Mahwah Celebrates Super Bowl Win

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 players agree. “We practiced when the other teams didn’t, and we put in a lot of hard work,” Gianni Vinci, who plays offensive and defensive tackle for the team, told Patch. “It was really rewarding at the end to see all of our hard work pay off.

Winning the bowl for the first time “couldn’t have felt any better,” player Cole Kreshpane said. Most members of the team have been together since the boys were in second grade.

According to parents of the players, consistency has played a big role in the team’s success. “They’ve always been a great team, but this year they were perfection,” Debbie Cantow, a mom of one of the boys on the team, said. “They know each other, they’ve formed friendships, and they know how to play together because they’ve been doing it for such a long time.”

The all-volunteer coaching staff “has been excellent,” Jody Kjelberg, another mom, added. “The kids were taught the value of teamwork, and I think that’s what sets them apart.”

For assistant coach Don Cantow, the kids were “truly able to make the metamorphosis from talented individuals to a high performing team. [E]ach kid brought out the best in each other [so] that, as both individuals and a team, they were able to excel on many levels on and off the field.” He said the “incredibly dedicated” coaches and families behind the kids were big contributing factors to the win, and parents agree.

“All of the parents have become friends, and it makes everyone a cohesive group,” Kjelberg said.

Now that the boys have reached league perfection, they will take the rest of the winter off, and then try to do it again.

“My goal is to go undefeated again,” player Michael Cantow said. His teammate Chipper Kjelberg added, “I really just like playing football."

Most of the team members attend , but some attend area parochial schools. The members of the winning team are Michael Cantow, James Falotico, Liam Gallagher, Giordano Garcia, Maxx Grainger, Chip Kjellberg, Max Kohler, Cole Kreshpane, Miles Leniw, Sam Mintz, Kyle O'Malley, Alec Peltekian, Patrick Shafer, Christian Stewart, Matthew Surich, John Mikardos and Gianni Vinci.