New Jersey school has the #1 High School Football team

Rivals.com and MaxPreps.com came out with there high school football rankings and just one New Jersey team was included. That team however had the #1 ranking in both polls. Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, New Jersey can proudly say they are the #1 high school football team in the country.

The Ironmen finished the season 12-0 and won their fourth straight Non-Public 4 state championship by beating St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City 35-15.  Don Bosco Prep opened the 2009 season by defeating one of California’s better teams, De La Salle 30-6. In that game, the Don Bosco defense held De La Salle under 100 yards of offense. The team from Concord, California eventually won the CIF Open Bowl Championship and finished the year ranked #39 in the nation.

De La Salle was one of two out of state teams Don Bosco played this year. They also travelled to Alabama to take on Prattville High School. This came just two weeks after the big win over De La Salle. Don Bosco Prep defeated Prattville by a score of 35-24. Prattville finished the year by advancing to the final of the Alabama Class 6A and ranked #96.

Aside from the out of state competition, Don Bosco Prep rolled over their in-state competition this season. Teams like St. Joe’s of Montvale, Bergen Catholic, St. Peter’s of Jersey City, and Seton Hall Prep usually challenge the Ironmen. Not this year however, they were no match.

Don Bosco Prep used a complete team effort but they did have some stand out players perform well this season. Senior running back Tony Jones was voted the New Jersey Offensive Player of the Year this season. Jones is rated as a 3-star back by Rivals.com and ranked 14th at his position. In the state title game, Jones rushed for 215 yards and five touchdowns. He has offers from schools such as: Boston College, Connecticut, Miami, Michigan, Rutgers, and UCLA.

Three players stood out on the dominating Don Bosco Prep defense. Defensive end Bryan Murphy is a 4-star recruit headed to Pittsburgh. He gave his verbal to Pitt over offers from Boston College, Colorado, East Carolina, Louisville, Maryland, and others. Murphy is rated as the #3 recruit in New Jersey by Rivals.com. He is also rated as the 16th weakside defensive end in the country.

Don Bosco’s other defensive end, James Kittredge also had a good season and is headed to Vanderbilt next year. Kittredge chose Vanderbilt over North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia, Michigan State, and more.

Playing behind them was linebacker Steele Divitto. He has given his verbal commitment to Boston College. Divitto also received offers from Colorado, Akron, Louisville, Central Florida among others.

Don Bosco Prep continues to develop top level talent. Many of these athletes leave New Jersey when they go off to college. For some reason, Rutgers has not been able to keep these kids home. Some rumors are going around that the relationship between Rutgers and Don Bosco Prep never developed. Rutgers would be wise to fix whatever issues there are and keep these kids in New Jersey.

Congratulations to the Don Bosco Prep Ironmen on their perfect season, state title, and #1 national ranking.