summer, one which returns just three starters this season, and had to bid adieu to a number of key seniors from last year’s 8-4 squad, including all-state defensive back Anthony Drago.
Still, despite there being so few seasoned varsity-level players on hand, the new-look 2025 squad exhibits the same eager-to-learn and steady-to-the-task. hard-nosed Wessex football athletes.
One of the three veteran performers back is senior quarterback Jake Long, who ran a plethora of QB draws, bootlegs, etc. – 38 rushes in fact –while gaining 321 yards and scoring all four of his team’s touchdowns in last Friday night’s (Sept. 12) pulsating 28-21 victory at neighborhood rival Caldwell before a packed house at the Chiefs’ Bonnel Field.
For his efforts, that also included completing 10-of-16 passes, the Knights’ team leader and 2-year starting signal caller is the Parisi Fairfield/Sideline Chatter Athlete of the Week.
The fact that he was the focus of the spread offense in the hard-fought win against Caldwell is simply more about the fact that the plays he was running weren’t being stopped with any real consistency.
“When something is working you don’t want to force going to the pass because they couldn’t stop the run,” said Long, who has rushed 73 times for 569 yards and 7 TDs in the first three games of the season for the 1-2 Knights. “We’re definitely going to focus on throwing the ball more in the coming weeks, and our receiving corps have some really very talented players who we will always look to use.
“That was a pretty wild ride against Caldwell, and the fans and players really got into the game. They are great local rivals. We all live pretty close to each other so we might see each other on Bloomfield Avenue or other places in any of the towns in our area.
“I thought we had a pretty good crowd for the Caldwell game last year at our field (Travis Field in North Caldwell), but I think there were like 5,000 people there on Friday night, and the big-game atmosphere at their place was just tremendous!”
When you carry the ball 38 times and get hit on every play - sometimes by three or four defenders – you have to feel the impact; however, the solidly-built 5-foot-11, 190-pound Long is a seasoned veteran of high school football wars, and he knows how to go about the business of trying to refresh his body for the next round of being tackled in the weekend ahead.
“It’s really about hitting the weight room during the off season, then continuing to work on both the lower and upper body, putting the right stuff into your body plus after the game continuing to do your stretching, and do post-game recovery ice baths along with Epson salt baths,” said the battle-tested Wessex signal caller. “I love all the contact in a football game, and I definitely want to try and play quarterback at the next level.”
Long’s own terrific strength and that of his efficient O-Line were big ingredients in defeating a stubborn Caldwell team (0-2), which has dropped two very narrow decisions out of the gates this season, beginning with a 23-21 setback at Passaic Valley on Sept. 5.
Left tackle DJ Fiore, left guard Matthew Celenano, center Santino Perri, right guard Jonathan Rizzo and right tackle Danny Harraka helped create paths of open space for Long to burst through, including him having a dozen gains of 11 or more yards plus the 4 TDs.
“I give so much credit to our entire O-Line along with our ‘H’ back Frankie Iavarone and our halfback Michael Lozito who all did such an incredible job blocking for me,” Long had said after the narrow win at Caldwell capped by his fourth TD of the night with just eight seconds remaining to snap a 21-all tie. “I’m also grateful to my coaches for putting me in a position to achieve what was able to do.
“Caldwell is a great local rival and we had to earn everything we did to come away with a victory.”
Fulton, who certainly values the toughness and talents of Long, isn’t bashful about trying to utilize the full-scale abilities of his senior QB, whether it means running him often in the course of a game – if that is working – or going to the passing game.
“I thought we were having too many dropped passes early on (against Caldwell) even though I definitely trust our receivers, and Jake was simply continuing to get big yardage for us running the ball,” said the first-year Wessex head mentor. “I wasn’t sure what we’d get out of our O-Line heading into this season, but they’ve played their butts off and keep getting better each week and they did a terrific job out there tonight.
“Jake is as tough a competitor as there is, he can run the ball better than most backs, and he is also a very capable passer/
“We’re going to ride his talents as much as we can, and we have to with all that he can bring to the table in any situation that develops for us out there.”
NOTES- Jake Long has two older brothers who also excelled on the gridiron for West Essex. Donnie, who excelled at running back for the 2021 Knights, was the second-leading rusher that season (571 yards, 10 TDs) for a 9-3 Wessex squad that was runner-up to West Morris in the North 1, Group 3 final. Sam Long was the starting QB for the 2023 Knights team which finished 10-4, won a state sectional playoff championship and advanced to the overall Group 3 state final. Jake was a sophomore starting linebacker for the 2023 Wessex squad. Both Donnie and Sam went to the University of Delaware but did not play football in college…Jake, who has desires to play D1 college ball, has had contact from a number of D3 schools including Wilkes, Albright and Franklin & Marshall…The Long brothers’ dad, Don Long, was an all-state basketball and baseball player at Donovan Catholic. Mom Nicole Conte Long is a former high school cheerleader at Caldwell…Along with Jake Long, the other two returning senior starters for the Knights this fall are WR-DB Justin Perini and 2-way lineman Matthew Celentano…Jake Long said his favorite subject in school is History; however, he plans on pursuing a career in business in the future.
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