Lyndhurst senior quarterback Petey Guerriero.
Petey Guerriero spent the first two years of high school at St. Mary’s of Rutherford, but decided after his sophomore year to make a change.
“I wanted to help my Mom (Staci) out financially,” said Guerriero of his transfer back to Lyndhurst High School. “Plus, I knew a lot of kids from Lyndhurst and they were all telling me that I should come back.”
Guerriero transferred to his native Lyndhurst, but had no idea what the future would hold for him athletically. He knew he wanted to play football and baseball, but had no hopes or aspirations.
“I thought I could be another running back or maybe a wide receiver,” Guerriero said.
At one of the first workouts last year, new Lyndhurst head football coach Rich Tuero asked Guerriero if he could throw the ball.
“I told him I didn’t know, but I could give it a try,” Guerriero said. “I wasn’t too sure of myself throwing.”
“We knew he could run,” Tuero said. “So he was basically going to be a running back playing quarterback. You can’t coach some of the things he’s able to do. He can throw, but he runs with moves, with speed, with quickness, with vision. He just makes things happen.”
Guerriero had a breakthrough season in 2014 as the Golden Bears’ quarterback. He threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns, but more impressively ran for an astounding 1,652 yards and scored 15 touchdowns.
“The whole offense was based around him,” Tuero said. “We have to throw the ball to keep teams honest, but we want to run the ball with Petey. I think everyone knows that. It’s no secret.”
“I guess I’m getting the whole knack of being the quarterback,” Guerriero said. “Last year was a big season for me. I’m always the smallest guy on the field, but I was able to get the job done. I got some experience and learned a lot. I had such a great year last year, but I wanted to do even better this year.”
So Guerriero spent a good portion of the summer months working on fine-tuning his passing skills. He worked hard with former Lyndhurst signal caller Danny Kesack (now a quarterback at Wesley College in Delaware) to become a better passer.
“I had been throwing a lot over the summer,” Guerriero said. “I worked with Danny a lot and he really helped me learn stuff I didn’t know. I also ran a lot and lifted a lot to get stronger.”
Guerriero put on about 15 pounds of muscle to his upper body.
“I think it helped me to get a lot faster,” Guerriero said.
There’s an aspect to his game that he really didn’t need, because last spring, Guerriero tried his hand at track and field for the first time and enjoyed instant success.
Before last spring, Guerriero was always a baseball player.
“Baseball used to be my favorite sport,” Guerriero said. “After last football season, I thought a lot about playing college football and I figured track would get me in much better shape for football.”
In his first year of outdoor track, Guerriero was third at the Bergen County Meet of Champions in the 100-meter dash, third at the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I in the 100 and sixth overall in Group I. Guerriero was also sixth at the state sectional and ninth Group I overall in the 200-meter dash.
“I had no clue,” Guerriero said. “After my first race, I put up an 11.7 (seconds in the 100-meter dash) and I realized I could be pretty good at it. It was an awesome experience running track.”
So everything was in place for Guerriero to have a great senior year in football. There was only one obstacle. The Golden Bears dropped their first three games.
“I thought that this really couldn’t be happening,” Guerriero said “I knew that we had some tough games early on. I also knew we had a better team than losing all those close games.”
Tuero said that he got a better feel about his team during the second half of the three straight losses to Hawthorne.
“We played better in the second half and scored touchdowns on our first two possessions,” Tuero said. “It was just like it seemed we had forgotten how to win. I kept believing in them that they could turn it around. We proved that we could win.”
“We definitely needed to win,” Guerriero said. “If we went to 0-4, it would have been so disappointing. We had to win. The more we needed to win, the harder we worked.”
With the weather conditions not exactly conducive for throwing last Friday night as the Golden Bears traveled to face neighboring rival Harrison – and with the game basically a must-win for the Golden Bears – Tuero turned to his quarterback to lead the way.
Guerriero rushed for 264 yards on 21 carries and scored four touchdowns, leading the Golden Bears to a critical 41-19 victory. He also had seven tackles, including two sacks, on defense in the win.
For his efforts, Guerriero has been selected as The Observer Athlete of the Week for the past week.
“He just has natural ability,” Tuero said. “What he did was huge. You can’t send someone to spy on him, because he’s going to make plays on his own. More than half the time, he’s making a read on his own and he’s off to the races, getting a huge gain. He just has a good handle on what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Tuero likes Guerriero’s approach.
“He’s a lot of fun, because he’s passionate about football,” Tuero said. “A lot of times, his passion gets misinterpreted for being nasty. He’s just intense. He’s such a good kid. No question, he saved our season.”
On the season, Guerriero now has 748 yards rushing in just four games with eight touchdowns. Guerriero has been posting those incredible statistics in a losing cause before Friday night.
“We have Garfield this week,” Tuero said of Friday night’s 7 p.m. at Lyndhurst. “Let’s see what he can do next.”
Guerriero is just hopeful that his fleet feet will get him to college.
“I had no idea how many yards I had or even how many touchdowns I scored,” Guerriero said. “I just had to go out there and play my heart out. It’s definitely a nice change. I’m really enjoying it. It’s been a fun experience, being a part of such a big win. Especially after getting this win. We got our first taste of victory and that’s got everyone excited. We all just want to win, so we’re going after it.”
Guerriero, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 175 pounds, is getting some attention from college recruiters thanks to his fine play. He has paid a visit to Sacred Heart, Central Connecticut State and Assumption.
“Hopefully, it will go well for me,” Guerriero said. “If I’m getting recruited for track, then that’s fine, but I really want to play college football. It’s what I want to do most. But I love track as well. I just love competing. It’s definitely not a bad thing.”
Not if Guerriero keeps producing like he has been. It’s all good for the Golden Bears.
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”