From a 40-game Winless Run, to a Playoff Berth in Just Years, the 1989 Bloomfield High Bengals Football Program Got the Job Done

Hard to believe, but it's been 35 years since Bloomfield High's football team qualified for the NJSIAA playoffs.

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Making the playoffs wasn't new for the Bengals in 1989. The program qualified for the first-ever NJSIAA playoffs, 50 years ago, and did so again, in 1977. Earning a playoff berth back then was even more difficult, since only four teams, per section, qualified, where today, eight schools earn a berth.

But getting back to Bloomfield, there would be a drought for the program, after that 1977 season. The Bengals, from 1978-1988, did not have a winning season. From 1983-1988, there would be a winless steak that hit 40 games (0-39-1) before the '88 Bengals snapped that skein in week number two, defeating Paramus Catholic, 7-0.

The '88 Bengals were led by second-year head coach Chet Parlavecchio. Chet had taken over the program in 1987. While the Bengals were 0-9 that year, Parlavecchio, himself a marvelous athlete who played football at Penn State and later in the NFL, seemed to have the program headed in the right direction.

A commitment to the weight room in the off season in 1988 had the Bengals much stronger. The team would not only snap the winless streak, it would win two other games and also tied Belleville, to finish 3-5-1 in 1988.

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The momentum was clearly in the Bengals corner heading into 1989. The players had clearly bought into Parlavecchio's program, and it was evident the team was fired up for a big season in 1989.

Bloomfield would finish 8-1 in the regular season in 1989, with the only setback coming to Nutley. The Bengals qualified for the post-season and drew Elizabeth, a marvelous team, in the first round of the playoffs.

Thirty-five years later, this seems a good time to look back at the tremendous ascension of the program under Parlavecchio's guidance. To go from a 40-game winless run just two years earlier to finishing 8-1 and qualifying for the playoffs, speaks volumes.

There is so much to look back on, and we will do that over the next few weeks, highlighting the key players on that 1989 squad, and memories of some of the big victories.

If you were a player on that '88 or '89 football team, or a fan of that squad, and would like to contribute some thoughts and memories, please e-mail me at mike051893@aol.com , by Aug. 20, with your insight. Hope to hear from you soon.

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