MaxPreps 2011-12 Boys Team of the Year: Don Bosco Prep football

Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) football coach Greg Toal doesn't wrestle with words.

Clear thoughts come to his head, he translates them into language and blurts them out with a refreshing bluntness.

So, when asked about which was the top team nationally following his team's 42-14 win over Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Non-Public Group 4 title game at MetLife Stadium in December, Toal didn't hesitate.

"Oh, we're the No. 1 team in the country," he said. "We're the best football team in the country. There ain't no doubt about that. ... We play the best teams and we don't back down from anybody. So, yeah, this is the best team."

Clear. To the point. Spot on.

Not only did the Ironmen go wire-to-wire to win their second mythical national title – and sixth straight state title – but they also made an emphatic and decisive case to be the MaxPreps Boys Team of the Year for 2011-12.

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Darius Hamilton, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound five-star defensive lineman who will play this fall at Rutgers, had 3.5 of Bosco's eight sacks in the title win over Bergen Catholic and was the team's only first-team All-American. He had 17 sacks on the season.

"I don't think there's any doubt," Hamilton said. "We're the greatest team."

They staked that claim by ripping through a rigorous schedule that included wins over nationally recognized programs like Mission Viejo (Calif.), St. Edwards (Ohio), St. Joseph Regional (N.J.) and Bergen Catholic twice.

Their only scare was a 22-16 nail-biter at Manatee (Bradenton, Fla.), the nation's No. 1 team heading into the 2012 season.

As good as the offense was – led by the MaxPreps Sophomore of the Year Jabrill Peppers (921 yards rushing, 19 touchdowns), receiver Leeonte Carroo, running back and Notre Dame signee Elijah Shumate and quarterback Mike Yankovich – it was the defense that led the charge for Don Bosco Prep.

Peppers, a 6-foot, 190-pound defensive back, was equally good on defense and special teams, and add in second-team All-American safety Kyle Sakowski, Colorado-bound cornerback Yuri Wright and Shumate, and the Ironmen were nearly impossible to score against.

Only four times did they allow double-digit scoring, the high a 33-22 win over Bergen Catholic during the regular season.

"There's a reason their whole defense is going to be Division I players," Bergen Catholic head coach and former Bosco offensive coordinator Nunzio Campanile said.

Sakowski, who will play at Lafayette College in the fall, was selected the Bergen Record Defensive Player of the Year and was a second-team MaxPreps All-American. He had two interceptions each in the two wins over Bergen Catholic and against Mission Viejo.

He helped extend the team's winning streak to 45 games.

"Defensively we got after them right from the start," Sakowski said. "We wouldn't have gotten any of those interceptions without the D-line. … With this team, you can look to the right and to the left and you know someone's going to be able to make a play."

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MaxPreps Football Editor Stephen Spiewak and correspondent Brian Falzarano contributed to this report. E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchMashMax.