Becton made the state playoffs for the first time in three seasons and the future is bright for the Wildcats with eight players returning next season.

Becton finished with a 7-3 record that included a victory over St. Mary’s. Also two of the losses suffered during the season were to teams that made the state sectional finals, New Milford and Belvidere.

"The number one goal always is to win a state championship, but this was a nice first step," said head coach Roger Kotlarz.

And looking back on the season, one of the toughest losses was 24-20 to Secaucus. A win over the Patriots would have given Becton a higher seed in the Group 1 North 2 instead of the eighth seed that they received and fell to top-seeded Belvidere.

Despite the lopsided loss to Belvidere, 41-12, Kotlarz believes that the game was closer than the score indicated. "The score might not have shown it, but we had some chances," said Kotlarz. "You look at their team (Belvidere) and they had all experienced players and we had at one time, nine underclassmen on the field."

One of the keys next season will be the offensive and defensive lines. A pair of the linemen were named to the offensive All BCSL National first team in junior guard Jose Mercedes and junior center Mike Trost.

Kotlarz and Becton though will have to fill a big hole in senior quarterback Drew Cathey who threw for 1,521 yards and fired 25 passing touchdowns. Cathey was named to the first team All National team.

"He had a great season and he will certainly be hard to replace," said Kotlarz about Cathey. "Next season will be a different team. We‘re definitely not going to have the gunslinger like we did this season with Drew."

Also on the first team All National is senior defensive back Anthony Hediger, junior wide receiver Kevin Paz, junior tight end Tim Motto and sophomore linebacker Matt Fleck.

While Cathey graduates, whomever takes over the signal calling will have two quality targets in Paz and Motto, returning.

Another key piece that is returning is sophomore running back Greg Barbo who was second team All National. Barbo set up a quality tandem with Hediger this season in the backfield. Hediger ran for 520 yards while Barbo collected 472 on the ground. "The combination started to develop into a good one-two punch," said Kotlarz. "He (Barbo) really came on and has a great head on his shoulders."

Looking back at the 2007 season, Kotlarz points to the victories over Wallington, 20-7, on Oct. 6 and St. Mary’s, 47-20, on Oct. 20 as the best contests.

"Against Wallington we came from behind in the fourth quarter," said Kotlarz. "Our kids never gave up and kept fighting. And anytime you beat a private or parochial school is a good win. Against St. Mary’s we controlled the game from the start."

Joining Barbo, Mercedes and Trost on the second team All-National was sophomore kicker Brandon Lopez along with senior defensive linemen Dominique Jones and Joe Manfredonia. Also part of the nine players on the second team All-National list were senior linebacker Dan Du Haime, sophomore linebacker Keith Honnick and junior punter K.J. Ross.

The honorable mention All-National list had senior wide receiver Jarett Foote and junior defensive back Mike Pratts.