Football: Here are Darren Cooper's predictions for Week 1 in North Jersey

It’s about identity.

Football is such a great sport. I am not one for all those clichés (reporters hate clichés), but the one I love is how adversity reveals character. It’s so true.

Football teams face adversity. The opponent is coached too. They prepare. They come in playing to win. Not everything is going to go exactly how you wanted it to go.

That means teams face adversity, and from that, you see character.

You can’t win a state championship in Week 0, but what your first game does is lay the foundation for your identity. Are you resilient? Are you strong? What are you good at? Who are your leaders? Are you winners?

My identity remains the best high school game picker in North Jersey. Well, maybe.

Last weekend, I spent a long time on the road. I may be the only person right now to have seen both Don Bosco and Paramus Catholic in person. Hey, someone has to do it.

This week is Week 1 of the high school football season. We have a lot of games Thursday night – probably because of the Labor Day weekend − and some games Friday and Saturday. School doesn’t start until next week. My three boys can’t wait! (Yes, they can.)

Week 0 and Week 1 are the hardest weeks to pick, because you go in blind on a lot of teams. Last week I missed on Clifton vs. Montclair, and West Milford. Wow, West Milford. I’m going to miss some more. But my gut was right on about 80 percent. I’ll get better.

Passaic Valley (0-0) at West Milford (1-0)

Thursday, 6 p.m.

All right, so let’s start with the Highlanders, who dominated Nutley in the first game of the Jim Grasso Classic at Westwood. I just talked about identity and the first week of the season, but you know what else matters? Momentum.

I’ll explain what I mean. Friday night, I am outside Baltimore for the Bosco game. The Ironmen fight, but lose to a superior team. That’s a long bus ride home. It’s only natural for some kids to walk off the field hanging their heads.

Then flip it around, less than 24 hours later, and Paramus Catholic stages a big win in Cleveland. The Paladins whoop it up on the ride back, everything feels great.

I gotta believe that West Milford has had a great week of practice since their win. That was the Highlanders' biggest margin of victory win since 2017 when they beat Tenafly in a consolation game.

Now they get Passaic Valley, a team that I really believe in, one that was right on the brink of a playoff spot last year, a team with a lot back and something to prove. They bring back QB Damian Kribs, and a hammer on defense in Brandon Veneziano.

The pick: Are the Highlanders ready to face this test? I love West Milford. It’s a town that can’t wait to embrace its football program and get behind the players, but I think they aren’t quite up to the Hornets' level. I am going with Passaic Valley on the road.

New Milford (0-0) at Cresskill/Emerson (0-0)

Thursday, 7 p.m.

Speaking of identity, North Jersey has a new team lacing it up for the first time Thursday night. It’s the newest co-op program, combining Cresskill and Emerson.

My first question is: Do the Emerson kids kiss the grass after a win too? That’s one of the best, oldest traditions in North Jersey.

Co-ops are such an interesting deal. Usually, we get them because one or both towns is struggling to field a competitive team, so they join up. We have three others: Waldwick/Midland Park, Palisades Park/Leonia and Cliffside Park/Ridgefield. It is unique. I don’t know of any other state that pulls this off (if there is, someone let me know). The other interesting factoid about those co-ops is that none have ever won a sectional title.

It may seem weird at first, but there’s something very pure about pulling kids from multiple towns and schools together to create one unified team. Isn’t football a bunch of teams put together, you know, your linemen, skill players, quarterback and special teams? Every team is a co-op in its own way. Just like life.

The pick: The Knights are coming off a 1-7 season when they played a lot of young guys and struggled on offense. I expect New Milford to be much improved, but this will be an emotional and fired up team in Cresskill. I like the “Cavo Cougars” to get their first win.

Erasmus Hall (N.Y.) (0-0) at Don Bosco (0-1)

Friday, 7 p.m.

I had friend tell me over the weekend that “Don Bosco looks shook.”

Well, I don’t know about that. The Ironmen are still one of the best teams in New Jersey, with incredible talent, but I will say they do seem to be overdue for some things to go their way.

Against Spalding, the Ironmen played hard. They had a goal line stand and an interception, but Spalding QB Malik Washington was way too good. I know it was 28-14, but it never felt like Bosco really was going to make a run.

And even more, I knew exactly what Don Bosco coach Dan Sabella would say after the game. That it was back to work. Because guess what? That’s the right answer. The only way to improve your performance is to work at it, get better step by step.

The Ironmen still have a really high ceiling, plus, you know, they schedule is tough on purpose. They could very easily cherry-pick a Week 0 opponent and score a big win.

They don’t do that, you know why? Because they believe come November, it will all pay off, and since Sabella took over, it has. The Ironmen have been in the state finals three of the last four years and that one year they didn’t make it was COVID football.

Erasmus Hall, out of Brooklyn, has won the PSAL championship four years in a row. The Dutchman gave St. Joseph’s Prep (Pa.) a game last year – and that means something in my book. But how good are they? Because I must tell you, if Bosco can’t beat them, they may be staring at an 0-4 start.

The pick: This is a tough pick, because of the unknown factor of Erasmus Hall, but NYC schools have usually not been able to hang with North Jersey superpowers. I think Bosco leans on the running game Friday night and gets something good to happen at the end. A shaky vote for Don Bosco.

Paramus (1-0) at Old Tappan (0-0)

Friday, 6 p.m.

North Jersey's first public-school state champion kicks off its season by hosting Paramus.

And with that, we can probably stop talking about the 2022 season, at least for now.

This is a sneaky-good game. Old Tappan really thumped Paramus last year in the season opener, but this time Paramus already has a game under its belt, and Old Tappan is replacing a lot of the big pieces from those guys who won rings last year.

The pick: I don’t think it’s a blowout like last year, but I do think the Golden Knights are still a little bit better and will win. Still, public-school football programs are cyclical, you’re up, then you’re down, then you’re back up again. Is Old Tappan down compared to last year? We will see.

Ridgewood (0-0) vs. Hackensack (0-0)

Saturday, 1 p.m. at Hinchliffe Stadium

It's so exciting to see North Jersey high school football return to legendary Hinchliffe Stadium (it’s a Zone6 doubleheader, with Passaic Tech vs. Union City to follow). I have yet to step inside the newly-reconstructed stadium and I can’t wait, but I will have to wait because I will be on the road Saturday.

It’s a new era for Ridgewood under coach Torre Watson. You won’t find anybody who will say anything bad about Torre. The Maroons were a big “what if” for me last season. If they hadn’t seen so many guys get hurt, they could have gone far in the Group 5 playoffs. But how different will the Maroons look now?

Meanwhile, Hackensack has been grinding the last two years under Brett Ressler, doing all the little things to field a competitive program. The Comets won three of their last four games last year and I believe they’re close.

The pick: I’m leaning toward the Maroons just because of the talent they bring back on offense, but I think it’s much closer than last year.

Quick picks

One score that caught my eye was St. Mary beating Garfield last week. The Gaels' combo of Damion Merkerson and Nasir Owens are going to be a problem. Now they get Park Ridge, one of the top teams in the NJIC. St. Mary can make a big statement here, but I’m going to go with the deeper Owls.

The other Thursday night game that’s a tough one is Pascack Valley at Ramsey. The Rams are 0-1 after losing to Cedar Grove, but this is the opener for the Panthers. I feel like Pascack Valley is due to break through. Maybe an upset in Ramsey. I’ll go with Valley.

You had to be impressed with Northern Highlands' win over Willingboro. The Highlanders might be the top public-school team in North Jersey. I think they will beat a good Wayne Valley team.

One of the best games Friday is Bogota playing Capital Prep (N.Y.) at Macombs Dam Park right outside Yankee Stadium on Friday afternoon. I think the Bucs will come home a winner.

I don’t see many easy picks this week. I like East Orange over Clifton and Demarest over Ridgefield Park. I’ll also jump on the Lyndhurst bandwagon and take the Golden Bears over Secaucus. And I think Bergen Catholic keeps it rolling with a win over Iona Prep.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ football: Darren Cooper's predictions for Week 1 in North Jersey