North Warren’s football squad wrapped up its regular season Friday with a 34-0 loss to league powerhouse Kinnelon, but despite his team’s 1-7 2025 campaign, head coach John Baum believes his team has developing talent that’s continuing to show promise.
“Our offense seems to be firing on all cylinders when we’re up and healthy,” Baum said. “We lost two guys this week.”
Injuries have plagued his young team for the past two seasons. Injuries and youth. The Patriots have been able to put only a handful of experienced seniors on the field for two seasons.
That gap could reasonably be expected to hobble them against a dominating team like Kinnelon, but against more evenly matched opponents, North Warren demonstrated some of what they can do.
The Patriots were in the game until the end the previous week against the Belvidere County Seaters. A fourth quarter interception by Tyler Stout was converted to a three-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback C.J. Mamay that cut Belvidere’s lead to 10, but ultimately the Pats fell 22-12.
Colton Sikkes scored the earlier North Warren touchdown with an 11-yard run in the second quarter. Sikes led his team rushing with 92 yards on 10 carries.
On the ground, North Warren was competitive with Belvidere, rushing for 232 yards against the Seaters’ 237 yards.
Heading into a post-season match-up with Sussex Tech this Monday, Baum said he’s going to start by determining who hasn’t been banged up with injuries.
“We’re literally going back to the drawing board,” Baum said. “I have to see what we can do with the guys we have left on game day.”
Despite the disappointing record this season, Baum emphasized that he is proud of his players and any loss was not for lack of effort.
“These guys brought it out every week,” Baum said. “They left nothing on the field.”
The Patriots will play Sussex Tech at home, Monday, Nov. 3, at 6 p.m.
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.
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
