By TOM WILLIAMS

2024 was another exciting season for high school football.

It all started in August at Ocean City’s Carey Stadium (and at Egg Harbor Township) with The Battle at the Beach and ended earlier this month for 14 schools in SHI Stadium at Rutgers and MetLife Stadium. Of course, the season was also strangely over for a number of schools by November 1st. But that is probably something we have to get used to.

Every year in this column, we try to keep the long history of Cape-Atlantic League football alive, even though CAL teams are now blended into the voluminous West Jersey Football League. Anyway, one of the big stories again was Mainland, which played the last game by a CAL team again.

STAT LEADERS: Middle Township senior Remi Rodriguez ran for 1,265 yards, one yard more than Cedar Creek junior Aamir Dunbar. Four other backs also gained more than 1,000 yards. Among other leaders, Mainland junior Jake Blum caught 53 passes for 1,294 yards and 15 TDs. Millville sophomore QB Robert O’Connor threw for 2,304 yards and 26 TDs; Mainland junior John Franchini had another fabulous season (2,213 yards, 21 TDs) and Atlantic City’s Khajuan Roseboro the highest pass efficiency rating (179.7) among CAL QBs; Middle Township senior Shaun Watkins averaged 13.6 tackles per game; and Holy Spirit senior Nick Medina led everyone with 10.0 sacks. The stats of more than 100 athletes, the leaders in rushing, passing, receiving, tackles and sacks, are available HERE.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: St. Augustine, Holy Spirit and Atlantic City were all undefeated on their home fields. The final records and WJFL division standings of all CAL teams are HERE.

BIGGEST IMPROVEMENTS: Ocean City won three more in 2024 than 2023, Buena won four more and Egg Harbor Township improved by five wins. But the best was Bridgeton, which went from 0-9 last year to 6-4 this year under Coach Dominique Williams and made its first NJSIAA post season appearance since 2015. Seven CAL teams were ranked among the 25 best in South Jersey, led by Millville, which will win The Tony Surace Award as the highest ranked. You can check the final Online 25 rankings of South Jersey teams HERE.

FIELD IMPROVEMENTS: There was a new turf field at Cedar Creek, a video scoreboard and game clock at Mainland and spectacular improvements engineered by retired superintendent Tony Trongone at Wheaton Field in Millville that reflect the success of the program through the years. These improvements were welcome additions to the CAL football scene, not only for the home team but for the visitors, as well. And not only for football teams, but for soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and more. You can also expect a video scoreboard at Ocean City’s Carey Stadium next fall.

IN THE RECORD BOOK: Lotzeir Brooks of Millville finished his career as the most successful wide receiver in New Jersey history, re-writing the record book. But other records were set. Holy Spirit QB Fred Dalzell threw 5 TD passes in one game back in 1968. Over the next 56 seasons, 18 different QBs tied the record. But, this year, somebody finally threw six. Atlantic City’s Kahjuan Roseborough did it against Eastern to set a new record. In that same game, Viking senior Sah’nye Degraffenreidt caught five of those TD passes, breaking the record of four set by Mainland’s Justin Bishop in 2015 and tied by two others.

MASON & NATE: This year the two most successful kickers in Cape-Atlantic League history were in action. And they never played in the same game, though their teams are considered rivals. Mason Forte of Holy Spirit and Nate Kashey of Mainland both broke the CAL record for career kicking points (173), set by Trevin DelGozzo of St. Joseph. Forte finished his career with 200 kicking points, including 19 field goals, second in CAL history behind the 31 kicked by Jim Cooper. Kashey has 178 extra points, most ever by a CAL kicker. With his first five points next season, Kashey will pass Forte and set his sights on the South Jersey record.

STREAMING SEASON: Live video streams continued to increase this year, Matt Ulmer again played a key role (in between trips to Key West), primarily with Mainland. Bill Shallcross who has been recording high school football for over three decades, continued to expand his role with Prime Events and Crossover Productions. There was outstanding coverage from BFA Productions, led by Doug Stasuk; Brian Cunniff on Cape-Atlantic Live; Quinn Broadcasting covering Millville; Vineland and Middle Township from school TV; and Hermits Broadcasting covering St. Augustine. Most of those streams are still available online. And there are lots more, as streaming played an even bigger role.

WELCOME RED HAWKS: The first new Cape-Atlantic League football program since Cedar Creek in 2011 debuted this season when Atlantic Tech joined the action. This young team won a pair of games under former Holy Spirit athlete Chris Mancuso, who played college ball at Rhode Island. Mancuso headed a staff that included Paul Sacco, the most successful head coach in South Jersey history.

JOHN & TONY: The athletic departments at Millville and Vineland made a great decision this year. They agreed to name the trophy that goes to the winner of their annual Thanksgiving Day game The John Pierantozzi-Tony Surace Award. Naming the award after two of the finest men in CAL football history gives the winning team an additional honor for the victory.

LEADING SCORERS: Lotzeir Brooks scored 19 touchdowns and was one of three players to score more than 100 points. He caught 16 TD passes, ran for two from scrimmage and returned an interception for another. Millville’s Robert O’Connor threw 26 touchdowns, Holy Spirit’s Mason Forte kicked 8 field goals, Millville’s Jaeden Everett returned 3 kicks for TDs – a punt and 2 kickoffs – and Bridgeton’s Jeremiah Russell scored three defensive touchdowns. You can see all the CAL scoring leaders HERE.

TRANSFER OF THE YEAR: There are always some transfers who have an impact. One left the CAL when Kenny Smith, one of the finest backs in New Jersey, left Hammonton for Glassboro and led them to a state championship. But the transfer into the CAL who made the biggest impact was Millville QB Robbie O’Connor, from Paul VI. With two-year star Jacob Zamot gone to The Lawrenceville School, the Thunderbolts needed a QB to get the ball to Brooks and their other talented athletes. O’Connor, a sophomore, did the job. He threw for over 2,300 yards, 26 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He finished with the third best passing efficiency rating among CAL QBs. Millville’s Robbie O’Connor was the Transfer of the Year.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Egg Harbor Township completed its second year of rebuilding with a winning record this year under Coach Rob Davis. The Eagles will look to move up another step or two next season. And they will rely on quarterback Xavier Cocci to guide that improvement. This year, as a sophomore, Cocci completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 1,582 yards and 11 TDs. He had the fourth best passing efficiency rating. He also ran for 591 yards and 13 TDs while making an impact as a defensive back. EHT’s Xavier Cocci is the Rookie of the Year.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: There were some good CAL teams this year and where you find good teams you usually find good defense. You can see some of the top tacklers and sack leaders in our stats list (the link is above). The thing about defense is – it is usually infectious. A couple big plays by a couple players can fire up the entire defense. St. Augustine senior Matt Bonczek was that kind of player. He was aggressive, never giving up on a play. Bonczek was credited with 84 tackles this year and 212 in his career. He had interceptions, recovered fumbles and got some sacks. But the important stat was that St. Augustine, playing a tough schedule, was the only CAL team to hold opponents below 10 points a game. The Hermits allowed only three rushing TDs in 10 games. That is a credit to their team and especially to the leader of that team. St. Augustine’s Matt Bonczek is the Defensive Player of the Year.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: You’ve seen the stat leaders in the charts, above. You know who put up impressive numbers that impacted his team. Like the top player on defense, it is always tough to select that one player who impacted his team with his offensive skills more than the others. This year, that player in Mainland’s Jake Blum. He scored 98 points, 15 of his 16 touchdowns coming as a pass receiver. He caught 53 passes for 1,294 yards, best among CAL receivers. He scored one TD on a run from scrimmage and he caught one two-point conversion. You might remember it – in overtime at Somerville to win the game and move the Mustangs into the state final. He always seemed to come up with catches that mattered. Mainland’s Jake Blum is the Offensive Player of the Year.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Since he first came onto the field as a Millville freshman, Lotzeir Brooks has been the center of attention. He set a new CAL receiving record for a freshman (988 yards). As a sophomore his 1,089 yards broke the mark set by JoJo Bermudez for a second year player. His junior year total (1,295) topped the record set by Mark Schenauer. His senior total (1,260) did not break the CAL record for a season set by JoJo Bermudez. But he continued to face double and triple teams regularly. He finished with the greatest numbers for a career in New Jersey history – over 4,500 receiving yards, 223 catches and 67 touchdowns. He scored 506 points in his career. And he played pretty tough defense, too. For being the face of CAL football for four years and handling the challenge with great success, Millville’s Lotzeir Brooks is our MVP.

You can see our exclusive CAL all star football teams, plus the names of all the CAL players selected as WJFL all stars, HERE.

COACH OF THE YEAR: It was another year of good coaching at the Cape-Atlantic League schools. Chuck Smith struck again with a third straight sectional championship. Others to win championships included Bert Ayala at Millville and Mike Forest at Oakcrest. And Keenan Wright guided Atlantic City to the sectional championship game. One other coach won a championship and it happened after a devastating loss to Millville in the Battle at the Beach in the season opener. Andrew DiPasquale led Holy Spirit to nine straight wins after that opening loss, including wins over St. Augustine, Camden, Donovan Catholic and St. Thomas Aquinas. After losing to DePaul Catholic, the No. 2 ranked team in the state, the Spartans defeated Atlantic City in not only a Thanksgiving rivalry game but a division championship game, as well. He kept his team focused after a tough start and guided them through a challenging schedule with success. Holy Spirit’s Andrew DiPasquale is the Coach of the Year.

GAMES OF THE YEAR: Both of the Millville-Winslow Township games were highly anticipated contests throughout the state. Atlantic Tech’s first win, an overtime victory over Deptford in week two was memorable. So was Lower Cape May’s 10-7 win over Cumberland, when Dennis Serra kicked a 45-yard field goal to win it. And that crazy game between Ocean City and Middle Township, when the two teams combined for three TDs in the final 55 seconds of the game. But the winner is Mainland’s 36-35 overtime win over Somerville in the state semifinal. The Mustang brain trust passed up a tying extra point by Nate Kashey to go for two and the victory. And the John Franchini-Jake Blum combination made it happen.

LOOKING TOWARD 2025: The divisions of the WJFL will be pretty much the same, though some crossover and non-league games might be different. Though the all star teams are loaded with CAL seniors, there is lots of talent returning. Consider this – of the top 10 quarterbacks in passing efficiency, six will be back. And six of the 10 leaders in receiving yards will also return in 2025. John Franchini, Donovan Linthicum, Aamir Dunbar, Ty Costabile, Jake Blum, Robert O’Connor, Triston Schmidt and Chase Hoag – just to name a few – will all be back. Hopefully they will bring fans more of the excitement we experienced in 2024.