Vitals

Coach: Tim Fell
Year on the Job: 8th
Staff: Jared Cook, Kevin Meany, Mike Briggs, Anthony O’Hara, Tom Wooldredge and Joe DeKasar
Home Field: Turf
2015 Record: 0-9
2016 Nemesis: Pennington

Players

Freakishly Talented: Junior Tahj Valentine (5-9, 160) is one of those guys where you can picture him on TV one day saying, “My name is Tahj Valentine and I am an All American.” This high character guy can do and will do everything on the field.
Where’s the Beef: Senior lineman John Crispo (6-3, 190) may not be your prototypical blindside left tackle but his athleticism makes him an incredibly dynamic blocker up front. He’ll be a pancake machine for the Crimson in 2016.
Will be a Household Name: Junior QB Declan Kelley (6-2, 190) and senior runningback / slot receiver Jack Cipriano (5-9, 155) are two guys who will combine for a ton of offensive production this season.
Beast Watch: Watch out for junior receiver Ryan Russo (5-10, 140). He’s a dynamic, throwback kind of player who has no problem covering over the middle to make a clutch catch.

2016 Prediction

After a tough winless 2015 campaign that had a lot of younger guys taking their lumps as first year varsity starters, the 2016 Beards bring a more mature group of experienced players to the field. Coach Tim Fell feels 2016 will be a better season for the Crimson. “We were very young last year. We had a lot of players that got valuable varsity experience which will certainly help this year.”

Junior Tahj Valentine brings a dynamic element to this Crimson offense (photo by George Muha).

Although there are a ton of players who will step into big roles for the Crimson this season the headliner is definitely the Tahj-manian Devil. “Tahj is just a dynamic and impressive person and player on and off the field He is a great leader and will certainly be a key player for us this season,” coach Tim Fell says about his junior star.

If you are a Crimson fan you have to feel good about this season. Because of the super conference shakeup, MoBeard won’t have to play bigger public schools like Hanover Park, Butler and Hopatcong. Instead, they’ll face similar sized prep schools like Pennington, Riverdale Country Day in NY and the Hopkins School in CT.

MoBeard is looking to bounce back from their 0-9 season in a big way (photo by George Muha).

Last season the Crimson had a hard time keeping their legs under them during a brutal schedule. What I love about this year is their schedule is fairer and will allow them to get momentum down the stretch. The trick will be squeezing out as many Power Points from these opponents as they can. The way they do that is winning as many of their games as possible.

Can MoBeard win a state title? If the Crimson can get themselves to the dance I like their chances for a few reasons. Facing MKA, Hudson Catholic and Immaculata in their state playoff section will not be easy. But I believe they have the players and coaching to hang with anyone. Throw in the fact they should know what it feels like to win a lot this season, they’ll have a lot of confidence coming into the postseason.

Coach Tim Fell has done a great job of developing young players into varsity starters during their four years in the program (photo by George Muha).

2016 Schedule

9/2 @ St. Anthony
9/17 @ Sussex Tech
9/24 @ Pennington
10/1 Riverdale Country Day (NY)
10/15 @ Hackley (NY)
10/22 MKA
10/29 @ Fieldston School (NY)
11/5 Hopkins School (CT)

2016 Roster