Perhaps the underlining theme for the year has to be a return to glory, with St. Peter's Prep and Hoboken returning to their glory days by securing state football championships, both earning NJSIAA titles on the very same day for the first time in 11 years.
Secaucus' volleyball team also returned to its glory of the past, winning another NJSIAA Group I state title, giving the school its 17th overall state crown and its first in four years.
North Bergen native Steve Mocco returned to his personal glory, winning another NCAA heavyweight wrestling title, after being a year removed from collegiate wrestling and now competing for another school.
Let's take a look at the top 10 sports stories for 2005.
1. St. Peter's Prep wins NJSIAA Parochial (Non-Public) Group 4 football title, earns national ranking It was basically 11 years in the making, and there were some trying and humiliating times along the way, as well as near-victories in the state championships. But this year, the Marauders of St. Peter's Prep bounced back with a win in the state title game.
Senior defensive back Andrew Booth intercepted a pass, then raced 65 yards for a touchdown with just 3:30 remaining in the game, lifting St. Peter's Prep to a thrilling come-from-behind 22-15 victory over Don Bosco Prep to capture the NJSIAA Parochial (Non-Public) Group 4 state championship before a crowd of 15,000 at Giants Stadium on Dec. 2.
The victory capped a perfect 12-0 season for the Marauders and gave the school its third state title since the playoff system began in 1974.
The Marauders were led by the performances of two First Team All-State honorees, running back Kee-Ayre Griffin and defensive end Rich Hussey. Head coach Rich Hansen was named the New Jersey Coach of the Year.
The team finished the season as the No. 1 team in the metropolitan New York area by the MSG Network.
2. Hoboken wins NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I state football title With first-year head coach Lou Taglieri calling the shots, and with a workhorse running back named Damien Bates carrying the load and a relentless defensive approach, the Hoboken Red Wings captured the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I state championship with a 21-6 victory over Verona before a crowd of 10,000 fans at Giants Stadium Dec. 2.
The victory gave the Red Wings a perfect 12-0 season and enabled the school to secure its first state championship in six years. It was the seventh state title in the school's history, but the first for new coach Taglieri, who enjoyed an undefeated campaign during his first year at the helm.
The state title was the first for Hoboken in the Group I (less than 500 students) enrollment bracket.
3. Secaucus wins Group I state volleyball title, makes it to T of C finals. At one time, winning an NJSIAA state volleyball championship was pretty much an annual occurrence at Secaucus High School. No school in the state of New Jersey had captured more state championship trophies than Secaucus, collecting 16.
But the Patriots won a state championship for the last time in 2001. Until this year, when Coach Sheila Ulrich Rivera and a bunch of scrappy, hard-working and dedicated players, led by All-State wonder Cory Roesing, earned the school's state-record 17th state championship on Nov. 12. They defeated Bogota, 25-20, 25-18, to capture the NJSIAA Group I state title at William Paterson University.
The Patriots then went on to make even more history, upsetting Union Catholic and Pascack Valley, then ranked as the No. 1 team in the state, to advance to the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions final, becoming the first Group I school to reach any T of C final of any kind since 1989. However, the Patriots fell to Paramus in the T of C finale.
4. North Bergen's Mocco wins NCAA wrestling title once again It's safe to say that 2004 was a trying year for Steve Mocco.
In July of 2004, the North Bergen native suffered a heartbreaking setback in the U.S. Olympic wrestling trials semifinals, falling just one point off making the Olympic team - something that had been a lifelong dream.
Mocco had decided to take a year off from collegiate wrestling to concentrate on the international style. So he left the University of Iowa, where he had won the 2003 NCAA heavyweight championship with an undefeated season, to spend the entire year getting ready for the Olympics. The dream died in the semifinals.
Mocco returned from the Olympic Trials as a college wrestler without a home. He transferred to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla.
Last March, Mocco made the most of his new scenario. Now competing for Oklahoma State, the 23-year-old won his second NCAA national wrestling championship, taking the heavyweight (285 pounds) title, completing an undefeated season at 36-0.
Mocco helped Oklahoma State to win the overall NCAA team title as well - in yet another return to glory.
5. Jersey City's Brandon McGowan makes Chicago Bears roster Brandon McGowan never thought of himself as being pro football material when he was growing up in Jersey City's Bergen-Lafayette section and attending P.S. 41.
After a fine career at the University of Maine, McGowan was spotted by the Chicago Bears, who first signed him to a free agent contract, then invited him to attend training camp. McGowan remarkably made the Bears' 47-man roster, but was on the practice squad for most of the season.
However, in mid-December, when injuries decimated the Bears' defensive secondary, McGowan finally got his chance to play. He made eight tackles from his safety position in a win over Pittsburgh, entering the game as a reserve. Last week, in a nationally televised game against Atlanta and heralded quarterback Michael Vick, McGowan started at strong safety and collected six tackles.
6. SPC's Clark wins back-to-back NCAA scoring titles Here's a name-association trivia question. Ready? What do Oscar Robertson, Pete Maravich and Keyrden Clark have in common?
We'll give you a little of the Jeopardy! theme music as you mull this one over, trying to put Hall of Fame hoop legends "The Big O" and "Pistol Pete" in the same category with Clark, the 5-9 phenom from St. Peter's College in Jersey City, also known as "Kee-Kee."
Well, they're all players who won consecutive NCAA Division I scoring titles.
Clark averaged 25.8 points per game last season for the Peacocks to become only the eighth player in NCAA history to repeat as national scoring champion, and the first since Long Island University's Charles Jones turned the trick in 1996-97 and 1997-98.
For someone who never averaged more than 14 points per game during his high school days at Rice in New York, the idea of being a two-time national scoring champ is almost too unbelievable for Clark.
7. Hoboken's Perez goes to Super Bowl with Philadelphia Eagles When the Philadelphia Eagles took on the New England Patriots last February in Jacksonville for Super Bowl XXXIX, Hoboken's Carlos Perez was on the sidelines as a member of the Eagles.
Perez is the first Hudson County native to be at the Super Bowl since Union City's Frank Winters played for the Green Bay Packers in 1998. In 1995, both Winters and Jersey City's Dwayne Sabb had played in the Super Bowl when Winters' Packers faced Sabb's New England Patriots.
Although Perez did not play in last year's game, he was there as an Eagle. The former Hoboken High and University of Florida standout was affectionately dubbed as "The Rev" by the members of the team, as in "Reverend," because of his devout faith.
Last July, Perez went to training camp with the Eagles and was among the last players cut from the final roster in August. He then signed a contract to play with the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League, which begins play soon after the new year.
8. Stinson resigns as Hoboken football coach It was a move that had been rumored about for years, but finally came to fruition last March. Ed Stinson, the long-time head football coach at Hoboken High School and the most successful coach in the history of the school, announced his resignation as head coach.
Stinson left Hoboken to become the defensive coordinator at William Paterson University, joining a coaching staff that was headed by Stinson's long-time personal friend, Mike Miello.
During the decade of the 1990s, no New Jersey high school enjoyed the success that the Red Wings had, winning five NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group III titles over a six-year span (1994, 1995, 1996, then 1998 and 1999).
In that time span, the Red Wings enjoyed two lengthy winning streaks, one of 38 games (the second longest in Hudson County history, trailing only Memorial's win streak of the 1940s), and another of 29 straight games. It meant that over a six-year period, Hoboken had a record of 67 victories and just one loss.
9. SDA's Zivanovic has brilliant senior season in shot put, discus In 2003, Daria Zivanovic transferred to St. Dominic Academy from the Academy of St. Aloysius with the hope of advancing her already burgeoning track and field career. Zivanovic began her senior year winning both the indoor Group II and Meet of Champions gold medals in the shot put.
In the spring, Zivanovic won the Parochial A outdoor state titles in both the shot put and discus, setting new meet records in each event.
At the outdoor Meet of Champions, Zivanovic managed to collect a medal in both events - even though they were being held simultaneously - finishing second in the shot put and sixth in the discus.
With the two-medal performance, Zivanovic became only the third athlete in the school's history to collect two medals at the Meet of Champions, joining Liane Sullivan (1990) and former Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Year Cheri Selby (1995).
Zivanovic, who is now attending Cornell University, has her eyes set on representing her native Serbia in the Olympic Games in either 2008 or 2012.
10. McNair Academic's Njoku has track season for the ages Just two years ago, Leslie Njoku was a complete track and field novice, just learning the intricacies of the sport. It was a whole new world for the McNair Academic student.
Now, two years later, Njoku has already put herself in a place of rarified air. In June, she continued a magical, dream season when she competed in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions in South Plainfield.
The string of success started in May, when Njoku won four events at the Jersey City public school championships. Njoku then won four events at both the HCIAA and the Hudson County Track Coaches Association championships, winning the 100-meter hurdles (setting a new meet record), the 400-meter hurdles, the high jump and the 800-meter run, setting new meet records in the latter two as well.
From there, Njoku went on to the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group II championships and added an unthinkable four more gold medals. Njoku won the high jump, the 400-meter dash, the 800-meter run and the 400 intermediate hurdles. She was a four-time state sectional champion.
From there, Njoku went on to the overall Group II championships at Egg Harbor Township High School.
Undaunted and definitely not satisfied, Njoku was at it again, winning gold medals in the 400-meter dash and the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, becoming a two-time overall Group II state champ.
At the Meet of Champions, Njoku came home with two medals, finishing second in the intermediate hurdles and fourth in the 400-meter dash.
Other newsworthy stories, in a just missed list Not every story can make the Top 10 of the year, so here's a list of other events that just missed the list: In girls' basketball, Bayonne won the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group IV state title, the school's first state title in over a decade, while North Bergen repeated as HCIAA Coviello champs. In boys' basketball, Hoboken won the school's first-ever county title, winning the Seglio crown.
In wrestling, St. Peter's Prep seniors Sean O'Grady and Mike Rohrman made history by becoming the first set of Prep teammates to earn medals at the NJSIAA state championships in Atlantic City. Both wrestlers finished eighth in their respective weight brackets.
The Dickinson High School bowling team won the school's first-ever state title.
Yessy Tejada of St. Joseph of the Palisades had a football game for the ages, collecting 466 total yards and scoring seven touchdowns in one game - just three weeks after being seriously injured in an automobile accident.
The Snyder High School baseball team achieved the unthinkable - qualifying for the Group III state baseball playoffs for the first time ever.
The Hoboken softball team won the HCIAA Seglio Division title, snapping a five-year streak of dominance by High Tech.
Kevin Thompson of North Bergen had an eight-day streak to remember on the track, winning four events in the North Hudson Track Coaches Association championships, capturing the 100-meter, the 200-meter, the 400-meter and the long jump.
Eight days later, Thompson completed another quadruple gold medal-winning performance, this time at the HCIAA meet, taking the same four events.
There were other returns to glory - pro boxing making a return to Hudson County and North Bergen for the first time in 20 years, and the Jersey City Armory was restored and refurbished to host track meets and big-time basketball events.
There were the sad deaths of local sports legends Tony Nicodemo and Charlie Mays, as well as the untimely and tragic passing of St. Peter's College forward George Jefferson.
All in all, 2005 was certainly a year to remember in local sports, a return to glory in many ways.
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