Football Alum, Corey Wootton, drafted by Bears in fourth round

When the call came through, Corey Wootton knew right away who it was from. The Don Bosco Prep grad had spent five years at Northwestern, so he recognized the 847 area code -- and he also knew the Bears were next on the clock.

He was right. Head coach Lovie Smith was calling to tell Wootton the Bears were taking him with the 11th pick of the fourth round (109th overall).

"I've been waiting for that call the past couple days and finally got it," Wootton said from his family's home in Rutherford, as cell phones beeped and rang in the background. "It's a relief to know where I’m going, know where I’ll be for the next four years."

The wait was longer than expected for the defensive end, a projected second or third-rounder. But Wootton's phone was silent through Thursday's first round and Friday's second and third rounds. He finally heard from the Bears before lunchtime Saturday.

Wootton had a breakout junior season for the Wildcats, recording 10 sacks and 16 tackles for a loss, during which leaving early for the NFL seemed like a viable possibility. But once he tore his ACL in the 2008 Alamo Bowl, he had to put that dream on hold. He returned for his senior season, working his way back from the injury as the fall progressed.

"It's a blessing to be able to come back from this injury and to be drafted in the NFL," Wootton said. "Many people didn’t think I'd be able to come back from this. I'm just excited for this opportunity."

Wootton is a good fit for Chicago in a lot of ways. He was happy to land in a 4-3 scheme, which he played in college. The Bears' defensive line coach, Eric Washington, was Wootton's defensive line coach through his sophomore season at Northwestern. And his fiancee, Felicia Chester, will be a senior forward for the DePaul women's basketball team.

"Chicago is a great city," Wootton said. "Everyone was so excited. It was great to be able to share this moment with my family and friends."

By Jenny Vrentas/The Star-Ledger

Boys Lax Impressive In Victory Over St Joes

Frank Gaul, Matt King and Andrew Parrilla all sank two goals to lead Don Bosco Prep (9-5) to its third straight victory in Ramsey. Mike Wolff chipped in with one goal and two assists and Max Everett made three saves. Pat Harrington scored both goals for St. Joseph (3-11) of Montvale.

Maroons suffer OT setback in Counties

It is a position they have not been in for many a year, if ever. As inconceivable as it may seem, the Maroons of Ridgewood High School entered the first week of May with a losing record in boys lacrosse and were in jeopardy of missing out on the state tournament.

Those words were thought to be impossible for the Ridgewood, a perennial contender for a state championship and the premier program in Bergen County. The team has long been the measuring stick for every other Bergen squad, but that aura of invincibility has taken a hit recently, culminating last Sunday at Ramapo High School.

Facing unbeaten No. 1 seed Mahwah in the semifinals of the county tournament, the No. 4 Maroons twice came back from three-goal deficits, including once in the fourth quarter, only to see an uncharacteristic mistake lead to an 11-10 overtime loss and an abrupt end to their tourney life.

A Luke Cichocki goal with 1:41 left in regulation tied the game at 10, but as time expired, a Ridgewood player was called for a taunting penalty, which meant that Mahwah would gain possession on a free release to begin the extra session.

It took all of 33 seconds for the Thunderbirds (12-0), a second-year varsity program, to score the game-winner and set off a wild celebration. At the other end of the field, the Maroons (5-7) were left in a combination of stunned disbelief and anger.

The game itself was a microcosm of Ridgewood's season. There were moments where it looked every bit the team that county foes fear. Just as quickly, the fortunes would turn, and it appeared ordinary.

"We just didn't sustain the good things long enough," RHS head coach Mike Pounds said. "You let a kid get a strong-hand shot in the middle of the field, or we press and take a bad shot; just not executing consistently for 48 minutes."

"Overall, if you evaluate it, it was a good effort," he added. "There's got to be consistency. We still had moments where we were all not on the same page."

The Maroons suffered their lapses at the key moments. They fell behind 4-1 in the first period, allowing an end-to-end run and score by Mahwah's Tim Culloty. They came back to tie it, 4-4 before the end of the quarter.

After the two teams each had single goals in the second and third periods, Mahwah scored three straight goals to open the fourth quarter, with Culloty again making a rush out of the defensive end off a turnover and setting up a goal.

"Athletically, we don't match up as well against the good teams," Pounds admitted. "That's been our biggest problem."

Still, Ridgewood came back again with three consecutive tallies from seniors Ryan Mansbach and Brian Cubellis and sophomore Max Luing. A Maroon penalty allowed Mahwah to notch a man-up goal to go ahead, 10-9, before Cichocki tied it and set up the overtime.

"It's absolutely disappointing," Pounds said of the loss. "Any time you lose to a team in your county, where you've been supreme for a long time, it never tastes good."

There is no time to wallow in despair for Ridgewood, which visited the state's No. 1 team, Summit, on Wednesday and will host Northern Highlands today at 4 p.m.

Unless the Maroons win both games, it will be up to the state-tournament selection committee to include them in the Group 3 playoffs as an at-large team. Otherwise, they will suffer the ignominy of being on the outside looking in for the first time in over two decades.

"At this point, all we can do is focus on ourselves and what we can do ourselves to correct it," said Pounds. "You can focus on the game — you can't focus on the calls, and you can't focus on the other team. All of our players still have areas to improve upon, and that's all we can look at right now."

By: Jim McConville can be reached at farrellb@northjersey.com

Photo Credit: KELLY BIRDSEYE

The Record

Baseball Playing Well

Hackensack 12, St. Mary 8 (at St. Mary): Frank Pinto picked up the win, improving to 4-0 on the season, while Tim Swatek homered at drove in two runs. Teammate Matt Carroll had a triple and three RBI, and R.J. Pita also drove in three.

Hackensack 8, Teaneck 4 (at Hackensack): Jonathan Saverese was credited with the win over archrival Teaneck. Leading the offense was Frank Pinto, who had a double and three RBI, and Tim Swatek, who drove in two runs.

Ridgewood 5, Hackensack 4 (at Hackensack): Chris Lisi had three RBI in the Comets’ eight-inning loss to the Maroons.

Hackensack 7, Wayne Hills 5 (at Wayne Hills): Tim Swatek picked up the win and drove in a run in the victory. Matt Carroll, Jack Morgan, Raul Reyes and Frank Pinto also had RBI.

Hackensack 12, St. Mary 8 (at St. Mary): Frank Pinto picked up the win, improving to 4-0 on the season, while Tim Swatek homered at drove in two runs. Teammate Matt Carroll had a triple and three RBI, and R.J. Pita also drove in three.

Softball Team Loving the Game

The chants from the Hackensack bench were deafening, and one in particular had the Pascack Valley players a bit baffled. The Lady Comets were cheering for their clean-up batter, Nicole Schider, who was up at the plate during last Saturday’s Bergen County Tournament game.

It was a simple but drawn-out, two-syllable call of the Comet catcher’s last name, the typical rally cry when Schider bats, that resembled Red Sox fans’ taunts of Darryl Strawberry in the ’86 World Series. But to the Pascack Valley Indians, who at that juncture of the game held a commanding six-run advantage, they thought Hackensack was egging on their star pitcher Nicole Schneider.

After a moment of confusion, an Indians’ coach clarified the chant to his players. The Pascack Valley girls nodded and smiled with approval, some single-clapping at the irony of the similar names while all tipped their caps at the Comets’ spirit.

We’ve spotlighted the Comets’ fight in the past, but it all took center stage in the opening round of the county’s biggest softball tournament last weekend in Hillsdale. Though we can’t escape the fact that Hackensack, ranked No. 31 in the tournament, lost to second-seeded Pascack Valley 7-1, the Comets showed and proved that despite owning a sub-.500 record, they indeed belonged in the tourney.

Based on their won-loss record, Hackensack had failed to earn an automatic berth into the 2010 Counties. But head coach Joelle Della Volpe filed the team’s application anyway. Della Volpe asked the committee to consider Hackensack’s schedule as well as several close games that turned against the Comets as a result of questionable officiating.

Early last week, Hackensack learned that it snuck into the tournament as the last team in. The Comets, as well as four other teams to earn selection despite losing records, answered criticism that their entry watered down the brackets by beating the defending Passaic County Tournament champion, Wayne Hills, and dueling a tough Ridgewood team in a narrow 1-0 loss. They even exacted revenge on Teaneck, Hackensack’s bitter rival who beat the Comets and ensured that they would have a sub-.500 record before the County Tournament deadline.

So Hackensack had nothing more to prove when it squared off against powerhouse Pascack Valley. But, if skeptics weren’t convinced that Hackensack was a legitimate tourney team before the Counties started, they were believers at the end.

The Indians, behind top-flight pitcher Schneider, controlled the game but never dominated in a way a No. 2 team would normally handle a 31st-ranked squad. Run-scoring hits by Dana Amato and Schneider off of Hackensack ace Korey Kozaryn gave the Indians a 3-0 lead after the first inning, and they upped the advantage to 6-0 following a three-run third inning.

Still, Hackensack was never out of the game. The Comets took good cuts against the usually overpowering Indians’ lefty, making Schneider work extra hard under the first 80-degree day of the season. And they finally broke through in the fourth inning.

After Schider’s loud fly-out to centerfield to lead off the inning, Megan Gowe slugged a Schneider offering to the base of the leftfield fence for a double. Gowe later scored on a Krystina Gronka RBI single.

The run was Hackensack’s lone score of the game, but the noise level from the visitor’s side of the field made many think the Comets were in the lead. As each Hackensack batter dug in against Schneider, there were cheers. With each pitch thrown by Kozaryn or Sam Curran, there was excitement and encouragement.

Warned in the past about their handshake routine between innings, Hackensack’s infielders still did it, acting in team unity and not defiance. "Huddles are for football," the home plate umpire yelled to the Comets as the meeting on the mound dispersed. Curran smiled.

Imagine the tournament, the game, without the spirit of Hackensack’s youthful energy. This takes nothing away from the other teams still playing, but we’re especially thankful and overjoyed that the Comets earned a spot in the Counties.

They showed that they belong and can compete with the elite.

And they made a little noise doing so.

BY DARIUS AMOS

Photo Credit: DARIUS AMOS

The Record

Girls Lax Loses Tough Battle With Suffern

Suffern 10, North Rockland 9: At North Rockland, Kelsey Rehain scored five goals and Maggie Sharp had one goal and three assists for Suffern. North Rockland's Taylor Moore scored four goals.

Baseball Falls To White Plains

White Plains 6, North Rockland 5: At North Rockland, Nick Cutsumpas had a home run and two RBI. Mike Quirindongo had two hits and two RBI for the Tigers.