North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week became a school legend in his secondary sport
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Luke Senatore used all of his quarterbacking skills and some of his baseball catching skills to make a pair of key plays on defense to complete Fort Lee's first ever 9-0 football season.
Early in the fourth quarter, with Bridgemen clinging to a 20-19 lead over Ridgefield Park in the Super Football Conference Ivy Division championship game, Senatore used his instincts to intercept a pass in the end zone to stop a Scarlet drive.
"The guy was running a slant and I saw my teammate had gone with the other receiver. I reacted to it and made the catch," said Senatore, the North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week, presented by HSS.
After the Bridgemen had extended their lead to 27-19, a series of strange circumstances gave Ridgefield Park the ball back with one last chance to steal the game. Senatore, reading his opposing signal caller's eyes, realized that there was only one place for the Hail Mary pass to go.
"He was scrambling to his right and I knew he could only throw in that direction so I knew I had to get there and hit it down," Senatore said.
He heard the final buzzer, jumped and knocked the pass to the ground, ending the game.
"As it happened, I felt relief that we had won the game and then I realized how special it was for us to go unbeaten."
"The minute I walked in the door when I took the job, I could tell how cerebral he was and what a student of the game he was," second-year coach Mike Gerst said. "The guys who were there before me told me he was going to be the best quarterback the school's ever had and it made my job a heck of a lot easier.''
Senatore has had quite a football career for a guy who still considers himself a baseball player first and foremost.
"If you gave me a choice of playing quarterback in a Super Bowl or being the starting catcher in Game 7 of the World Series, I'd pick catcher every time," said Senatore, who hit .383 for the Bridgemen last year and is likely to reach 100 hits for his career this spring. "I like getting the ball on every play and being the only one who can see the whole field."
That description also fits in football. Senatore, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 185 pounds, threw for more than 1,200 yards, ran for 900 more and accounted for 33 touchdowns.
Senatore is the middle of three brothers in an athletic family. His dad, Anthony was a star catcher at Cliffside Park and played for William Paterson University. His oldest brother, Anthony IV, was an excellent hurdler at Bergen Tech and now competes for TCNJ. Youngest brother CJ, is a versatile baseball player and his brother's favorite target (32 catches and seven receiving TDs).
"It seems like we're always playing sports," said Luke, who will dabble in indoor track this winter, probably as a thrower. "I think the next thing I'll do is try and get better at golf. It's great going out on the course with my dad."
"The relationship between a quarterback and his play-caller is the most important one in football," said Gerst, who calls the Fort Lee plays. "How grateful am I to have a guy like that the last two years."
Luke Senatore
Sport: Football
School: Fort Lee
Class: Senior. Age: 17
Accomplishment: Senatore did a little of everything to lead Fort Lee to its first ever undefeated season in 114 years of football, running for two scores, throwing for a third and making two key defensive plays in the fourth quarter as the Bridgemen won the Ivy Division title, 27-25, over Ridgefield Park.
Also nominated: Justus Favata of Ramsey, Elijah Davis of Becton, Kyshawn Bryant of St. Joseph, Joseph Santo Yessis of Ramapo, and Jorheny Rodriguez of Garfield for football; and Jeremy Garcia of Leonia for cross-country.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Record Male Athlete of the Week: Luke Senatore, Fort Lee
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