This season, the Wayne Hills Football team’s record is 5-1! Senior Zach Kubofcik said, “Our success can be attributed to our chemistry as a team and how we genuinely enjoy fighting through it all together.”
Last Friday, the Patriots suffered a heartbreaking loss to the cross-town rivals, the Wayne Valley Indians, with a score of 34-31, with a game-winning field goal that would’ve sent the game to overtime. This Friday, Wayne Hills plays Passaic Valley to reclaim the power points they missed out on last week to get back into the State’s Top 20 Rankings. Beating opponents such as West Essex, Caldwell, and winning in Colorado at the beginning of the season.
This 2025-2026 team is looking very good, and I believe they could make a run in the state tournament if all the Players stay focused and keep their eyes on the prize. With the duo of quarterbacks, James Wolf (Junior) and Mikey Fitzsimons (senior), Wayne Hills coach Demikoff knows how to use both these players in a strategic way that wins them games. If you are looking for a big time deep pass to get the crowd going, then Mikey is definitely the way to go with 600 Passing Yards on the season with 8 touchdowns. When the ball is in James Wolf’s hands, you can expect running plays with short and simple passes to move those chains and get into that end zone when needed. James with 700 Passing Yards and 8 touchdowns, a very impressive first year Varsity Season for the Junior. We asked James Wolf what he thinks is the reason for the quarterback’s success this season. He left us with this: “I think there are many reasons. Obviously, a large part of our success comes from our week of prep as well as our game plan. But nothing is possible without the 10 other guys on our side of the ball blocking, the receivers catching, and the running backs running. Our success wouldn’t nearly be the same.
This team is a lot more than just their Quarterbacks and Backs, though. They have a strong defense as well. With an Intense line always attacking the other team’s Quarterback and getting great defensive stops. With two Senior Captains of Anthony Cuccinello and Luke Bacchioni. Anthony with 2 sacks and 8 tackles on the season, and Luke Bacchioni with 27 tackles and 1 fumble recovered. We asked Luke Bacchioni, as a captain, what is something you contribute to the team as a leader? He left us with, “Push the team to their limits every day and never be satisfied.”
We spoke to Anthony Cuccinello as well. We asked him what he thought was different about this season than past seasons. He said, “The energy and culture are way better, and there is just a lot of positivity all around.
This team has a lot to prove with still 3 more games left in the regular season. I believe that this team will continue to strive. I’m excited to see how the rest of the season goes and what else this team can accomplish in the postseason.
