Paramus Catholic High School Finishes No. 38 In National Football Rankings By Maxpreps

The Paramus Catholic High School football team has finished No. 38 nationally for the 2012 season. The announcement was made by MaxPreps, a California-based company that ranks more than 16,000 high school varsity football teams.
Paramus Catholic (10-2) avenged a 35-21 regular season loss to Bergen Catholic by handing the Crusaders of Oradell a 37-34 loss on Dec. 7 to capture the New Jersey Non-Public Group 4 state championship. It was the school's second state football championship with the first one coming in 1997. Paramus Catholic, which posted a single-season high 10 wins, is one of 50 schools being honored on the eighth annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard.

"For nearly a decade, MaxPreps and the Army National Guard have honored America's finest high school football teams with the prestigious Army National Guard national ranking trophy," said MaxPreps President and Founder Andy Beal. "Coach Partriodge and the Paramus Catholic Paladins have proven on the field that they are among the nation's truly elite high school football teams."
"It's the first time in school history that we're being honored. MaxPreps is one of the premier media outlets in the country for high school sports and the kids and the school really appreciate that they have taken notice about Paramus Catholic football," said Paladins' third-year head football coach Chris Partridge, who was a senior captain on the school's first championship team.
The potent Paladin offense that averaged better than 36 points per game could be even better this year as many of their starters return. Running back Jabrill Peppers gained 1,552 yards on the ground and reached paydirt 18 times while catching 20 passes for another 337 yards and five touchdowns. Quarterback Steve Shanley completed 61.9 percent of his pass attempts for 1,755 yards and 21 TDs while Keyon Washington contributed 782 rushing yards and a dozen scores.
Tyrone Washington caught 29 passes for 564 yards and four TDs while Najee Clayton hauled in 33 passes for 502 yards and six scores. Slot back Dejon Harrison added 213 rushing yards, 371 receiving yards and seven TDs. All are juniors except for Clayton, who is a sophomore.
Paramus Catholic had a number of playmakers on the defensive side of the ball as well. Senior linebacker Marquise Watson led the unit with 131 tackles and had four quarterback sacks. End Khilyni Kennedy, also a senior, made 93 stops, had 10 ½ sacks and forced three fumbles. Junior linemen Nick Flores (80 tackles, five sacks) and Terrence Harris (66 tackles, 7 ½ sacks, three caused fumbles) were also instrumental in the team's success.
New Jersey Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Michael Biggins presented Coach Partridge and the team with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy during halftime of the boys' varsity basketball game Tuesday night. The team also received a banner for their accomplishment.
"For eight years the Army National Guard has recognized nationally ranked football teams with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy," said LTC Christian J. Johnson of the Army National Guard. "We take great pride in doing so because it symbolizes the indomitable spirit common to high school athletes and the U.S. Soldier. It is our honor to share this symbol with the team, coaches, parents, and school. It is an award for the entire community and is much deserved."
MaxPreps uses a sophisticated computer program, known as the Freeman Rankings, to determine team rank for the Tour of Champions. The system utilizes the huge number of game results stored in the MaxPreps database. Generally, the more a team wins the higher the ranking, but the system takes into account quality wins (against other highly ranked opponents), margin of victory, and strength of schedule. Playoff games are weighted 2.1 times a regular season game.


About MaxPreps
MaxPreps.com is the leading online high school sports destination, offering the most comprehensive high school sports coverage, with the latest news, analysis, rankings, and streaming content. A CBSSports.com site, MaxPreps.com aspires to cover every high school team, game, and player by partnering with nearly 35,000 varsity coaches throughout the country.
Founded in August 2002, MaxPreps.com is headquartered in Cameron Park, California and is a unit of CBS Interactive. For more information about MaxPreps.com and for the latest high school sports news, scores, and expert analysis, please visit maxpreps.com. Follow MaxPreps.com on Twitter: twitter.com/maxpreps and on Facebook: facebook.com/maxpreps

More information about CBS and its businesses is available at cbscorporation.com .

About Army National Guard

With 375 years of service, the Army National Guard is the largest reserve component, as well as the oldest branch of the U.S. military. In the National Guard, you get the training from us, serve in your own community, and enhance your marketability for the higher paying jobs. We provide our members with money for college and offer attractive benefits on top of paid career training in one of 200 fields. The National Guard has career opportunities in every State and U.S. Territory, more than 3,600 training locations, and more than 350,000 members. Visit the National Guard Web site at  www.NATIONALGUARD.com.