Bergen Catholic star, bound for Ohio State, is ready for prime-time rivalry games

Quincy Porter is ready to face That Team Up North.

The Bergen Catholic wide receiver committed to play football at Ohio State in June, meaning he is keenly aware of the university’s rivalry with Michigan (given the “Team Up North” nickname by late Buckeye coach Woody Hayes).

Porter has gotten sneak previews of such intense battles by playing in the North Jersey high school equivalent : Bergen Catholic vs. Don Bosco. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior plays another on Saturday, when his Crusaders (3-1) host their rival from, well, up north on Route 17.

“There’s definitely going to be tension between the teams in those [Ohio State/Michigan] games, and in this game here,” Porter said Tuesday. “And it’s just prepared me to get ready for those type of games [in college].”

The longtime Non-Public powerhouses may not go as far as crossing out the opposing school’s initials on campus – tough to do since “Bergen” and “Bosco” start with the same letter – but the animus is there.

Fan bases pay attention to exactly how much media coverage each side gets. The Ironmen faithful may well circle the opening line of this story for the bulletin board. All it would take is a line referring to Bergen Catholic as “That Team Down South,” and the Crusader Crazies will do likewise (and may have just).

Regardless, Porter is the unflappable type, and Crusaders coach Vito Campanile believes that will translate well at the next level.

“He’s a ‘status quo’ guy,” Campanile said. “I mean, he’s about as levelheaded of a kid as I’ve ever been around.”

O-H… m-y

Porter proved it in Bergen Catholic’s first win of the season, at reigning Ohio Division II state champ Massillon on Sept. 6 . He caught a 58-yard touchdown to answer the Tigers’ opening score in an eventual 35-21 victory for the visitors.

To recap, he scored his first career TD in the state where he will play college ball, but in front of a crowd that was also cheering against his team.

“It was probably like both love and hate,” Porter explained, “because you’re going to be playing there, but they’re still fans of Massillon.”

Campanile said “I’m sure he was elated” to find the end zone in Ohio, and yet, “I don’t think he would let anything like that define him. Was it important to him? I’m sure. But I don’t think it would make or break him.”

He seems to have broken the spirit of at least a few defenders this season, with 18 receptions for 354 yards (19.7 average) through four games.

Championship-caliber catches

Last fall, Porter posted a North Jersey-best 19 touchdown grabs in 12 games, helping the Crusaders to their third straight NJSIAA Non-Public A title . He already has four TDs from classmate Dominic Campanile this year, as the duo aims to go 4 for 4 in the championship department.

“Dominic, his quarterback here – they were on the same 7-on-7 team in our [youth] football camp, and they took off from the jump,” said Vito Campanile, Dominic’s dad. “And Quincy was a running back at the time, he wasn’t even playing receiver yet.”

Porter grew up playing a variety of sports in New Milford, the next town over from Bergen Catholic’s Oradell campus (or, if you prefer, That Borough to the East).

“I actually don’t live that far,” he said, “and coming into the football camps at Bergen, of course I got to speak with coach Vito and Dom. That’s probably the main reason why I came here.”

The reasons he is headed to The Ohio State team out West are many.

“There’s really nothing he doesn’t do well,” Campanile said of Porter. “He’s as good of a blocker as there is in the country. His catch radius is insane. He’s been clocked at 21.9 miles an hour, which is NFL speed.

“And then, he’s a serious student of the game. He works incredibly hard at it. So, he does everything really good.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Catholic star, bound for Ohio State, is ready for prime-time rivalry games