Football: Here are Darren Cooper's predictions for the non-public finals and Thanksgiving

Now we get to the part of the New Jersey high school football season where we have a bunch of games that matter ... and a bunch of games that used to matter.

Behind writing that New Jersey high school football needs true state championship playoffs, I think the thing I have written about the most is the concept of Thanksgiving morning football in New Jersey.

Its a tradition and it’s a beautiful one. It’s just irrelevant now … to most people.

You always have to cage everything you say or write about Thanksgiving football games because yes, there are people who are Extremely Passionate (caps intended) about these games.

In North Jersey we are down to three Thanksgiving games: Dumont-Tenafly, Kennedy-Eastside and Hackensack-Teaneck.

It is much more prevalent in South Jersey. Why? There’s no good answer. What am I supposed to say? That people in South Jersey treasure their communities and traditions more? But that’s not true. People in North Jersey care too.

What gets me is all the Thanksgiving Day games North Jersey used to have and now doesn’t, no one ever asks to bring them back. Why not? How come Hasbrouck Heights and Wood-Ridge aren’t playing? Ridgewood and Paramus? Old Tappan and Demarest? It’s almost like they recognized it wasn’t worth it anymore.

The issue is that Thanksgiving Day games and the lack of state championship football games before this year in New Jersey are intertwined. If New Jersey had put in a true playoff system back in, I don’t know, 1940, Thanksgiving Day games maybe never would have taken hold, because, in a way, that’s what they used to be, de facto championship games. Not anymore.

I saw some tweets last week about the length of the football season and all that. They’re right, we should be ending the football season this weekend with all the state championship games, but the NJSIAA has to give everyone time to play on Thanksgiving, so the public school finals are next week (and what fun they will be).

Behind the scenes, I just want you to know that even these games we have left in North Jersey are barely hanging on. If they could move Kennedy-Eastside to Labor Day weekend each year with a big party/festival at Hinchliffe Stadium, I bet everyone would sign up in a second.

Unfortunately, the Hackensack-Teaneck games have become, let’s just say, physical affairs that spoil the whole event. (Code: there are fights.) Hackensack hasn’t played in three weeks.

Dumont-Tenafly is still fun, but same thing, Tenafly hasn’t played in four weeks. What is a football coach supposed to do with four weeks to prepare for one game?

I’ve thought a lot about what to do about Thanksgiving Day football games. I used to think that schools should just kind of keep the date open and see, heck, Hasbrouck Heights-Wood-Ridge would be a heck of a game this year. But times move on, things move on. No one is going to pick up a game at the last minute. The athletes have to get ready for wrestling season and basketball season, I get that.

We’re stuck here clinging to a tradition that doesn’t resonate with as many people as it used to. That’s the truth.

Here are my predictions for the three Thanksgiving Day games and two non-public state finals.

Kennedy (0-9) vs. Eastside (6-4)

Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Of all the North Jersey Thanksgiving Day games, I think I covered this one the most. I was there in the snow one year, in the rain one year, and they moved this a few years ago to Wednesday night. I was there for that too.

And it’s a good show. Get there early because Paterson Supt. Eileen Shafar will do a ceremonial “kickoff.” Literally, the ball will be teed up and she will give it a boot to begin the game, and there is a big trophy that goes to the winner.

The game itself, unfortunately, shouldn’t be that close. Kennedy coach Ron Jackson is such a loyal trooper and a good man, but the Knights are on a 21-game losing streak. Eastside is just better right now by a wide margin.

The pick: The Ghosts should roll.

Hackensack (4-6) at Teaneck (7-3)

Thanksgiving, 10:30 a.m.

I remember when Teaneck shifted to the Ivy Division, I wondered what was going to happen to this game because there is sort of an unwritten Super Football Conference rule that Ivy teams aren’t supposed to play non-Ivy teams.

But Teaneck coach Harold Clark was insisten the game would go on and it would be a good one. You have to tip your hat to Teaneck, which went 7-3 in the Ivy Division for its first winning season since 2006.

Hackensack finished the regular season 4-6. The Comets play such a tough schedule; I mean, you look and they lost to Ridgewood, Northern Highlands and Ramapo.

The pick: Hackensack hasn’t lost to Teaneck since 2012. I actually believe this has a chance to be a good game because I love the Ivy Division concept and Teaneck will be ready to play, but I think the Comets will win.

Dumont (7-3) at Tenafly (3-5)

Thanksgiving, 10:30 a.m.

Now, you know I just wrote all this stuff about Thanksgiving Day games outliving their usefulness and all that, but you know what? It’s still fun. There will be a nice crowd at Tenafly, lots of alumni back seeing each other and it’s great. It’s a combination of Homecoming and a good party. How can you not like that?

Last year’s game was close, Dumont won 14-7, in 2019, Dumont won by a point. There was no game in 2020 (thank you COVID).

The pick: This year, Dumont looks like the superior team, but I bet it stays close for a while. Tenafly will play with a lot of pride, and with four weeks to prepare, shoot, they could have a whole new offense in place. But Dumont is the pick.

DePaul (6-5) vs. Red Bank Catholic (10-1)

Non-Public B final - Friday, 3 p.m. at MetLife Stadium

Last week, I said in this space that DePaul had to beat St. Joseph Academy to make it a good season….now, to me, (just to me) this is gravy.

But then you start to really think about it….Red Bank Catholic has one loss, to Seton Hall Prep, 17-0, in a game my friends told me wasn’t that close.

Of all teams, DePaul is the one Seton Hall Prep didn’t play in the regular season, so we can’t compare.

The Caseys are led by senior running back Sabino Portella. He’s legit.

A thought hit me watching the public semifinals at Franklin, I said we get spoiled watching the North Jersey non-publics because they can do so many different things. They can play power football, play finesse, throw the ball, they have great special teams, and other football teams just can’t do that. They are kind of one dimensional and once they can’t do that one thing, they can’t do anything else real well.

The pick: I am picking DePaul, for a couple of reasons. One, I think the Spartans feel like they should have won the game last year against RBC, and two, the pressure is all off the Spartans. They can play loose and be aggressive. That’s right in their wheelhouse. Also, this season has sort of reverted back to form. The North Jersey non-public schools still seem to be a step above everyone else in New Jersey.

Don Bosco (9-2) vs. Bergen Catholic (10-1)

Non-Public A final - Friday, 6 p.m. at MetLife Stadium

It’s Bosco/Bergen LXXVII (77).

What more do I have to say?

Once again, we are back in MetLife Stadium for the state championship. These two teams were on a collision course since, I don’t know, last season. It is only the third time they have ever played at MetLife against one another.

Last year, Bergen Catholic knocked off the Ironmen 28-7 in the final, and it wasn’t even that close.

This year, in Week 4, Don Bosco came into The Jack and just dominated Bergen, 31-7. It’s Bergen Catholic’s only loss.

At this stage, I thought it would be fun to look at the out-of-state foes for Bergen Catholic. Cardinal Gibbons (N.C) finished 9-3 and lost in the second round of the North Carolina 4A playoffs. Saguaro (Ariz.) is 7-3 and in a playoff game Friday night.

For Bosco, Archbishop Spalding hasn’t lost since the opener to Bosco. Edgewater in Florida is undefeated and in the Florida regional finals on Friday. By the way, if Edgewater wins, it still has two more rounds. I know, bonkers right?

In the preseason, I thought to myself that Don Bosco was the better team. The Ironmen had more coming back. We didn’t know what the quarterback situation was like at Bergen Catholic, yet, we had to keep Bergen Catholic No. 1 because no one had beat the Crusaders. Then Bosco started the season 2-2, the defense looked young (and played like it). Bergen was stomping people.

I picked Bergen to win, even though in my head I thought the match-up favored Don Bosco. The Ironmen could do what no one else could and match the Bergen Catholic defensive line with their ability on the offensive line. And listen, since beating Bergen Catholic, Bosco has just soared, boosted with confidence.

One moment in that game particularly stands out to me. Bosco was down around the goal line, they had really pushed Bergen around, and you could sense the Bergen Catholic kids starting to get a little frustrated with one another. That was a big sign to me that the Crusaders had lost their cool.

There’s no way that is happening again Friday night. Both teams are going to go hard for four quarters.

So then it comes down to two things for me, one is the match-up again, Don Bosco still has the ability to handle the Bergen defensive line. However, can Bergen do some things differently? You better believe it. Maybe they blitz more, who knows? But they have to do something.

The pick: It's my old friend, the Rematch Theory. Don Bosco won the first meeting, which gives the Ironmen such a big edge. I think it’s closer than it was back in Week 4, but I believe Don Bosco wins the Non-Public A state title, maybe 21-7.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ football: Predictions for non-public finals and Thanksgiving