NEWS ITEM: Former St. Peter's College football coach Rob Stern becomes the head football coach and athletic director at Hudson Catholic.

Gee, now there's a shocker.

As reported here last week, Stern officially took the positions Monday, just a week after he resigned as the head coach at SPC.

Stern, who was the head coach at Hudson Catholic in 1997 and 1998, guided the Hawks to a 4-5 record in 1997 and a 5-5 mark in 1998, including the school's first-ever trip to the NJSIAA Parochial Group 4 state playoffs.

"It's great to be back," Stern said in a release from the school. "To be able to work with a faculty and staff that I'm familiar with certainly makes it easier. Some things may have changed since I was here, but Hudson Catholic is still a great academic school. [School principal] Brother Tim [Ahern] has provided me a great opportunity to have stability and job security, which is important to both my family and myself. Hudson Catholic has always had a great tradition in many sports, and I hope to continue that success in all sports. I expect to compete in every sport at the highest level."

Ahern expressed his pleasure in being able to bring Stern back to Hudson Catholic.

"When I arrived at Hudson Catholic in 1999, I was disappointed that Rob was leaving," he said. "Now, I am happy to have the opportunity to get him back at Hudson Catholic. Having been here before, Rob knows our kids, he knows the county, and [he] has the personal skills to do the job both as AD and as football coach. We have a commitment to excellence across the board, and I believe this reinforces that commitment."

However, with Hudson Catholic already announcing that it will become an independent school in 2004, it leaves Stern's job as both AD and football coach a tremendous challenge, especially in the scheduling department. The jury is still out...

The Newark Bears begin play this weekend, with new player Rickey Henderson on board. It would have been really nice to see Hoboken's own Mike Eusebio make the team, but he was released by the Bears in spring training...

Ferris football coach Mike Rivera has resigned his position in order to become a vice-principal. Rumor has it that the frontrunners to replace Rivera are either former Hoboken and University of Miami standout Wilber Valdez, who has been teaching in the Jersey City school district, or long-time Ferris assistant Keith Price, who played at Ferris and also played at Rutgers...

Strong rumors also persist that North Bergen wrestling coach Jerry Maietta is the leading candidate to replace the retiring Randy Chave as athletic director there...

Almost lost in shuffle of the high school softball season have been the performances of two fabulous freshmen pitchers, namely April Jacob of High Tech and Natalie Lugo of Hoboken. Both young ladies have been spectacular, showing no signs of any rookie jitters for their respective teams. Jacob has pitched eight shutouts among her 11 victories thus far for the undefeated Lasercats, while Lugo has thrown four no-hitters among her 13 wins for the 15-1 Red Wings... -- Jim Hague