West Morris' student section turns up the volume in the second half to help the Wolfpack rally for 21-points.

West Morris Central’s three-headed running attack of Michael Burton, Shane Thompson and Tommy Cabarle over took cross-town rival Mendham in a 21-6 win on Friday, September 11th. The three runningbacks combined for 436-yards and three second half touchdowns leading the Wolfpack to their first win.

The game started out much differently than the game ended, when Mendham shut out the Wolfpack in the entire first half. It looked like the Minutemen were going to pull a big upset when they held Michael Burton and company out of the endzone on four straight goal-line possessions in the first quarter.

Mendham kept the Wolfpack on their toes with a pounding running game led by junior fullback Drayer Van Orden and junior halfback Johnny Kuhn mixed with some nifty passing by Matt Crimmins to Brad Jones. But the Minutemen took a big blow when their bruising fullback Van Orden took a helmet to the knee at the end of a nice 20-yard run.

Van Orden did not come back to the game. But Kuhn put them Minutemen on his back and exploded for a second half 65-yard touchdown. Mendham could not convert the extra point and the Minutemen were up 6-0 at the half.

But in the second half the tide’s changed. Burton (169 yards) answered in the third quarter with two touchdowns, including a 53-yard scamper.

Thompson kept the chains moving for the Wolfpack all game by accumulating 162 yards. In the middle of the fourth quarter, halfback Tommy Cabarle jetted down the field for  ...Read More

Michael Burton and the 2009 Wolfpack hope to make it back to the State Playoffs in 2009.

The 2009 West Morris Central Wolfpack are coming off an impressive season where they tied to win their division and made it to the semi-finals of the State Playoffs. The bar are set very high but this Wolfpack team is up to the challenge. “Our goal is to win States!” Senior safety/tight end Ed McCracken swiftly stated. “Last year’s seniors set the standard and we got a taste of what success is like. We have worked very hard to exceed what we did last year.”

Losing play makers like Brett Bononno, Tyler Berntsen and Sal Carfaro will be hard to replace, but coach Kevin Hennelly likes how different guys are stepping up. “We have never had a playmaker like Bononno was for us last year. But different guys are stepping up. What is good for these guys is they saw the standard that last year's guys set.”

OFFENSE

The offense for this Wolfpack team all starts with senior running back Michael Burton who is one of the most explosive players in the conference. Last season he scored 14 touchdowns on 81 carries.  That is an average of one touchdown for every five carries. He also threw for a touchdown, caught another one and ran for a few more returning kicks.

Burton accomplished all these stats during the course of five games and was sidelined for half the season with a foot injury. With health on his side, Burton would like to get back to the States. “My goal for this season is to win States. I am not interest  ...Read More

We are currently perfecting our new publication using Boy’s and Girl’s Lacrosse as our lead sports for West Morris. However we will soon be opening our recruiting doors to cover additional sports. If you are interested in joining in the fun of being a part of the world of sports journalism and making a difference for your school, please contact Barry Buchanan at buchanan@wmchs.org and tell him that you would like to interview for one of our roles.

This is a terrific way to get great experience in the world of sports journalism and photography and while putting something very tangible on your college resume. It involves a commitment, like any team, but is a lot of fun!

Sincerely yours,

George Muha (aka Unruly)
Conference Director
Iron Hills Sports Conference of the HSjox.com network.