Whippany Park Football 2024 Season Preview: Building on Momentum and Focusing on One Game at a Time

It is not often an end-of-the-season consolation game would have such a positive impact on a football team. But Whippany Park’s (N.J.) thrilling, 58-56, double overtime win over Secaucus in North Jersey Group 1 play did, bleeding over to the offseason, second-year head coach Luke Maginnis noted.

“I mean, the way our last game ended, it had a storybook ending,” said Maginnis, whose squad finished with a 4-6 overall mark. “It drove the team to have a good offseason.”

With nine returning starters on offense, and eight on defense, Maginnis is hopeful for the upcoming 2024 New Jersey High School football season.

However, he does not want to rest on his squad’s laurels and is not looking past the upcoming game on the Wildcats’ schedule every week, always having his boys work tirelessly to earn that win.

“We do have a very good team coming back, but you don’t want to get caught up looking at the rat poison,” he said. “It’s easy to look at the good press clippings, but we’re looking at 1-0 every week. It’s a daily process when you’re working with kids.

“We have a lot of experience on the team,” he added. “But we still have to put in the work.”

One player who is ready to grind and succeed is rising junior quarterback Brandon Giangeruso, who passed for 1,416 yards and 10 touchdowns, while rushing for 648 yards and seven scores. But he did throw 14 interceptions, something he has been working on to decrease, and it is showing during the offseason, his coach noted.

“I think he is a kid who’s hungry,” Maginnis said. “He has a lot of high expectations on himself. He got a lot better of taking care of the football. He has a lot of high hopes. He wants to take this team to another level.”

Whippany Park’s ground attack will feature a committee of players who can all perform well on any given day or night, Maginnis noted. Among those running backs will be rising seniors Jaden Marques, Anthony Facchino, Patrick Dalgauer, and Andrew Guffanti.

“We’re going to spread it (the ball) to a lot of guys,” he said. “I think, when you look at the good college programs, they do that well.”

Rising senior Anthony Gagliardi will be the H-Back, a vital position in the Wildcats’ offensive scheme, Maginnis noted.

“It’s such an important position piece for our team,” Maginnis emphasied. “He can run, he can block, he can pass, and he’s a funny guy. He has put on a lot of weight to play that position.”

At receiver will be rising senior Dylan Morgenroth, who caught 33 passes for 475 yards in 2023.

“He’s one of our best possession receivers,” Maginnis said. “He runs good routes.”

Next up is rising senior Sal Palmisano, a 5-foot-7, 150-pound returning starter who owns a ton of flat-out speed, Maginnis pointed out.  

“He’s going to be our slot guy,” he said. “He has fantastic speed.”

Facchino (14 catches in 2024), rising juniors Nick Casale and Justin Getsinger, as well as rising sophomore Nick Petty round out the receiving crew.

The offensive line will feature four players coming back into the fold, and it should be Whippany Park’s strong suit, according to its coach.

“I think it’s the strength of our team,” Maginnis said.

5-foot-11, 220-pound rising senior Tyler Petty will man the crucial center position, replacing standout Pete Urato, who is now at Division III FDU-Florham.

“Peter had no bad snaps the whole season,” Maginnis sang his praises. “And that’s unbelievable.”

One particular guy who Maginnis is pretty confident about is rising 6-foot-2, 230-pound senior Leo Lima. He said Lima’s own self-assurance is due to his work ethic, productive offseason, and success in another sport.

“Leo Lima had an incredible offseason,” he said. “He is a very hard worker. He wrestled for the first time and had a lot of success.”

Another wrestler in the O-line’s guard rotation will be rising senior Alex Birecki.

Rising 6-foot-2 senior Dominic Sette will return at right tackle, while 5-foot-11, 220-pound Adam Katz, an addition rising senior, will play right guard. Another rising senior, Sam Cobane (6-foot, 210–pounds), will return as a starter at left guard, while rising junior Nick Rocco (6-foot-2, 230-pounds) will return as a first-string left tackle.   

The defensive line will feature brothers Leo and Laz Lima (rising junior/6-foot-6, 235-pounds) at the nose guard and defensive end positions, respectively.

Rising junior Nick Rocco, a 6-foot-2, 230 pounder, returns at defensive end, while Birecki, Sette, and rising junior Gavin Brown will be part of the end rotation. Rising senior Tony Gioiello, who has enjoyed an expectional off-season, per his coach, will also be part of the D-Line.

Maginnis is proud of the way his offensive line performed last season and is relatively optimistic about the Wildcats’ defensive line’s potential this campaign.

“As much success we’ve had on the O-Line, we hope to have the same on the D-Line,” Maginnis said.

The linebacking corps will see Cobane at the outside linebacking spot, with Petty, a projected starter, at the other outside position, moving over from defensive end, which he played last year.

Plus, rising sophomore Robert Ehrhardt, rising seniors Adam Katz and Marco DeCrescenzo, and rising junior Christian Giangrande, who all round out the linebacking group.

“They’re a huge part of our defense,” Maginnis said of his linebackers. “Having Sam and Tyler there is great. They’re reliable. You know what you get from them. I’m exciting for our linebacking core.”

Whippany Park’s secondary is made up of several solid returning defenders, Maginnis noted, with rising senior Patrick Dalgauer manning the ever-so important Wildcats’ middle safety position.

“We have a lot of experience there,” he said. “Pat Dalgauer played great in the role last season.”

Asked if he is chopping at the bit to hit the gridiron in Whippany Park’s first game,” Maginnis said with a chuckle, “I think everybody is. We just want to make sure that we stack (consistent) days and go 1-0 every week. We’re only focusing on Glen Ridge.

About winning the Wildcats’ division?

“It’s one of our goals to win the division,” Maginnis. “I know we have the ability to do that. We need to go 1-0 every week. I can’t stress that enough.”

Whippany Park hosts Glen Ridge on September 6th, at 7:00 p.m.

— Jerry Del Priore