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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Stuart Field Hockey's Blazewski, Hun Football's Rolle Get the Nod as Town Topics' Top Fall Performers
By Bill Alden
Taylor Blazewski didn't waste any time showing that she was going to be a leader this fall for the Stuart Country Day field hockey team.
In the Tartans' season opener against Princeton Day School, the strong, speedy forward scored the team's only goal in a 1-0 win. Then in the waning moments, she fought through the pain of leg cramps to stay on the field to help Stuart hold off the Panthers.
For the rest of this fall, Blazewski caused Stuart's foes plenty of pain. The senior led the Tartans in goals with 16. In addition, realizing that she needed to hone her passing skills to help the Tartans reach their potential, Blazewski also led the team in assists with 12.
With Blazewski emerging as such a force up front, Stuart broke a school record for wins as it finished 17-3. In the process, the Tartans won the state Prep B title and made it to the Mercer County Tournament championship game where they fought valiantly in losing to powerful Allentown.
Blazewski knew how much her teammates were counting on her. "I'm one of five seniors and I'm a captain so I feel like I have to step it up and lead everyone on the field," said Blazewski, who also stars for Stuart's ice hockey and lacrosse teams.
Stuart head coach Missy Bruvik appreciated what Blazewski meant to the Tartans this fall. "Taylor has been our top player," asserted Bruvik after a late-season triumph. "She is stepping up as a senior. She is finishing and making things happen for everyone else."
Blazewski's dominance up front and her special brand of leadership makes her the choice as the Town Topics' top female performer of the fall season.
Top Male Performer
When Myron Rolle transferred to the Hun School this fall from Peddie, the move drew attention far beyond Mercer County.
Before the 6'3, 210-pound running back walked in the door at Hun, he had already earned a reputation as one of the top college football prospects in the country.
The gifted junior star lived up to his rave advance notice this fall for the Raiders as he rushed for a school-record 1,501 yards to help lead Hun to an 8-1 record and the program's first-ever Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) championship. The prolific Rolle averaged more than 10 yards a carry and scored 17 touchdowns.
Unbelievably, Rolle may have had even more impact on defense than offense as the Hun coaches shrewdly shifted him between the linebacker and defensive back positions to disrupt opponents' offenses. Rolle recorded a sack and four interceptions on that side of the ball.
Hun coach Dave Dudeck was more impressed by Rolle's team-first attitude in helping Hun to the MAPL crown than his many gifts on the field. "Myron is so very talented," said Dudeck. "Myron was more into the team than his individual accomplishments. It was his first championship and that's what he wanted."
For getting the most out of his talents to help lead Hun to a championship, Rolle earns the nod as the Town Topics' top male performer of the fall season.
Top Newcomers
Coming into this fall having lost nine seniors to graduation, the Princeton High girls' soccer team was searching for someone to give it a lift up front.
While PHS head coach Greg Hand knew that senior Zoe Sarnak would run the offense in the midfield, he wasn't sure who would emerge as a second option.
Just weeks into the season, it became clear that freshman Olivia Johnston had the skills and mentality to be a force. Using her speed and booming left foot, Johnston caught fire to help PHS make the state playoffs.
Hand acknowledged what a factor Johnston became as the season unfolded. "Olivia found a way to be productive at any position," explained Hand. "We started her up top and then moved her to the midfield to take advantage of her speed and left foot."
While PHS made an early exit in the playoffs, Johnston's six goals and two assists portend a big future for her and the Little Tigers.
Johnston's heroics as a finisher for PHS fall make her the choice as the Town Topics' top female newcomer of the fall season.
Princeton Day School football coach Bruce Devlin knew it would be a gamble but he realized in the preseason that he had to turn the keys of the team's offense over to freshman quarterback Clint O'Brien.
The reaction of the PDS veterans to the bold move told Devlin that he made the right call. "He's like a senior in the huddle," said Devlin in assessing O'Brien's leadership. "The kids have really taken a liking to him; they want him to lead the team."
While O'Brien made his share of mistakes as he adjusted to the pressure of moving up to a higher level and running the team's offense, he was able to keep his cool. O'Brien ended up passing for five touchdowns and rushing for eight touchdowns.
With O'Brien gaining confidence at the controls, PDS went 4-4 on the season, a two-fold improvement on the 2-7 record posted by the program in 2003.
Devlin, for his part, sees a bright future for his 6'2, 180-pound signal caller. "I knew Clint had great athletic ability and great size," said Devlin, noting that O'Brien plays baseball and basketball.
"Pressure doesn't bother him. He has made some mistakes but we have talked them out on the sideline. I think Clint has a big future. He's a competitor and he's poised." O'Brien's poise and rapid development earn him the nod as the Town Topics' top male newcomer of the fall season.
Top Coaches
Missy Bruvik has coached a lot of outstanding teams in her 19 years guiding the Stuart Country Day field hockey program but she never had a squad quite like her 2004 edition.
Showing a consistency from day one, the Tartans broke the school record for wins in a season as they rolled to a 17-3 final mark. Along the way, Stuart won the state Prep B title and made it to the Mercer County Tournament championship game where it fell to formidable Allentown.
The Tartans reeled off eight straight shutouts during October, led by the outstanding play of junior goalie Christa Goeke. Stuart was no slouch on offense as it tallied 51 goals this fall, paced by Taylor Blazewski with 16 and Kelly Bruvik with 15.
In the wake of Stuart's 3-1 win over Morristown-Beard in the Prep B championship game, Bruvik explained her team's special qualities. "They never talked about their record," asserted Bruvik. "It was never about any kind of bragging rights for anyone. It was everybody on track; it was a team effort."
While the self-effacing Bruvik would never say it, her team's special focus this fall was a direct result of the cool intensity and strategic acumen displayed by its coach.
For utilizing her intensity and vast knowledge of the game to produce one of the greatest teams in program history, Bruvik is the choice as the top coach among female teams this fall.
When Steve Everette arrived in 2002 to take over the Princeton High football program, he didn't appear to be making a wise career move.
The Little Tigers had last made the state playoffs in 1994 and three head coaches had come and gone in the intervening seven years. PHS posted a 2-28 mark in the three seasons before Everette took the helm and had last won a game on the field in 2000.
The upbeat Everette knew what he was facing. "I told John Curtis [the former athletic director] when I took the job that I would need five years to win five games," recalled Everette.
Everette's ebullient personality gave the program a jolt as it broke through with a win over Hightstown in his debut season and then doubled its win total in 2003.
Coming into this fall, though, PHS was still regarded as a pushover by many in local high school football circles. The Little Tigers showed that they were ready to battle anyone as they got off to a 2-0 start with a 41-12 win over Allentown and a 20-14 overtime win against WW/P-S.
PHS headed into the Halloween weekend with a 4-2 record and a legitimate shot at a state playoff berth. While the Little Tigers came up short, they ended up with a 5-5 record and a new reputation as a team that couldn't be messed with.
For senior running back/linebacker Mike Vieten, it was the arrival of Everette that turned the tide for the program.
"I remember as a freshman we had no wins and a bad attitude," said Vieten after PHS' dramatic 34-33 overtime win against Holmdel in an NJSIAA consolation game in early November. "I think that as soon as Coach Everette came, our attitudes changed. It's all about attitude; our attitudes have been so great the last two years."
Everette's patience and enthusiasm in dramatically reversing the fortunes of the PHS football program earn him the nod as the top coach among male teams this fall.
