Football notebook: Maccarone to Marist

By Phil Anastasia

Mike Maccarone knows kickers often have to wait their turn before hearing from colleges.

So he bided his time through the football season, and through December, and through most of January.

"It's like they want to take care of every other position first," said Maccarone, a senior kicker and punter at Paulsboro High School.

Maccarone on Wednesday signed a letter of intent to attend Marist, an NCAA Division I FCS program in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Maccarone said Marist's recruiting of him didn't begin in earnest until the last two weeks.

"Everything was late," said Maccarone, who also was recruited by Sacred Heart and the University of Maine. "But I was talking to some other kickers and they said it's always like that."

Maccarone was 5-for-5 in fields goals last season. He averaged 40.2 yards per punt and 69 percent of his kickoff were touchbacks.

"We won't be able to replace those numbers," Paulsboro coach Glenn Howard said.

Maccarone visited Marist in late January.

"I fell in love with it right away," Maccarone said. "The campus is beautiful and the facilities are state-of-the-art."

Marist is the member of the Pioneer League, one of college sports' most geographically diverse conferences. Other members include Jacksonville, Drake in Des Moines, Ia., and San Diego.

"I love the idea of travelling a lot," Maccarone said.

NJSIAA ponders change.

The NJSIAA is considering a new system for seeding the playoff fields that would be based on each team's top seven power-point games out of its first eight games.

The system, which was endorsed by the executive committee Wednesday on first reading, would eliminate each team's "worst" power-point game.

NJSIAA associate director Jack DuBois, who oversee football, said the system was developed to encourage teams to play more difficult schedules.

"This way if you play a tough team and lose to them, it won't hurt you," DuBois said.

But since the overwhelming majority of teams are in leagues that provide full schedules in football, very few teams are likely to be looking to schedule games against powerful opponents.

The more likely result of the new system would be its impact on a league such as the Cape-Atlantic, where public schools that lose to a powerful non-public program such as St. Joseph would have that setback eliminated from their record when it comes to playoff seeding.

"Now you could play a St. Joe or a Holy Spirit without worrying that that loss would hurt you in the playoff picture," DuBois said.

The proposal also states that teams would qualify strictly by power points. So a 3-5 team with 72 power points would qualify ahead of a 4-4 team with 70 power points.

The proposal must pass the executive committee on second reading in April before it becomes effective. The system would take effect in September.

McBryde to Virginia Union.

Atlantic City's Jarren McBryde has signed with Division II Virginia Union.

McBryde was a second-team All-South Jersey selection as a defensive back. He was recruited to play that position at Virginia Union.

McBryde passed for 1,982 yards and 20 touchdowns as a quarterback last season for the Vikings.

Chandler earns Temple offer.

Camden junior Sean Chandler received a scholarship offer from Temple on Friday, according to Camden coach Dwayne Savage.

The 5-11, 170-pound Chandler is a wide receiver, defensive back and kick returner. He generated 565 receiving yards last season and caught five touchdown passes. He also scored two touchdowns on punt returns, another on an interception return and another on a kickoff return.

Contact staff writer Phil Anastasia at panastasia@phillynews.com or @PhilAnastasia on Twitter.