East Rutherford, NJ – The New York Giants and Gatorade have selected Mr. Jack Maher of Becton Regional High School (East Rutherford, NJ) as the Lou Rettino High School Coach of the Week for Week 7 of the 2020 season. Coach Jack Maher is in his 6th season as Head Coach of the Becton Regional Wildcats and just defeated Hasbrouck Heights 14-0. The Wildcats are off to a 4-0 start to the season and have just clinched the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference's Meadowlands Division title.

The Lou Rettino High School Football Coach of the Week Award is part of the Giants' continuing effort to support local youth football programs. The Giants elected to name the award in memory of former Union High School (NJ) coach, Lou Rettino, for his fine commitment to the game of football, his community and the betterment of his athletes' lives. Each week during the high school football season, the Giants selected one area high school head coach as the Coach of the Week winner. The selection is based on the coach's continuing commitment towards promoting youth football, developing motivated student-athletes and his overall community involvement.   

In recognition of Coach Maher's selection as Coach of the Week, a $2,000 check will be granted to the school's football program from The Giants Foundation and Gatorade. He will also receive a certificate of recognition signed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Giants head coach Joe Judge.

Jack Maher has been with the Wildcats for a total of 9 season and is currently serving his 6th as head coach, as the Becton Wildcats enter their 100th football season since its inception back in 1921. The 2019 season ended with a 5-4 record and missing out on the playoffs. After their first 4 games of 2020, the Wildcats just clinched a playoff berth and remain undefeated. While Coach Maher and the Wildcats have not experienced a loss on the field, they recently experienced a loss in their football family. Michael Maher, the brother of Coach Jack Maher, passed away at the age of 39 just one week before their matchup with Hasbrouck Heights. Michael fell into an unexpected coma and never regained consciousness. For weeks, Coach Maher commuted to Massachusetts to look after his brother and was comforted by his team and their families with gift cards to local restaurants and words of support. Maher was grateful to return back to the sideline as it provided him a sense of relief and a distraction from what was going on. After the shutout win this past week, Wildcat seniors Joe Crifasi and Cencir Bacote presented a custom-made jersey to the Maher family. The jersey was signed by members of the team and represented Michael Maher as their "12th man". The Wildcats sense of family is a primary source of their success as the team is made up of a juniors and seniors that have grown up playing together and their experience shows on the field. Under the leadership and unity of Coach Jack Maher, the Wildcats are on their way to the playoffs and just posted their fourth straight shutout win.