It was almost destined that Paul Cimicata would eventually play football for Lyndhurst High School.
After all, Cimicata’s father, Paul, Sr. was a standout player during his days at Lyndhurst in the 1970s and later played at Ramapo College, when the Bergen County institution offered football. Cimicata’s uncles also played football for Lyndhurst during that same time frame.
“Football runs in my family,” Cimicata said. “It’s in my blood. Football is my passion.”
The dedication for the sport began when Paul was just a little boy, going from playing flag football to the actual tackle variety – with shoulder pads and helmets.
“When I put on the pads, I knew I wanted to hit somebody,” Cimicata said. “I wasn’t that good or anything, but when I hit the pads, I knew that it was definitely for me. I don’t remember muxh except one moment.”
In the fledgling stages of Cimicata’s football playing career, he drove his shoulder pads into the shoulder of an unsuspecting teammate and knocked the poor soul for a loop.
“It was awesome,” Cimicata said. “I just remember the sound.”
There were no major catastrophes from that play in youth football practice almost 10 years ago. No one was injured.
But a football career was launched on that play. Paul Cimicata was all set to follow in his father and uncles’ footsteps and become a member of the Golden Bears.
At first, Paul was just a defensive player, a defensive end in head coach Rich Tuero’s alignments at Lyndhurst High School. Paul Cimicata was a starter at defensive end for most of the prior three seasons for the Golden Bears and more than held his own. Protecting the family legacy will do that for a player.
“He has long arms and good size,” Tuero said of Cimicata. “He has the ability to get to the edge. He gets a good rush on the quarterback. When he was a sophomore, I gave him a shot and he handled it right away and he’s been there ever since. I gave him the opportunity and he showed me that he could do it.”
But when the 2018 season began, Cimicata didn’t want to be just one dimensional.
“I figured I could try blocking,” Cimicata said. “Being a defensive player, I figured I knew what I was doing to get past the offensive linemen who were trying to block me. So I just figured that I could do that a little in reverse.”
So Tuero decided to give Cimicata a shot at being a tight end.
“He was a staple of our defense at defensive end, but I thought he could help us on offense,” Tuero said. “He always knew he could do it and he wanted to be good at it. So one day, he just started blocking. He just turned it on. He was just dominating guys up front.”
And Cimicata was also catching a pass here and there.
“He caught the game-winning touchdown in our win over Hawthorne and he had another receiving touchdown in our win against Elmwood Park,” Tuero said. “In the game against Hawthorne, he got hurt, came out, went back in and scored.”
Cimicata caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Brian Podolski in the 35-32 win over Hawthorne to start the season Aug. 30. He then hauled in a 38-yarder from Podolski in the Golden Bears’ 42-6 win over Elmwood Park Oct. 12.
But throughout, Cimicata has been a devastating blocker on the offensive line and a steady force on the defensive line, as the Golden Bears keep putting up win after win.
Last Saturday night, in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group II semifinals against Verona, Cimicata had perhaps his finest two-way performance of the season. He collected seven tackles, including two for losses on defense, while he spearheaded the blocking for sensational junior running back Piotr Partyla, who had perhaps the greatest single-game performance in Lyndhurst football history.
With Cimicata leading the way, Partyla carried the ball 39 times for an astounding 320 yards and scored five touchdowns on offense, while he collected the interception on the final play of the game to preserve the Golden Bears’ thrilling 37-34 victory.
The win was Lyndhurst’s sixth straight victory, improving the team’s record to 9-1 and catapulting the Golden Bears into the NJSIAA North 2, Group II championship game Friday night against long-time heated rival and feared nemesis Rutherford at Tryon Field in Rutherford at 7 p.m.
It marks the first time that Lyndhurst has reached a state sectional title game since winning the North 1, Group II championship in 1983.
For his efforts, Cimicata has been selected as The Observer Athlete of the Week for the past week, the second straight Lyndhurst player to receive the honor and the third this season, joining the aforementioned Partyla (Oct. 3) and teammate Jeff Grasso last week.
Sure, after the eye-popping performance by Partyla, one would think he would automatically receive the honor again. But Partyla’s lofty statistics do not take place without the stellar blocking up front from all the linemen. Cimicata’s outstanding contribution shines on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
“He helps Piotr tremendously,” Tuero said. “He opens things up for Piotr. I always thought he had the potential to be a good blocker. But he’s stepped it up more than I could have imagined. Defensively, I’ve had opposing coaches say that Paul is unblockable. He’s so long and has long arms. He’s able to keep offensive linemen off his body and he’s able to get to the quarterback. He gets behind the line of scrimmage and makes plays, big plays, big tackles for losses.”
Tuero said that Cimicata has collected five sacks and forced 17 pressures.
Cimicata is also an excellent student, amassing a 4.2 grade point average. Schools like Monmouth are interested in securing his services, but Cimicata is patient enough to wait out the process a little longer and see what materializes. He would like to study business in college.
The state championship fever has everyone in Lyndhurst in a frenzy. Not only are the Golden Bears playing for its first state sectional football title in 35 years, but it’s against the dreaded neighborly rival, who the Golden Bears haven’t come close to toppling since 2011.
“It’s great for the town, great for the people,” Tuero said. “The town is buzzing. Everyone has been waiting for this for so long. I feel like it was meant to be, for us to be 9-1 and facing Rutherford. It’s what the kids wanted. No one could have predicted this. No one believed in us. It’s up to the kids now to finish this incredible movie script.”
Cimicata also plays basketball and he’s been joking with Lyndhurst head boys’ basketball coach Tom McGuire about the start of basketball practice later this month.
“I told Coach that we’re going to have to delay basketball for a while if we win,” Cimicata said. “He was fine with it, as long as we keep it going.”
McGuire understands, because he was on the last Queen of Peace team to win the Non-Public Group 2 state championship in 2004.
“It’s really an honor to get this opportunity,” Cimicata said. “We’ve been working together for so long and now we get a chance to change the program forever. No one could ever imagined that we could do this. We’ve had a 35-year drought and now we get a chance to end that. When we found out it was Rutherford that was just tremendous, because we get a chance to gain a little revenge on them.”
The two teams met in the first round of the same sectional a year ago, with Rutherford earning a 30-6 victory.
Cimicata wants to change all of that this weekend.
CAPTION
Lyndhurst senior defensive end/tight end Paul Cimicata. Photo courtesy of Rich Tuero
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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.”