Season Preview: Bridgemen Football Returns To Action With High Hopes

The Fort Lee Bridgemen football team are more than ready to take the field under the lights on Friday, Sept.9, when they host rival Bergenfield at 7 p.m.

Head coach Bill Straub is entering his third year and is feeling optimistic about what he has seen so far.

"We just want to get better each and every day, and I think through camp we really have; I think the kids are coming to work hard everyday," said Straub. "I think they’re ready to just get under the lights on Friday night."

The team brings back many explosive players, including senior wide receiver and outside linebacker Tyler Sanders, senior strong safety and running back Frankie Goris, senior linebacker Tamer Ammar, senior outside linebacker Jason Concepcion, senior fullback Justin Parra and starting junior quarterback Mario Jackovino.

Sanders is feeling good about what is yet to come.

"Our expectations are pretty high," he said. "We’re working really hard so we’re expecting a good season this year. Lot of hard work and dedication."

Goris agrees echoes that sentiment and seems to have really bought into coach Straub’s system.

"Our expectations are way higher than every other year," he said. "We’ve been working harder than ever with coach Straub, and we’ve put more time than any other summer into football training and making ourselves better as a team."

The team started intense practices in early July with speed training and more weight lifting as they started preparing for what awaits during the regular season.

"We have a lot of players that when they have the ball in their hands make things happen, and our defense has really come together strong this year. We look to make a stand, not like every other year,” said Goris.

Coach Straub feels that versatility will be a major part of the team’s success this year, along with the team's underclassmen, who are also ready to contribute.

Last Season

Last year was a building one for the Bridgemen, who finished the season 2-9. However the team was competitive during many games, losing by only a touchdown to Ridgefield Park and Morris Hills and keeping many other games close throughout the season. The Bridgemen are optimistic that if they stay healthy, this year will undoubtedly be an improvement over last season.

This Year's Bridgemen Football Team:

• Sanders, Tyler-WR/LB
• Ford, Josh-WR/DB
• Goris,Frankie-RB/S
• Dinkins,Drew-WR/DB
• Baez, Michael-RB/LB
• Erenberg, Michael-TE/LB
• Jackovino, Mario-QB/DB
• Yamaguchi,Masaru-WR/DB
• Cheon/Alex-QB/DB
• Fornes, Brandon-WR/DB
• Ahmed/Hyder-QB/DB
• Ro, Sungho-RB/DB
• Jun, Kevin- RB/LB
• Hwang, James-RB/DB
• Kim, Jonathan-RB/DB
• Willis, Chris-WR/DL
• Cunningham,Shawn-RB/LB
• Parra, Justin- TE/S
• Kalezic, Nikola-RB/DL
• Concepcion, Jason-OL/LB
• Durden, Anthony-OL/LB
• Ammar, Tamer-OL/LB
• Buonsanto, Christian-OL/DL
• Vidal, Christian-OL/DL
• Ramos, Christopher-OL/DL
• McCafferty, Chris-OL/DL
• Haskins, Patrick-OL/DL
• Peralta, Eric-RB/LB
• Harilaou, Nick-OL/DL
• Corales, Sal-OL/DL
• Yeom, Samuel-OL/DL
• Bank, Aiden-OL/DL
• Gutierrez, Andres-OL/DL
• Perez, Jeremy-OL/DL
• Yamaguchi, Nakim-WR/DL
• Topaz, Sam- OL/LB