Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Frank Chamberlin, who played for Mahwah in the 90's and the NFL in the 2000's, recently received a surprise gift from the current Thunderbird team
According to Gwenn Hendrick, a former Mahwah resident whose son, Frank Chamberlin played football for Mahwah High School, Boston College, and in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans, she didn’t know her son was still inspiring Mahwah athletes. “I didn’t know this until this past season, when I was at a Mahwah High School game and I went inside the gym. But, they have one of Frank’s jerseys hanging up in the hallway,” Hendrick said. “I was surprised to see that.” Before her son’s cancer diagnosis last year, Hendrick said she and her family didn’t realize the impact Frank’s success story continues to have on Mahwah athletes. Chamberlin played football all four years at Mahwah High School, graduated in 1996…
Monday, December 10, 2012
Kevin Haslam was given the game-winning ball for his part in the Chargers' unexpected victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, reports say
Mahwah High School grad Kevin Haslam started in his first NFL game Sunday, and reports say he stepped up to the challenge. The San Diego Chargers had their best game of the season Sunday – a 34-24 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. After the game, a Chargers Blog report said Coach Norv Turner gave Haslam and new team member Reggie Wells the game-winning ball. “Haslam and Wells were called upon at the 11th hour to fill voids of an ailing Chargers offensive line and they did just that,” the report said. Haslam was traded to the San Diego Chargers’ practice team two months ago and signed a two-year deal to be on the team’s active roster about two weeks ago, a Chargers.com report said. In the team’s Dec. 2 game against the Bengals, Haslam …
Friday, November 16, 2012
Cake from Ramsey deli has played a role in both the NY Giants' Super Bowl win and the Mahwah High football team's success this season. Giants' season turned around last year after boy with pulmonary disease brought cake to team practice.
A Mahwah family may have found the secret weapon behind the NY Giants’ Super Bowl victory – crumb cake made at Lotito’s Deli in Ramsey. And now, the cake might be helping to catapult the Mahwah High School Thunderbirds toward their first state championship in over 30 years. Known as the “Crumb Cake of Champions,” the sweet treat was originally handed out to the Giants players and coaches as a ‘thank you’ from the Accurso family, whose son, 9-year-old Vinny, suffers from pulmonary hypertension, a life-threatening lung disorder. After hearing about Vin’s condition, Coach Tom Coughlin invited the family to a Giants practice last season. They brought the crumb cake as a present for the team. After the Giants won their next game, the Accursos …
Sunday, September 9, 2012
First home game of the season will be next week
Mahwah High School's football team clinched their first game of the season Friday at Pascack Hills. The Thunderbirds beat the Cowboys 38-14. The T-birds first home game is next Friday, September 14, at 7 p.m. against River Dell.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
The Mahwah High School team is gearing up for a better season than last
Mahwah High School’s football team is walking into its fall season the right way. This week, 15 of the team’s skill players won first place in the 2012 Summer Shoot Out Tournament held at Dover High School. “There were 20 teams in the tournament, and we won the whole thing,” Coach Jeff Remo said. “That’s pretty impressive.” The T-Birds beat teams from nearby schools like Fair Lawn, Paramus, Indian Hills, Hasbrouck Heights, New Brunswick and DePaul Catholic. “The kids just played well,” Remo said. “It’s a great warm up going into the season. Now, they can come into camp with a positive attitude.” Training camp preparation for the fall season, he said, starts August 13. In last year’s summer tournament, the team finished in the Final Four …
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Kevin Haslam, who played his first two years in the NFL for the Jacksonville Jaguars, leaves Friday for California
Mahwah High School graduate Kevin Haslam is packing his bags. The offensive tackle who just wrapped up a two-year stint playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars is leaving for California this Friday to train for his new gig, playing for the Oakland Raiders. Haslam, who played football all four years of high school in Mahwah and at Rutgers, was first signed to the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2010, reports say. He played in five games for the Jags in 2010, but a knee injury kept him from playing last season, and he was released in March. Haslam was signed to a one-year contract with the Oakland Raiders in May, reports said. The 6-foot-5, 304-pound football player said he is excited to make the move across the country. “I think it is a …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Athletic director predicts change may be coming to other sports as well
Beginning this fall, 160 high school football teams around the state will have the opportunity to win a state sectional championship, under a proposal approved by the NJSIAA Wednesday. The NJSIAA Executive Committee approved the proposal to create a Group V designation in the four public school sections by a vote of 22-5-3 at its meeting in Robbinsville, according to Jack DuBois, NJSIAA assistant director who's in charge of football. "This creates a greater opportunity for schools and for student-athletes," DuBois said. "It increases the number of teams playing in the playoffs from 128 to 160. At the same time, it eliminates 16 consolation games that schools didn't want to play anyway." The proposal also allows teams whose records are …
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The NY Giants victory last weekend isn’t the only football game residents are talking about
For 18 Mahwah sixth graders, the Super Bowl came early. The team is the first ever in Mahwah Rec Football history to score an undefeated season and win its league championship game, the ‘Super Bowl.’ The team, which practiced five days a week last summer and three days a week throughout the fall, beat the rec team from RiverDell, 31-18, in the championship game played at the end of November. Until next year, Mahwah’s team will be the reigning champs of the Northern Bergen Junior Football League. According to head coach Karl Kreshpane, the players’ commitment level contributed to their unprecedented success. “Football is the team sport; every player needs to work hard, work together, and be dedicated, and these boys did that,” he said. The …
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Purple in the stands for the team's special mascot paid off
All of the purple in the stands must have paid off. Mahwah High School seniors closed out their final football season with a 55-20 victory over Fort Lee Friday night. The T-Birds and their fans in the stands were decked out in purple, observing pulmonary hypertension awareness month. The team's "mascot," an eight-year-old who battles the condition, inspired the purple pride. Vinny Accurso, who has a brother on the team, watched from the sidelines as the team played in his honor. Check out a photo gallery from the win here, and see the story behind Vinny's five-year relationship with the senior members of the team here.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Eight-year-old battling pulmonary hypertension
The Mahwah High School football team is asking fans to come out and wear purple at Friday night’s game against Fort Lee. “Do it for Vinny,” the players say. Though only eight years old, Vinny Accurso has been an important member of the Mahwah football team for the past five years. His older brother Anthony joined the team when the family moved here in 2005. Due to a lung condition Vinny was born with, he was never able to play the game. Vin was born with a condition that “means that basically his two main arteries were backwards,” his mom Nadine says. Vinny underwent surgery to correct the issue at just four days old, but at a year old, he was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. “Not too many people know about it, but basically it's …
Jonathan N. Marcus, Esq.
12:04 pm on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
So very proud of Kevin. His story is an inspiration. Just goes to show that if you believe in yourself, continue to push forward and have patience, good things can come. Kevin is living the motto that coach Schiano put in place at Rutgers: "KEEP CHOPPIN!" more ›