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FOOTBALL
NorthJersey.com
Rivalries never disappear but are sometimes put on hold.
When Mountain Lakes and Butler meet in the North 1, Group 1 sectional final on Friday, past will meet the present. The stakes are often high when these teams meet and Friday night is no different.
For Mountain Lakes (6-4), the two-time defending sectional champions and defending Group 1 state champions, it’s about legacy and fending off their hungry rival.
For Butler (10-0), it’s time to snap the losing streak to Mountain Lakes that stretches nine games, including a 2009 sectional final. The Bulldogs may be undefeated but before they move forward, Butler must exorcise the demon called The Herd.
It’s small-town football at its best.
“It’s a great high school football rivalry between two programs within small communities that have a lot of tradition,” Butler coach Jason Luciani said. “There’s mutual respect.”
Longtime Mountain Lakes coach Darrell Fusco, who has been with the program since 1998 and has been head coach since 2009, has played a role in every game against Butler over the last 26 years.
“It’s two communities that are very passionate about their football. Just tremendous communities who get behind the football programs,” Fusco said. “We’re both consistent programs that have a lot of pride and tradition. We have the utmost respect for Butler and what they’ve been able to do over the years.”
Storied past
Friday’s North 1, Group 1 title game will be the first meeting between the schools since 2021. That year, Mountain Lakes defeated Butler, 41-7, in the opening round of the North 2, Group 1 postseason.
Prior to that, the teams met annually from 2009-2015 as part of the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference schedule and before the inception of the Super Football Conference. Mountain Lakes won eight straight meetings with Butler during the seven-year stretch.
Overall, the schools have faced each other four times in the postseason, including twice in sectional finals. The Bulldogs defeated Mountain Lakes in the 1997 sectional final, 30-7, and the Herd won in 2009, 48-7, in the final game ever played at the old Giants Stadium.
In the 11 meetings in the series since 1996, Mountain Lakes owns a 9-2 record.
Deep connections
Seven of Butler’s 10 coaches are alumni and played for the Bulldogs at one time or another.
Offensive coordinator and alumnus Mark Mickens started coaching at Butler in 1982, the year the Bulldogs won their first sectional title. Mickens has been an assistant coach on all eight of Butler’s sectional-title teams.
“Mark has dedicated his life to Butler. He brings so much to the program and the school community,” Luciani said. “He’s my assistant head coach and his presence and involvement is why our program has thrived.”
Sean Centinaro, a standout running back for the Bulldogs who starred on Butler’s last sectional title team in 2018, is in his fourth year on the coaching staff and first year as defensive coordinator.
“It’s surreal to be back here coaching. It doesn’t feel too long ago that I was running the ball on this field and making tackles,” said Centinaro, who holds the school rushing record. “We have a real connection with the kids. The entire town is behind us, same as it was when I played here.”
Fourth-year coach Tim Mickens, Mark’s son, is the special teams coordinator. Though he didn’t attend Butler High School, he did spend a lot of his time growing up around the program. He’s currently in his second year as the school’s wrestling coach.
“The roots run deep in Butler. Most of our coaches have been a part of the program and its past in some way,” Tim Mickens said. “It’s a family environment. There’s so much tradition and pride.”
Fusco even encounters the connection with Butler on his side of Morris County.
Scott Brown, the quarterback for Butler during its stretch of three straight sectional titles from 1995-1997, is currently a coach for the Grayhawks, a youth and feeder program comprised of Mountain Lakes and Boonton residents.
Butler alums Joe Cina and John Borie are both assistant coaches on Fusco’s staff.
“There’s a lot of connections. In one way or the other it all traces back in history and to the rivalry,” Fusco said. “I would run coaching clinics in Morris County back in the day and Mark [Mickens] and Jason [Luciani] were always the first coaches I would turn to.
“In terms of football, we’re similar in size, community involvement, success, and tradition. It’s two tremendous communities.”
Following a slow start, Mountain Lakes is playing its best football the last seven weeks and has won four straight and six of its last seven.
Butler, meanwhile, is undefeated at this point of a season for the first time since going11-0 in 1994.