UNION, NJ — The last time Gus Kalikas was the head football coach at Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark was the 2008 season, when the Crusaders reached the Central Jersey, Group 2 sectional state championship game for the first time.
An emotional Kalikas held back tears on the field at Rutgers University that day, after his Crusaders were edged by Manasquan High School, 19-14, for the title. It was the final game of a five-season stint as the head coach for the 1990 Arthur L. Johnson graduate, who previously played for the Crusaders.
Now, the longtime Arthur L. Johnson athletic director is stepping into the role of head coach again, after the fine job one of his former players, 2006 Arthur L. Johnson grad Anthony DelConte, did the last 11 seasons.
This time, when Arthur L. Johnson opens at home against David Brearley High School in Week One on Friday, Sept. 5, he may hold back a tear or two of joy. That’s because, for one season, Kalikas will get to coach his son, Jack, who is a prominent returning senior for the Crusaders.
“Obviously, it’s a dream come true,” Gus Kalikas said at the third annual Big Central Conference Media Day at Kean University’s Harwood Arena on Thursday, Aug 7.
Kalikas did coach his son, Jack, once before and that was in middle school. Jack Kalikas, a returning linebacker and backup quarterback, will continue playing lacrosse in college at the Division 1 level at the University of Vermont.
“I will embrace this special experience and will be able to share some fond memories for sure,” Gus Kalikas said.
Jack Kalikas is aware of the fact that Arthur L. Johnson lost several key players to graduation, including quarterback Robert Gallagher, 1,000-yard rusher Ryan George and senior receiver Joshua Maltez-Torres.
“I’m really excited for my senior year and the opportunity to play for my dad,” Jack Kalikas said. “Some might say we will be down a bit this year because of the seniors we lost, but we’re going to take it day by day and work as hard as we can. We know the amount of work we have to put in.”
Kalikas guided Arthur L. Johnson to a 31-21 record in his first five seasons at the helm from 2004 to 2008. Included were the 2006 team going 9-1 and 9-0 in the regular season and the 2008 squad finishing 8-4, including playoff wins at home against Somerville and Point Pleasant Borough high schools.
The only loss the 2006 team suffered was a 23-20 overtime setback at home to Raritan High School in a first-round Central Jersey, Group 2 playoff encounter.
DelConte’s 11-season record as Arthur L. Johnson’s head coach from 2014 to 2024 was 56-48. DelConte guided Arthur L. Johnson to the state playoffs in each of the past three seasons, with the 2022 and 2023 teams finishing 6-3 and last year’s squad, 7-2.
DelConte’s teams in 2015 (7-4) and 2017 (8-3) also made the playoffs, both winning playoff games and reaching the Central Jersey, Group 2 semifinals.
In March of 2024, DelConte, a mathematics teacher at Arthur L. Johnson, was recognized by the New Jersey Department of Education as an Exemplary Educator of the Year through the 2023 New Jersey Exemplary Educator Program.
BCC President Scott Miller, the first Union County head coach to guide a team to a 12-0 record when he led the David Brearley Bears to the 2006 North 2, Group 1 sectional state championship, said he was pleased with the third edition of BCC Media Day.
For the second straight year, it was for one day at Kean, after the inaugural event was spread over two days in 2023 at the Iron Peak Sports & Events facility in Hillsborough.
“We’ll continue to do it over one night,” Miller said. “I think this year it went a lot smoother, having the teams in the same divisions going in the same time slots. We were much closer to being on schedule this time and there was less wait time for the kids to get their pictures taken.”
Official practice commenced around the state of New Jersey on Monday, Aug. 11, so media day also gave teams the opportunity to mesh with their upcoming opponents on a much friendlier basis.
“It’s a good opportunity for teams to see each other in a different manner,” Miller said. “It’s a more relaxed setting. It also gets the juices flowing a bit before practice begins.”
Doing the interviews for Big States Sports, which covers the entire state for football, were 1986 North Warren graduate Joel Konya and 2015 Bloomfield grad Zack Smolen.
Barris Grant is now the head coach at Union. He guided Hillside to three state championships. His goal is to lead Union to its next one, as soon as possible.
“I’m from Irvington and the Watchung Conference and know the old Union, the Lou Rettino Union,” Grant said. Union High School’s last winning season was in 2021.
“We’re going to try to build this thing up, brick by brick,” Grant said.
“We’ve been working non-stop,” said senior tight end-linebacker Nick Bertolotti, who is also a standout wrestler for the Farmers.
Union doesn’t play Irvington High School anymore, the way it used to every year when the two were members of the Watchung Conference. However, one Union County school Union still faces each season is arch rival Elizabeth High School.
The teams are scheduled to clash this year on the playoff cutoff date weekend, an American Gold Division game at Elizabeth’s Williams Field on Friday, Oct. 24. Elizabeth has won the last two meetings.
“Three seasons without a winning season here are unbelievable to me,” Grant said.
Eugene Kline took over as head coach at Elizabeth last year during the season and this will be his first full year at the helm of the Minutemen.
Elizabeth won four in a row at one point last year, including a 34-33 North 2, Group 5 home playoff win against Morristown High School, before finishing with a winning record of 6-5. It was the first time the Minutemen finished better than .500 since 2018.
“How we finished was a credit to our kids and our coaching staff,” Kline said. “Last year was a tough time. We got through it and we moved on.”
Elizabeth won only 12 games during its five straight losing seasons before last year’s squad challenged Passaic County Technical Institute in the North 2, Group 5 semifinals, falling 35-26.
“This year, the kids have gotten bigger, faster and stronger,” Kline said. “We’re excited about where we are.”
Elizabeth opens at Linden High School on Friday, Aug. 29. Linden also has a new head coach in Mark Ciccotelli.
“Our goal this year is to focus week by week,” said Elizabeth returning junior wide receiver-defensive back Nahjae Smith. “Even if we’re not at practice, we’ll do anything we can to make the team better.”
Photos by JR Parachini
