Don Bosco Prep versus Bergen Catholic ready to combust

WHAT: No. 2 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) (3-0) at Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) (3-0)
WHEN: 1 p.m. Saturday
HISTORY: Bosco five straight state crowns, unanimous No. 1 team in the country in 2009; Bergen Catholic 22 state titles, the last in 2004.

As if the heated Bergen Catholic-Don Bosco Prep rivalry needed any more fire, Nunzio Campanile splashed a five-gallon can of petrol on it last spring and passed out a Costco pack of matches.

Bosco’s athletic director, football offensive coordinator and head wrestling coach took the head coaching job at arch-enemy Bergen Catholic.

That’s kind of like Mike Krzyzewski pivoting to North Carolina, Bobby Cox vamoosing to Philadelphia or Bill Gates right clicking over to Apple.

And now Saturday, in a game of national proportions, Campanile will face off against the school he spent nine years and last season helped to a mythical national championship.

Among those on the Bosco sideline will be his younger brother Anthony, who took Nunzio’s offensive coordinator position. Nunzio took over for legendary Fred Stengel who resigned in Feb. after 22 seasons and nine state crowns.

“Everyone busted my chops for quite a while,” Campanile said two weeks ago after a thrilling 22-21 season-opening win over LaSalle College (Wyndmoor, Pa.). “It was definitely awkward for my 4-year-old son (Michael) who thought I wasn’t supposed to like those guys (Bergen Catholic). People have told me I look funny in red too.”

Few, quite frankly, was seeing red over the decision. How could they?

Don Bosco Prep coach Greg Toal isn’t going anywhere and Campanile was offered a job at one of the state’s – if not country’s – premier programs. Bergen is the 16-time state champion, however its last title was in 2004 when Bosco took over the state.

The Ironmen have won four straight state championships and five straight games over Bergen.

Campanile said the Bergen job was one of only about “three or four” he would have considered leaving his post at Bosco.

“Everyone actually has been great,” Campanile said. “It was a very hard decision, but it wasn’t like I had to uproot my family. It was difficult because of all the close relationships I have at Bosco. But they understood from a professional standpoint, I couldn’t turn it down. It was quite emotional though.”

Going into this week has been a little more emotional and somewhat vacant.

“It will be awkward for sure,” Campanile said. “The hardest thing is I can’t really talk to my brother or any one else from Bosco this week. He’s my closest confidant and it kind of stinks because we always have conversations about football and everything else.”

It also stunk the day he had to tell his wrestling team he took the job at Bergen. It came the following day the Ironmen won their first state title.

“That was pretty painful,” he said. “One day we were jumping around celebrating as state champs and then the next I’m leaving for Bergen. That said, between the football and wrestling, I felt I accomplished everything we set out to do.

“The truth is, the game and the program isn’t about me. It’s not about (Toal) or what the newspapers focus on. It’s about the kids and how they play and how they respond.”

It’s always been that way.

Campanile’s father Mike was the coach at Paramus Catholic in the 1990s and that’s where Nunzio and his older brother Vito played. Bosco and Bergen Catholic were their arch rivals.

“It’s hard to play against friends and family and folks you care about,” Nunzio said. “But I need to focus on the task at hand and giving them my very best. I can’t do that focusing on personal feelings.”

That said, it will be hard to block out the enormous hype of this contest. More than 5,000 fans will be jammed into Bergen’s Crusader Stadium and the media attention has been enormous said 16-year New Jersey sports writer and MaxPreps correspondent Brian Falzarano.

“This is definitely the biggest, most hyped regular-season game I’ve seen in this area,” Falzarano said. “(NJ.com) normally will have a single preview once a week on a big game, but they’ve had one every day this week. They’re sending out reporters to every practice. It’s unbelievable.”

There was lots of hype for Campanile’s first game as a head coach, the last-minute win over LaSalle. Karl Bostick sacked Matt Magarity and forced a fumble with five seconds to go to help preserve the win.

Quarterback Tanner McEvoy led the way on both sides of the ball, throwing for 124 yards and three scores and he ran in the winning two-point conversion. He added seven tackles and broke up two passes on defense.

LaSalle has won three straight games since and is ranked third in the state and 98th in the country.

“That was a special day,” Campanile said. “It was a standing-room only crowd, it was a really hard-fought game and we pulled it out. One of the big issues the last couple of years here is not finishing games and getting over the hump. We really accomplished that. There were a lot of anxious moments and a lot of buildup to that game but no one froze up. We trusted one another and prevailed.”

That would be the best-case scenario for Campanile Saturday as well. There doesn’t figure to be any secrets between the two squads.

“We’re almost identical,” said Campanile. “We both run out of spread formations and run on the inside. My brother and I think a lot of like. We’re practically clones.”

GAME NOTES: McEvoy (6-foot-5, 200 pounds) already had 20 scholarship offers coming into the season as a wide receiver. Campanile wanted the ball in his hands and the senior has responded completing 30 of 50 for 517 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s also rushed for a team-high 283 yards and four more scores. … His favorite target is 6-3 Northwestern recruit Cameron Dickerson. … Supposedly a rebuilding year for Bosco has played out much different as the Ironmen have won by a total 101-26 count and feature emerging star running back Paul Canevari (749 yards, seven TDs). …Bosco is ranked No. 2 in the MaxPreps Freeman computer rankings and No. 17 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25. Bergen is No. 2 in New Jersey and 39th nationally in the Freeman rankings.