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The past decade of Somerville High School football has been quite the rollercoaster.
The Pioneers endured a 25-game losing streak that stretched deep into the 2015 season, a low point for one of the state’s most storied programs, but the historic slide gave way to a sustained era of dominance. The Ville posted a 57-7 record and three sectional finals in the next six seasons under Jeff Vanderbeek and, later, Dallas Whitaker, who authored a high-powered, fast-paced offense that whiplashed opponents into submission.
But Whitaker left coaching after the 8-2 campaign in 2021, prompting a search for a new skipper, one that ended with college coach Ian Pace taking the Somerville helm, a stint that lasted just seven games into his first season.
Obviously, that left the program a mess, but the solution was already in place, as Matt Bloom, who was the lone coaching holdover from the Vanderbeek-Whitaker era, and was in the mix for the job when Pace was hired, was promoted to interim head coach, a job he took over on a permanent basis after the season.
Two years later, after the team finished 5-5 in 2022 and went 4-6 campaign a year ago, Bloom led a restructuring of the coaching staff and the re-establishment of the winning system and culture, and Somerville made its triumphant return as a dominant force in New Jersey football. The Pioneers went 12-1 this season – most victories in school history – winning the Liberty Silver Division title and the Central Group 3 crown — the ninth sectional state championship in program history – and coming within a one-point overtime result of reaching the state finals.
Bloom is the 2024 Big Central Conference Football Coach of the Year.
“In 2022 we were still in a state of flux,” said Bloom, a Delaware Valley HS alum who played at Lycoming College and arrived at Somerville as the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/football-coach-somerville-matt-bloom-091025211.html
Author : Home News Tribune | My Central Jersey
Publish date : 2024-12-10 09:10:00
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