By Alex Liao ’13 and Zach Gross ’14, Sports Editors

Newark Academy is not known for football.  While our school thrives in classrooms and concert halls, on tennis courts and courtroom floors, the gridiron has not traditionally been a location of Academy glory.  And despite fielding a resilient team led by a dedicated group of seniors, the football program has run into major problems this fall.

After losing numerous key players to injuries like Alex Mederos ’13, Jalen Smith ’13, and captain Nick Lawler ’13, the team was forced to forfeit games against MKA on September 15^th and Bergen Tech on September 29^th due to the low number of available players. Josh Karp ’16 expressed his frustrations with the forfeits, saying, “It’s a bummer that we can’t go out on the field and have fun.” But, he emphasized, “The forfeits should not reflect poorly upon the program, as they were a result of simple lack of players who were able to take the field.”

Although the team was able to play against Montclair Immaculate on October 6^th (losing 35-0), captain Rob Kwiatkowski ’13 injured his ACL during the game, ending his season and raising questions about the future of the team.  For now, the team plans to complete the remainder of its schedule, but Athletic Director Ted Gilbreath acknowledged that due to safety concerns, “there have been long talks about calling it a season.” He noted that the fewer the  healthy players on the roster, the easier it is for the remaining players to get injured.  Head coach William Blomn said, “It would be appropriate to end the season if we felt our players’ health was being seriously endangered.”

Despite the struggles, the morale within the locker room remains high, a testament to the strong leadership of the upperclassmen.  Karp said, “We are determined to finish off our season.  We will keep playing until we cannot put eleven players on the field.” Kwiatkowski added that their remaining games are winnable, saying, “Even with our low numbers, as long as we can work hard, we can end up on top.”

Looking forward to years ahead, the team has an optimistic outlook.   The strong performance of several underclassmen and the emergence of leaders within the junior class has convinced Gebereal Baitey ’14 that “the glory years of Newark Academy football await us in the future.”  Some players feel that with increased support from the administration, the program could make rapid improvements.  Josh Martin ’14 explained, “We feel that the school has neglected us in a sense.  If we get more support from the administration, the program will thrive and we’ll see change.”

Yet Gilbreath described the football program as “persistent in its struggles,” conceding that the team might simply “occupy a space demographically, where our clientele does not seem to support football.”  Blomn added, “We’ve been battling these same problems in the 14 years that I’ve been at the school.  I don’t know what the solutions are.”

One possible solution is the construction of the turf football field, which the athletic department hopes to have completed by the fall of 2013.  Gilbreath explained, “The turf field represents a tangible commitment to the football program.  It would be a real selling point for prospective students,” but conceded, “It is not a fix-all cure, but rather an important part of a systematic plan.”

But even with the prospect of the a new turf playing field, the stagnancy of the program over the past decade has many in the community convinced that the school should consider cutting the program completely.  Naturally, the team has not reacted positively to these murmurs; they are completely adamant that the program continues.  Martin argued, “This team has too much talent and too much heart to led it go to waste.” He added, “this team means too much to me.  If it was taken away from me, I would fight to bring it back.”   Lawler said, “Eliminating the program would be very disappointing to the football team, especially those who see it as their first sport.  And what about players who want to play football in college?”

In addition, while the football team may no longer be an integral part of the Newark Academy culture, cutting it completely could have serious ramifications for the school.  Not having a football team might prove to be detrimental to admissions, dissuading kids from considering Newark Academy.  Lawler stated, “If the program was cut, the type of kids we have applying to the school would change.”  Kwiatkowski hammered in this point, saying, “If Newark Academy hadn’t had a football team, I wouldn’t have applied.”