The Lyndhurst football team did all it could on Friday night when it defeated Park Ridge, 35-7, but at that point all they could do was watch and hope for the best. A win alone wasn’t going to be enough to get Lyndhurst into the state playoffs. Indeed, it needed two from the group of Vernon, Waldwick and Becton to also lose this weekend
So as the Golden Bears were playing, some eyes and thoughts were focused on what was going on at the same time in Wood-Ridge, Waldwick and West Milford. When Waldwick and Becton both won on Friday night, there was a feeling of dejection.
“We really were counting on either Becton or Waldwick to lose and I got to be honest with you, Friday night, I knew we were winning our game and I thought that was it. I thought it was over,” said Lyndhurst head coach Rich Tuero, who had a couple of coaches keeping track of the other games. “I felt the season was over and I was pretty devastated. But I knew we had a glimmer of hope with Dayton playing on Saturday.”
So Lyndhurst’s playoff fate would be decided in Union County where the Golden Bears needed Brearley to defeat Dayton.
With Tuero and countless other Lyndhurst players, coaches and supporters watching along on YouTube, their hopes were answered when Brearley made a goalline stand on the last play of the game for a 10-7 win that eliminated Dayton and gave Lyndhurst the last spot in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2 playoffs.
Lyndhurst will play top-seeded Shabazz in the first round on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Newark.
“When Dayton ended up losing on the last play of the game, we were pretty excited,” Tuero said. “We qualified again and that was one of our goals. (After Friday), I didn’t think it would happen.
“These kids are so grateful. They thought it was over. They felt it slipping from their hands.”
At 6-3, Lyndhurst has qualified for the state tournament for the third consecutive season. At 7-1 with the only loss to coming to St. Peter’s Prep, Shabazz, led by Stanford-bound defensive back Zaiden McDonald is considered the favorite by many to win the Group 2 state title.
Tuero knows Lyndhurst enters as a huge underdog on Saturday, but after thinking they wouldn’t even be there, enthusiasm is high.
“We’re happy for the opportunity and we know that we’re a heavy underdog, but we don’t really care. I feel like we’ve been underdogs all year.
“I respect Shabazz and I know they have a lot of great players, but so do we. We’re going to come and we’re going to play. We’re going to give it everything we got.”
Lyndhurst is one of two Observer-area teams to qualify for the state tournament. The other is Nutley.
The Maroon Raiders, who are the sixth seed in North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4, will face third-seeded Mount Olive.
At 7-1, Mount Olive presents a daunting task for Nutley, but head coach Chris Helm is confident that his team will be well prepared for the moment. Eight of Nutley’s nine opponents this season qualified for the state tournament.
“That’s why we played this schedule,” Helm said.”Our season is basically a playoff season that preps us for the ones that really count and they’re coming up.
“That test each week in week out, it really does prepare you to play these types of games.”
This is the second consecutive season a still young Nutley team has qualified for the state tournament. Last year, it lost to eventual Group 4 finalist, Phillipsburg.
“I think that getting there last year definitely helped us even this whole season, really compete,” said Helm. “I think it was a motivator that we want to always be a playoff team, which shows that you’re a very good football program.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)