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North Warren Wraps Up Rebuild Year 3-5

October 23, 2023

**The Belvidere offense runs up against Logan Shipps (78) and the Great Wall of North Warren. Photo by Joe Phalon, 10/2023.**

North Warren football wrapped up the 2023 season with a 3-5 record with high-scoring games on both sides of the won-lost ledger.

Head Coach Eugene Fluri said his young team learned how to put together four quarters of
football as the season progressed.

“They really learned how to play a full game,” Fluri said.

**North Warren’s Rowan Kessler (9) helps stop Belvidere’s rush. Photo by Joe Phalon, 10/2023.**

Early disappointments to Whippany Park and Hackettstown were balanced by several big wins, particularly against Boonton, a school that fields a strong team every year, according to Fluri. There were a few nail-biters as well including a 6-0 win over Belvidere in a soaking rain, which turned into a classic mud bowl.

Quarterback Luke Stefankiewicz ran five yards for the game’s only touchdown, in what turned into a mostly ground game because of the rain with the Pats keeping 36 of their 40 offensive plays on ground, where running back Landon White powered through the mud for 98 rushing yards.

**Bring it on, North Warren quarterback Luke Stefankiewicz seems to say to Belvidere. Photo by Joe Phalon, 10/2023.**

A senior, this was Stefankiewicz’s first year as a starter, and Fluri said he grew into the job well.

“I think Luke did a great job,” Fluri said. “I think he kept the team together. In the huddle on offense, he knew how to keep things from getting out of hand, and we don’t want that.”

The Stefankiewicz-White collaboration produced all season. Even in a loss, it was rare for White to not chew up the turf rushing, scoring four touchdowns against Boonton, three of them on Stefankiewicz passes.

“Landon in very special,” Fluri said after the Boonton game. “He really came into his own this season.”

The Pats ended the season with a 27-0 loss to powerhouse Pequannock October 20, despite 93 rushing yards by White.

“It was back and forth all season,” Fluri said, “but these kids came out to play a whole game each time.”

Joe Phalon, Contributing Writer

Contributing Writer

Joe brings decades of journalism experience to the Ridge View Echo, covering everything from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former National Law Journal editor and Columbia Law School press officer, he now enjoys telling community stories in Blairstown, where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two dachshunds.