Bergen County
Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New Jersey, United States, that operated under the supervision of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark
The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and schools in the New Jerse ...
until it closed in 1986.
History
St. Cecilia's Roman Catholic Church was established in 1866 and saw substantial growth in the number of students served by its parochial school, necessitating an expansion that would be able to double the number of students that the school could serve. A building was designed to accommodate 600 students, with a cornerstone ceremony held in May 1901 and a formal dedication in January 1902. ''The Book of Englewood'', a history published by the city in 1922, describes the building as "an imposing edifice of red and gray sandstone."
In 1939, two years after his graduation from
Fordham University
Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...
, Vince Lombardi began his football coaching career at St. Cecilia; he worked there for several years before leaving to take a junior coaching staff position at Fordham, his alma mater. At the school, Lombardi taught algebra, chemistry, physics and Latin; in addition to coaching the school's baseball and basketball squads, he coached the football team to six state titles and a streak of 36 consecutive victories.
Athletics
The 1943 football team, coached by Lombardi, earned recognition as the high school national champion with a 12–0 victory against the
Brooklyn Prep
Brooklyn Preparatory School, commonly referred to as Brooklyn Prep, was a highly selective Jesuit preparatory school founded by the Society of Jesus in 1908. The school educated generations of young men from throughout New York City and Long Isla ...
team led by quarterback Joe Paterno.
The boys' basketball team, also coached by Vince Lombardi, finished the 1945 season with a record of 21-3 after winning the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Parochial state championship against
Trenton Catholic High School Trenton Catholic High School was a Roman Catholic secondary education in the United States, high school serving boys in ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grades located in the Chambersburg, New Jersey, Chambersburg section of Trenton, New Jersey, T ...
by a score of 55-51 in the tournament final at the Elizabeth Armory.
The baseball team won the Non-Public B state championship in 1975, defeating
Bishop Eustace Preparatory School
Bishop Eustace Preparatory School is a Catholic high school in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey. Founded in 1954 by the priests and brothers of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (The Pallottines), the school operates under the auspices of th ...
in the final round of the tournament.
Notable alumni
*
Barbara Corcoran
Barbara Ann Corcoran (born March 10, 1949) is an American businesswoman, investor, syndicated columnist, and television personality. She founded The Corcoran Group, a real estate brokerage in New York City, which she sold to NRT for $66 million ...
(born 1949), real estate investor and agent, who left the school after her freshman year due to poor grades.
* Jack Doolan (1919-2002), running back who played for four seasons in the NFL.
*
William J. Dorgan
William J. Dorgan (November 9, 1921 – October 11, 2003) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, as Mayor of Palisades Park, New Jersey, and as a member of the ...
Joe Echols
Joseph G. Echols (March 23, 1917 – March 28, 1977) was an American football coach, college athletics administrator, and Negro league baseball player.
Early life and baseball career
Raised in Englewood, New Jersey, Echols played prep football ...
(1917–1977), American football coach, college athletics administrator and
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
player.
*
Gordon M. Johnson
Gordon M. Johnson (born December 16, 1949) is an American Democratic Party politician who has served in the New Jersey Senate since 2022, where he represents the 37th Legislative District, having represented the same district in the New Jersey ...
Francis E. Merritt
Francis E. Merritt (July 20, 1920 – March 21, 1995) was an American football tackle who played college football at the United States Military Academy. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996. He served as the athletic d ...
tackle
Tackle may refer to:
* In football:
** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football
** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football
** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking ...
who played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...
in 1996.
*
Ian O'Connor
Ian O'Connor (born 1964) is an American sportswriter who is the author of five books, including ''The New York Times'' bestsellers ''Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski''; ''Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Tim ...
(born c. 1964, class of 1982), sports columnist for ESPNNewYork.com, host of ''The Ian O'Connor Show'' on
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
, and author of ''Arnie & Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry'' and ''The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter''.
* Charles Osgood (born 1933), radio and television commentator and writer.
*
Charles O. Rossotti
Charles O. Rossotti (born January 17, 1941) is an American businessman, and former Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
Early career
Rossotti was born in 1941 in New York City and graduated from St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey in ...
Steve Sesnick
Stephen Eugene Sesnick Jr. (September 8, 1941 – October 27, 2022) was an American rock club and rock band manager, and later an inventor and businessman.
Early life
Sesnick was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on September 8, 1941. He was educated ...
(1941–2022), rock club and rock band manager
* Dick Tarrant (born 1931), former head men's basketball coach at the University of Richmond.Vecsey, George "Sports of The Times; A Portrait of a Late-Blooming Coach" '' The New York Times'', March 20, 1988. Accessed December 17, 2019. "He played basketball for Vince Lombardi and he scouted for Bobby Knight, and now he has defeated Knight as a coach.... Tarrant was a Jersey guy before Bruce Springsteen made it fashionable. His odyssey began in the modest gymnasium of St. Cecilia High in Englewood, where his coach was a rugged former football lineman from Fordham."