Mahwah Jr. Football Team Caps Perfect Season with Super Bowl Win

A perfect season was like déjà vu for a team of Mahwah football players recently crowned Super Bowl champs.

Last Saturday, the Mahwah T-Bird’s 7th and 8th grade Senior A football team beat Riverdell 33-0 to win the Northern Bergen Junior Football League (NBJFL) Senior Division Super Bowl. The victory topped off a perfect 10-game undefeated season.

At the beginning of 2011, the same team coached by Karl Kreshpane and made up of many of the same team members, did exactly the same thing – finished an undefeated season with a Super Bowl win.

Kreshpane said the 25 members of the team were able to repeat their win because of all of the hard work they put in throughout the course of the season.

“It was really just a special year,” he said.

"The success of this team and of our entire program is based on the quality of the kids, the coaches, and the families. These boys are the hardest working, most focused boys I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach.”

The team members and their coaches said preparation helped them win in both 2011 and this year.

“We started a linemens’ running club when these boys were in third grade,” Coach Don Cantow said.

“After two hours of practice, they work out, do sit-ups, push-ups, and run. The kids love it.”

He added, “football is really a team sport, and there is no weak link on this team. Everyone is consistent, and they all really get along well.”

For many of the 8th graders on the team, this win marks their last in the youth football program before heading to high school next year.

“It felt really good,” team member Michael Cantow said of winning during his final season.

“I felt like it validated everything we’ve done and like all of our hard work paid off.”

His teammate, 8th grader Gianni Vinci said team unity was responsible for the win.

“There is no one kid we rely on. We rely on everybody,” he said. 

“Our team really played as one.”

The players on the championship team are Max Spain, Joseph Batavia, Sam Mintz, Ryan Desomma, Carl Kjellberg, Max Kohler, Michael Anthony, Miles Leniw, Cole Kreshpane, Chase Verdia, Alec Peltekian, Kyle Clark, Trent Murphy, Michael Cantow, Dylan Mauro, Christian Stewart, John Mikardos, Kyle O’Malley, Liam Gallagher, Gianni Vinci, Giordano Garcia, Jake Aiello, David McNaight, James Falotico, and Jake Milne.