Harrison Fernandez knew that he had one last game as a high school football player, representing his beloved Soaring Eagles of Union City.
Fernandez, the 2016 Hudson Reporter Defensive Player of the Year, is headed to Pace University on a scholarship and will play linebacker there for the Setters. Fernandez isn’t exactly a household name throughout the New Jersey football circles, so Fernandez figured that his inclusion in the 39th Annual Phil Simms New Jersey Scholastic Football Coaches Association’s North-South Classic at Kean University would give him a chance to shine one more time.
“I knew what I was capable of,” said Fernandez, who made seven tackles, including one hit on a key fourth-and-one situation, and had one pass break-up for the North squad, earning the game’s Defensive Most Valuable Player award. “When I got there, I soon realized that this was my chance.”
Fernandez got to Kean University on Saturday morning, a day later than most of the other 99 players selected to play in the game, because he had something to do on Friday.
“I had to attend graduation,” Fernandez said.
So after he arrived, he had limited time before Monday night’s kickoff to prove that he could indeed play with the best.
“After noticing a few reps [practice repetitions], I knew that there was no doubt in my mind that I could play with these guys,” Fernandez said. “I just had to play the way I was taught. I had to have the mindset that I was leaving it all on the field. It was my last high school football game.”
But Fernandez had no idea he would win the Jim Burt Defensive MVP, named after the Super Bowl Giants’ defensive tackle.
“I never thought of that,” Fernandez, who was also a fine quarterback as well as a linebacker for the Soaring Eagles. “Even though I dreamed about it, I never really thought I had a chance for that. I didn’t expect that. I definitely exceeded expectations. I played with a chip on my shoulders, with enthusiasm. I’ve been holding up that anger for seven months, ever since we lost in the [NJSIAA] state playoffs.”
Fernandez said that he was preparing for the game, which his North All-Stars dropped 30-22, for a few months.
“I have been training to get ready for the game,” Fernandez said. “I was the smallest linebacker there. But when we started playing, it all just came natural to me. I was just trying to tackle everything in sight. I didn’t care who it was. I never doubted myself out there.”
Fernandez was on the team with Hoboken’s Eddie Wilson, who was also selected to play for the North squad.
“It was good to be on the same team with Eddie,” Fernandez said. “He played very well. He’s the reason why I was able to make so many tackles, because he was making plays on the line.”
Wilson was a defensive tackle for the North.
“I think we both went hard out there,” Fernandez said. “I definitely went out with a bang. I went hard for my team, my school, my community and my county.”
In the Robeson All-Star Classic held earlier this month at Paul Robeson Stadium in East Orange, Lincoln’s Ethan Zayas represented Hudson County in the county’s first return to the Classic in over a decade.
Several Hudson County players were selected to play in the game like Nolan Burns of Snyder and Tariq Felton and Wilden Germain of Hoboken, but Zayas, along with teammate James Burgess, were the ones who shined for the East squad.
“It felt amazing to be out there again,” said Zayas, who rushed for almost 100 yards in limited carries, earning the game’s Most Valuable Player on offense. “James and I have been talking about it for a while. When I got invited to go to the game, I called Burgess right away and then he called me.”
Zayas, who is headed to Clarion University in Pennsylvania in a few months, said that he will be tried at running back and wide receiver in college.
“I just wanted to have fun in my last game with my friends,” Zayas said. “To be honest, it was surprising how easy it came to be out there. It was actually a blessing, because I was able to break two really big runs. It wasn’t bad at all.”
Burgess was also happy to be there.
“I had a lot to prove, considering I’m a Jersey City kid,” said Burgess, who will be off to a junior college in Michigan in two months. “I needed to get away. It will be a good place, right in the middle of the continent. I always thought I could succeed on the East Coast, but I’ll do fine in the middle.”
Burgess had one thing in mind in the All-Star Classic.
“I just wanted to hit,” Burgess said. “I wanted to get the pads on again and hit. I was in good shape. I did sprints and shuttles. It was really a blessing for me, because I got to meet some new people. And I got to be out there one more time with Ethan. I told him how proud I was of him and that I loved him. I think the game needed people from where we were from. When we made a play, people said, ‘That’s Jersey City, baby.’”
– Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.
