Football: Check out Darren Cooper's predictions for Week 8 in North Jersey

This is the last week of the North Jersey football regular season.

This will be a football season I will never forget, and I am ready to share why. Short version: everything turns out OK, but indulge me personal story before we have some fun.

“We think your son has a brain tumor.”

Chilling words to hear, right? It was Sept. 2 and I was in Florida visiting my old boss before the Don Bosco-Edgewater game when I got a phone call from my beautiful wife telling me the news that there was something odd in my son’s MRI.

We had both noticed Daniel, our 9-year-old, had been acting strange since school let out. An increase in anxiety, trouble sleeping, and a weird motion sickness.

Thus began a five-week, four-hospital odyssey with multiple diagnoses, more blood tests than any kid should endure and plenty of sleepless nights.

Daniel is our baby, the youngest of three boys. He does everything with gusto. He ties his shoes with gusto, he dances with gusto, he plays Roblox with gusto.

The anxiety morphed to migraines, and then two seizures, one small and one much bigger the day of Sept. 3 after I flew home from Florida.

I cradled him in my arms as he was twitching (we called it a “glitch” to make him feel better, since you know, video games). He could respond and squeeze my hand when asked, but he couldn’t speak.

It was the scariest moment of my life.

They couldn’t tell if it was a tumor, a weird infection or something else. He kept passing all the neurological exams: He walked fine, eyes were fine, he spoke clearly. The headaches always went away after a while. A spinal tap showed nine white blood cells in the spinal fluid. There shouldn’t have been any, but only nine?

After treating him at the hospital with antibiotics for a week, we hoped to see a change in the next MRI, but there was none. So the surgeon said, “we operate tomorrow.”

On Sept. 9, I sat in the corner of the OR prep room and felt like I was going to throw up. How did this all happen so fast?

About 90 hours later − well, that's how it felt − the surgeon came out with the news. It wasn’t cancer. It wasn’t malignant. But he also didn’t know what it was. The flash pathology was inconclusive. It appeared to him like some form of inflammation, but what caused it he had no idea.

So we waited for more pathology reports. We heard some scary possibilities. Inflamed brains don’t happen by themselves. By this point, Daniel was home. His scalp itched. He’d lost some weight. He was cranky.

Two weeks later, the doctors finally came up with a diagnosis: secondary vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels of the brain possibly/probably connected to a long-running sinus infection. He did IV steroids three weeks ago which should help. He went back to school last week.

I can’t begin to thank all the people here at NorthJersey.com and The Record for caring and reaching out and helping me get through this. I also leaned on a handful of coaches here in North Jersey, you know who you are. Dom Santoli is my spirit animal, but I still can’t see him in person or else I will cry.

My wife was stronger than I have ever seen. I said at the start for us to try to use our best talents to go through this. I said I would handle morale as best as I could, I wanted her to do the research, to be thorough and ask all the good questions and keep us on track. She was/is amazing.

I didn’t want to say anything public until we were in a better place. Another MRI is due in a few weeks, but all the signs are good. Daniel hates that he can’t do PE and recess just yet (the skull won’t be healed until Dec. 9), but he has a little gusto in his step.

So I dedicate this final picks for the regular season to him. Let’s do it with gusto.

Last week was my best week of the season. I only missed on Ramapo beating Old Tappan, and even with that pick, I noted how I had a feeling we may need some chaos. So yes, we have chaos.

Wood-Ridge (7-0) at Rutherford (7-0)

NJIC championship game, Friday, 6 p.m.

The NJIC championship format is just so smart and so fun. These are the two best teams in the conference this year.

Despite their proximity, these two schools haven’t played since 1976. Wood-Ridge has always been in Group 1, which is probably why.

For years, I would find fault with Rutherford, but this year, the Bulldogs have been the team to beat in the conference. It’s interesting though. Westwood is Group 2 and so is Rutherford. We have Westwood ranked higher, why? Is it just because of the Super Football Conference? A Rutherford-Westwood football game would be fun and we might get that down the road.

The pick: The Blue Devils are the biggest surprise in North Jersey football in 2022, but I don’t think they are beating Rutherford. The Bulldogs will repeat as NJIC champs, but it may be closer than people think. The Wood-Ridge defense is legit, but I think Rutherford may wear it down.

Eastside (4-3) at Passaic Tech (7-1)

Thursday, 6 p.m.

We have to look at every game this week through a playoff prism, right? Both of these teams are safely in the North Group 5 playoffs. Remember, the system is really complicated, with the top 16 in each super-section making it and split into two eight-team sections.

This has become a cool little rivalry. Paterson’s best players on display. Passaic Tech wants to win to basically guarantee it a top seed in its section. Eastside could use a boost in the rankings with a win. Transitive property says Eastside beat Ridgewood, which beat Passaic Tech, right?

The pick: Forget the transitive property. Passaic Tech is a touchdown away from being undefeated and No. 1 in North Jersey. Yes, I know I picked the Bulldogs to lose to Clifton. I was mad at them. Every time I think they are about to take off, they don’t. But I’m not giving up. I'm taking Passaic Tech this time and they’re going to come through.

Ridgewood (5-2) at Ramapo (5-2)

Friday, 6:30 p.m.

So let’s see, Green Raiders star quarterback Jack Grusser played against River Dell and Ramapo gets upset, then he doesn’t play against Old Tappan and Landon DiPrima does an amazing job and the Green Raiders gain a huge win.

I guess what this means is that Grusser and DiPrima are both really good quarterbacks.

It would be fitting for Ridgewood coach Chuck Johnson to get career win No. 300 on a field now named for his dear friend and colleague Drew Gibbs. Both of these teams are safely in the playoffs and just trying to ensure a home game or two.

The pick: The Ridgewood-Montclair game was fascinating to watch. Ridgewood came out hot, but then started making some mistakes (penalties) and it was like Montclair figured out, “we’re just as good as they are.” Ridgewood can move the ball, but desperately needs to find a way to make some big plays. The Maroons defense is legit, though. Meanwhile, Ramapo always seems to make big plays. I like Ramapo to win.

Delbarton (4-3) at DePaul (3-4)

Friday, 7 p.m.

The SFC United Red Division gets a lot of attention, naturally, but this one is the de facto title game for the United White Division with both teams at 3-0 in the league.

The Green Wave has won four in a row and the Spartans have won three of its last four. Last year, these two played a physical donnybrook that DePaul won 14-7. Is DePaul good enough to win Non-Public B this year? A lot might depend on what seed they get and who they play when.

The pick: I have been hearing good things about Delbarton all year, and I think the Green Wave may just have enough to beat DePaul.

St. Peter’s Prep (5-2) at Bergen Catholic (6-1)

Saturday, 1 p.m.

Because we need more complication when it comes to New Jersey high school football, remember that the playoffs start next week for the public schools, but the non-publics have one more regular-season game.

Weird, I know. But that’s because the public schools will go one more round in the playoffs and have to skip Thanksgiving. So even though the non-public playoffs will start later, they’ll end sooner. Read that sentence again. (The non-public playoffs likely won’t skip Thanksgiving weekend.)

St. Peter’s Prep is fresh off hanging a 70-spot on Paramus Catholic. Bergen Catholic ran all over St. Joseph in the first half, then coasted. I don’t think the Crusaders can coast at any point against the Marauders.

This is basically for the No. 2 seed in the Non-Public A playoffs, right? I mean, Don Bosco is the clear No. 1 seed, the No. 4 seed is probably Seton Hall Prep’s to lose going into a game against St. Joe's this weekend.

The pick: I see a lot of points in this one. You know who played a great game Saturday for Bergen Catholic? Linebacker Christian Gonzalez. I bet he graded out well on film. I’m torn in this one because I think it could come down to the fourth quarter, and that’s one area Bergen Catholic hasn’t really had to execute in a while. Still, I like the Crusaders defense and Saeed St. Fleur at running back to get the job done.

Quick picks

It’s a weird thing in the NJIC, because they have these crossover games, which are super important for power points, but don’t count in the standings. The de facto NJIC third-place game is Waldwick/Midland Park vs. Hasbrouck Heights. I will take the Warriors. I think the Aviators are little banged up.

The honest third place game might be Glen Rock vs. Park Ridge. This is a sneaky good game. I will take Park Ridge. The Owls are going to be a tough out in the playoffs again.

Another sneaky good game is Paramus at River Dell. Paramus has won three straight, and River Dell is coming off a loss to Pascack Valley. I have to go with the Hawks, though.

When I was watching the Bergen Catholic-St. Joseph game, I thought to myself, St. Joe’s is No. 1 … in 2024. The Green Knights are so young and talented and it’s all going to come together for them, but the defense is still inconsistent. So I will take Seton Hall Prep to beat them. I can’t wait to see where St. Joe's ends up seeded in the playoffs, because that’s going to be a big deal.

Clifton at Union City is another big Group 5 game. I will take Union City.

Part of me wants to take Wayne Hills over Northern Highlands, but I just can’t do it. Give me the Highlanders.

And finally, Mahwah at Dumont. I told you about this one weeks ago. Mahwah leads the all-time series 13-0. I think it finally happens for Dumont.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ football: Darren Cooper's predictions for Week 8 in North Jersey