By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
EAST RUTHERFORD — When Mike Schatzman took over the Washington Township High football program in 2018, the team had just wrapped up a subpar two-win season and was in the midst of a full-on rebuild.
And through his first three years at the helm, the Minutemen recorded just eight wins in 24 games. The early stages of the journey weren’t easy, but improvement was shown each calendar year since.
After falling short in the Central Jersey Group 5 sectional final in 2023 and the Group 5 state semifinal in 2024, the Minutemen finally broke through and made the years of struggle pay off on Friday with a 31-12 triumph over Passaic Tech in the Group 5 state championship game at MetLife Stadium.
“In 2018, most people — including myself — thought we were a ways away from this moment,” Schatzman said. “It actually happened a little faster than I anticipated, which makes my life a lot happier. Those guys that (played) in ’18, ’19, and even that 2020 COVID year, they really built the foundation and really set these guys up for wanting to play here and wanting to be a part of this program.”
Senior halfback Jaylen Robinson ran for 122 yards and three touchdowns on only six carries -– good for 20.3 yards per attempt — to lead the Minutemen to their first state championship in program history. It was also the first Group 5 state title victory for a team in the traditional seven-county South Jersey region since the state adopted state finals in 2022.
“It feels amazing,” Robinson said. “Even in the fourth quarter, my adrenaline was still pumping. Seeing there were five minutes left on that clock, the last five minutes of my season and my last five minutes of high school football. It was a lot to take in, but I know I don’t have any regrets out here.”
It’s hard to have any regrets when you put on the performance Robinson did. He scored on runs of 26, 65 and 12 yards in the second half as the Minutemen overcame a 6-3 deficit at intermission. They rattled off 25 straight points before Passaic Tech scored in the closing minutes after struggling with penalties in the first two quarters.
“We stuck to our plan,” Schatzman said of his squad’s second-half comeback effort. “We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit. We were overly excited. There are things that you’re not really accustomed to when you do play here, but hat’s off to (Passaic Tech). They have some really good players and really good athletes. I knew in the second half we could potentially wear them out a little bit, try to establish our run game. J-Rob was awesome again. He’s that home-run hitter type. It was definitely a total team effort. We preach the ‘48 minutes’ thing. We’ve rallied around that throughout the course of the season.”
Washington Township took a 3-0 lead after the first quarter on a Luke Sheets’ 27-yard field goal on the opening drive. Gabe Miles threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tyson Watkins with 10:34 left in the second quarter to give Passaic Tech a three-point advantage into halftime. However, in the final 24 minutes, the Minutemen looked like a completely different team. Robinson scored the first two touchdowns of the second half and Jyair Moore scored on a 20-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Cole Aquino to put the Minutemen up 24-6 with 7:36 left in regulation.
“I’ve only been in the program myself for four years, but when I came in they were really welcoming,” Robinson said. “They really made me feel like I was a part of this family, and now I am. I would say this group is special because besides all of their athletic abilities, they’re great people, too. We’re all homies, we all hang out and we always have each other’s backs. I really appreciate that from each one of these boys.”
The dominant effort capped off an undefeated 14-0 season for Washington Township. The Minutemen outscored their postseason opponents 150-72 and finished undefeated for just the third time in school history, joining the 1970 and 1992 squads in Minutemen lore.
“I won (a state championship) as a player in baseball in 2007, but I think when you’re a coach, you’re so wrapped up in everything and all the different intangibles that go into it, especially in football,” Schatzman said. “But to be 14-0 and to win here at MetLife, obviously, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a lot of our guys. It’s special and they deserve it. It’s an awesome feeling.”
Click these links for pictures and video coverage of Washington Township’s celebration:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRnP_6bkr-Z/?igsh=MTRmbTZndGR2M3pzbw==
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRnSFp_kpeb/?igsh=bjBkdHc2OXRidzF6
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRnSnrPknq6/?igsh=MWw4dHE4c3Q4ZGI2NA==
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRnbimpEq09/?igsh=dnJ5Y2NzNnFwdHI1
