Bulldogs made their coach proud this season
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

METUCHEN - The magical run of the Metuchen High School football team came to an end with a 35-0 loss to Florence in the NJSIAA Central Group I semifinal playoff game.

With the loss, the Bulldogs finished the 2006 campaign as the county's highest scoring team with a 9-2 record.

"I'm definitely going to miss this team," Metuchen head coach Bob Ulmer said. "The seniors on this year's squad worked hard all season and made practice so enjoyable. These guys wanted to be there and they took losing personal. When they won, they were ready to move on to the next game, and they were a real pleasure to coach."

Despite the lopsided final score, Metuchen stayed with Florence the entire first half, trailing just 7-0 at the break. A questionable call prevented the Dogs from evening the score just before the half that could have taken the game in a different direction.

"We had a touchdown called back that could have given us a lot more momentum coming out to play the second half," Ulmer said. "The call didn't go our way and instead we came out and played perhaps our worst quarter of football this season."

Before the whistle blew to terminate the third quarter, the Dogs were finished as Florence held a commanding 28-0 lead.

"We knew we had to throw the football when Florence started putting points on the scoreboard," Ulmer said. "Unfortunately, that led to some turnovers and we could never get on track. We did finish with 12 first downs, so we could move the ball against a very good team, but it wasn't enough to get the job done."

Florence's Tim Bihlear was virtually unstoppable, rushing for over 250 yards and three touchdowns on the day. For Florence, it was the team's 45th win in its last 46 games.

"It was without a doubt a tough environment to play in for us," Ulmer said. "Football is king down there and you could see that. People were watching the game from rooftops and lined all the way around the fence. It was pretty special."

The Dogs say goodbye to a number of seniors who ended playing careers with outstanding seasons. Lamar Nichols, Jon Brown, Quentin Robinson, and Joey DiMeglio head the list.

"Lamar finished up with 100 tackles, 12 of which were behind the line of scrimmage," Ulmer said. "He also had four blocked punts."

Both Brown and DiMeglio rushed for over 750 yards apiece, with DiMeglio setting a school record when he returned an interception 97 yards for a score.

"These are kids that worked hard all year," Ulmer said. "They made it a great year."

Also contributing to one of the school's most successful seasons was the top-notch coaching staff assembled under Ulmer. George Micak, Joe Yoschak, John Thorton, Mike Warnock and Ed Angus joined Ulmer on the sidelines for the 2006 season.

"All of the coaches worked tremendously hard," Ulmer said. "It was the best staff ever put together since I've been the head coach. They really make my job so much easier because of their dedication and hard work."