Sophomore Ryan Lewis represents the first returning quarterback with experience that Bogota has had in at least seven years.
The Group 1 Bucs traditionally shift their best senior athlete to quarterback, so having a veteran calling the signals will be a huge plus.
“We’re excited about what he can develop into,” said Brian Appleton, in his seventh season coaching his alma mater. “How he’s developed from the beginning of last year to this year, if he continues to develop like that, it’s going to be great. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can handle.”
Lewis will be surrounded by a veteran cast, as Bogota moves up to face a more competitive schedule. The Bucs were elevated to the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference Patriot Division, after the small-school league dissolved its Union Division for programs struggling with participation.
“We got what we could get out of the Union,” said Appleton, whose Bucs won the division’s inaugural title in 2020 and had a four-year record of 19-8. “Our numbers went from 16 kids in 2021 and 2022, and this year we have 34 on the roster.”
Bogota also faces the challenge of not knowing where it will be playing its home games. Feigel Field is slated for renovation, Appleton said, and the Bucs might host a couple home games before construction begins or after it’s completed.
“We’re supposed to have a new field and we’re waiting for them to break ground on that,” Appleton said. “I’m not exactly sure where we’re going to be playing our games. We may be away. We put in permits for Overpeck Park. We’ve talked with some neighboring schools like Ridgefield High School.”
The tradition
In 2006, Bogota capped a 12-0 season by winning its lone sectional title with a 28-0 victory over Mountain Lakes in North 1, Group 1.
Now that the Bucs are no longer in the developmental Union Division, they are again eligible for the NJSIAA sectional playoffs, which were first introduced in 1974.
Bogota is 25-20 in six seasons under Appleton, a 2005 Bucs graduate, and last year’s 5-3 record marked the fourth consecutive winning season. In Appleton’s first two seasons, both in the Patriot Division, the Bucs were 4-6 and 2-6.
The challenge
Bogota must slow down more established programs.
A defense in its second season running a 4-3 returns a majority of starters.
“We have high hopes for them to be able to run it efficiently,” Appleton said. “It’s going to come down to winning the one-on-ones, stop the push on the defensive line, fill in the gap at linebacker. That’s the question we’re waiting to see.”
The Bucs’ strength is the return of a trio of senior two-way linemen Matt Mateo, Francis Vargas and Angel Jimenez.
Expectations
Bogota can be competitive thanks to a spread double-slot offense that returns a majority of starters, including Lewis, who saw action in several games as a fill-in and injury replacement. Appleton calls the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Lewis a “very, very smart kid.”
With familiar names returning on the offensive line, Appleton said this unit "is the furthest we've been in terms of having an offense put in and how we're running it."
“When I told them we were out of the Union, the kids were ecstatic about it,” Appleton said. “You’re playing competitive football [in the Union], but there’s always that thought in the back of your mind that we want to go into the regular league. So I think everybody’s excited to see what we’ve done and see if we’re going to be able to compete, which I think we’re going to be able to do.”
Schedule
Aug. 29: vs. Manchester
Sept. 5: at Wallington
Sept. 13: vs. Weehawken
Sept. 20: at Park Ridge
Sept. 27: at St. Mary
Oct. 3: vs. Wood-Ridge
Oct. 10: TBD
Oct. 17: TBD
Oct. 24: TBD
Most Popular
Comments / 0