Bergen Catholic football dynasty built by love for each other | Cooper

EAST RUTHERFORD – Midway through the second quarter, while the tide had started to turn toward Delbarton, Bergen Catholic football coach Vito Campanile looked at his offensive linemen sitting on the heated sideline bench and told them to just "keep loving one another."

The Crusaders' love – and talent, don’t forget the talent – eventually prevailed as Bergen Catholic downed resolute Delbarton, 24-14, to win a third straight Non-Public A title Tuesday night at MetLife Stadium.

It’s the first time Bergen Catholic has won three state titles in a row since 1991-1993. The Crusaders went wire to wire (on my ballot, anyway) as the No. 1 team in New Jersey, and they’ll probably start there again in 2024.

“I feel like the team is going to be just as good, if not better,” said Crusaders senior running back Kaj Sanders, who sealed the win with an 11-yard TD run in the third quarter. “We had a lot of good underclassmen who are great players. I believe they’re going to get another one.”

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During this run – yes, we can call it a dynasty now – love is the secret ingredient.

“That’s very important to us, it’s very important to the team,” Bergen Catholic junior quarterback Dominic Campanile said. “That’s what the bond is all about. It’s love at the end of the day. We do it for our school. We do it for each other. I do it for our linemen, for our defense, I do it for everyone. It’s our culture.”

Football coaches have a pretty limited vocabulary. Bill Belichick made a career out of “Do Your Job” and sportswriters love to know about a team motto, like Finish, or the silly acronyms that pop up from time to time.

But what could be more encouraging to a football team in a moment of adversity than hearing love from their leader?

“I love these dudes,” Vito said after the win. “I hate to sound all Father Flanagan about it, because I’m tough and I can curse with the best of them. But at the same time, I don’t think that any of my players would tell you that I don’t tell them how much I care about them. Aside from my own kids, they’re the most important thing to me.”

Every coach feels that way about his team, but during this Bergen Catholic dynasty, it’s resonated more. Let’s face it, kids today can be a skeptical bunch, but they still respond to substance over style.

Sanders talked about how he knew Vito was real when he showed up at his grandmother’s funeral.

“When he talks about love, I think about my teammates, because they are like another family to me,” Sanders said. “I love them and we will love each other forever.”

Of course, the love relationship between Dominic and his dad/coach has to be a little different at times, no?

During the fourth quarter, when Dominic was running over to Vito to get the play as Bergen was driving for a clinching field goal, I wondered if they argue about play calls, and how that could impact being a father and son (if you don’t think any of the Campanile boys ever questioned what their dad Mike, was calling you’ve got another thing coming). That’s a different layer.

Somehow, though, Dominic and Vito seem perfectly comfortable. Dad/son, coach/quarterback. Love.

Vito rarely talks about how fast a player is or how strong. He usually talks about a player being selfless. He talked about Sanders being asked to play more offense instead of at defensive back as the perfect example.

At the end of the game, there was a commotion on the sidelines because Vito was determined to get injured Crusader Chris Mimmo onto the field for the final victory snap, but the clock just didn’t let it happen. Vito said that was the only thing that broke his heart Tuesday. See, even at the end, he was talking about love.

Next year will look different in North Jersey non-public football. It always does.

The transfer portal is only growing as a factor and who knows who moves in where. St. Joseph still needs a football coach. Don Bosco brought toughness to the table in 2023, but not enough points. Paramus Catholic is still getting back together. DePaul, which lost a tough one Tuesday to Red Bank Catholic, looked young and made young mistakes. Delbarton isn’t going away.

Bergen Catholic players, coaches and alumni lingered on the field after the game, taking pictures, hugging. School was canceled Wednesday. There was love to share.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Catholic NJ football dynasty built by love for each other