Mike Escalante (’09)
Mike Escalante (GRHS 2009) was an outstanding multi-sport athlete at Glen Rock High School, receiving All-County honors in both football and lacrosse.
With fellow Hall of Fame inductee Ben Probert (2008), Mike Escalante played an all-important role in the launch of Glen Rock High School’s Boys Lacrosse program.
Glen Rock first fielded a lacrosse team in the spring of 2005. As a freshman, Mike joined the team in the spring of 2006 and, throughout his four years as a starting midfielder, he was his team’s defensive leader, helping Glen Rock advance from being an independent in his freshman year to becoming a member of the Pooley Division of the New Jersey Interscholastic Lacrosse League in his following three years.
As a sophomore, Mike led Bergen County in ground balls (while junior Ben Probert led Bergen County in goals scored). At the end of the season, he was named to the Second Team, All-Suburban and the First Team, All-Pooley, and received Honorable Mention, C Division, All-State.
In Mike’s junior year, with Ben again leading Bergen County in scoring, Glen Rock captured its first league championship in lacrosse, ending the season as Co-Champion of the Pooley Division. Mike was again named to the First Team, All-Pooley and the Second Team, All-Suburban, and was named to the Second Team, Division C, All-State.
In Mike’s senior year, he was a Co-Captain and led Glen Rock to the semifinal round of the Bergen County Tournament and to a repeat Pooley Co-Championship (earning Glen Rock subsequent promotion to the Rizk Division). At the end of the season, Mike was named to the First Team, All-Suburban. (The BCCA did not name an All-North Jersey nor an All-County team after that season.)
In 2010, Mike received Honorable Mention on the Record’s 2000-2009 All-Decade, All-County Boys Lacrosse Team.
Mike was also a three-year starter on Glen Rock High School’s football teams.
As a sophomore, playing as a center and a linebacker, Mike was named to the Second Team, Defense, All-B-PSL, King and was honored with the annual Special Teams Player(s) of the Year Award. As a junior, Mike made the rare move from interior lineman to receiver and running back, while still being a linebacker on defense. At the end of the season, Mike was named to the Second Team, Offense, All-B-PSL, King. As a senior, Mike was a Co-Captain and leader on the 2008 Team that had an outstanding near-storybook season. He was the team’s slot receiver on offense and safety on defense and was a leader on special teams. After a 48-6 season opening victory over Saddle Brook, Glen Rock defeated Paterson Catholic 35-34, a victory that snapped Paterson Catholic’s 50 game B-PSL winning streak. In that game, Mike’s touchdown on a pass from fellow Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Stewart gave Glen Rock in its first lead. (Paterson Catholic was the defending Group 1, Non-Public Sectional Champion and would end this season as the Group 1, Non-Public Sectional Champion.) After that victory, Glen Rock trounced its next seven opponents (including a 34-6 revenge victory over Hawthorne) to end its regular season with an undefeated 9-0 record and the B-PSL, King Championship.
Glen Rock then entered the State Tournament Playoffs and defeated Wallington 20-3. It then defeated unbeaten and defending champion Hasbrouck Heights in a thrilling see-saw game, 34-27. In that semifinal victory, Mike’s second quarter 23-yard touchdown reception from Chuck gave Glen Rock a 13-6 lead at halftime. The teams traded touchdowns in the second half until Chuck’s 45-yard winning touchdown run sent Glen Rock to the Group 1, Sectional Championship game. Unfortunately, in that game, held at then-Giants Stadium, Glen Rock was defeated by Mountain Lakes by a score of 35-21.
The 2008 Team had one of the school’s most productive offenses, scoring 338 points in its 9 regular season games (nearly 38 points per game) and 413 points in its full season of 12 games (over 34 points per game). Individually, as the team’s leading receiver, Mike caught 43 passes for 663 yards (over 15 yards per reception) and seven touchdowns. He also ran 12 times for 78 yards and one touchdown.
At the end of the season, Mike was named to the Second Team, Group 1, All-State; the First Team, All-County (The Record); the First Team, All-Suburban; and the First Team, All-B-PSL Carpenter. The Record also named seniors Chuck Stewart and Paul Melicharek to the First Team, All-County and senior Chip Morrel and juniors Matt Howard, Andrew Lohr and future Hall of Fame inductee Brendan Miller to the Second Team, All-County.
At the football team’s January 2009 post season banquet, Mike was again honored with the annual Special Teams Player(s) of the Year Award. In January 2014 this award was re-named the Escalante Brothers Special Teams Player(s) of the Year Award in tribute to Mike and his older brother Al (GRHS 2007).
After the 2008 season, Hall of Fame inductee Alan Deaett decided to end his career as Glen Rock Football’s Head Coach. His fourteen years as Head Coach (1995-2008) were the Golden Age of Panther Football. Glen Rock had a combined record of 130-25 (a winning percentage of 84%), won seven B-PSL titles, qualified for the State Championship Playoffs in thirteen of those fourteen years and won six Group 1, Sectional Championships. In recognition of his coaching accomplishments, in 2009, the Glen Rock High School football field complex was named the “Alan Deaett Field.”
After graduating from Glen Rock High School, Mike continued his athletic career on Springfield College’s football team. After graduating from Springfield, he returned to Glen Rock Middle/High School and was a Physical Education/Health teacher from September 2014 until June 2020. During these years he was an Assistant Coach of the school’s football teams from the 2013 season through the 2020 season and the Head Coach of the school’s boys lacrosse teams from the 2015 season through the 2019 season. Glen Rock’s lacrosse teams reached the Group 1, North Jersey championship game at the end of three of those four seasons. (In three of those four seasons, Glen Rock’s postseason ended with a loss to the ultimate State Champion.) In 2021, Mike was made Assistant Principal of Glen Rock High School – Glen Rock Middle School. In 2025, he was made Director of Athletics of Fair Lawn Public Schools.
In 2012, Mike received Honorable mention on the Record’s 2000-2009 All-Decade, All-County Boys Lacrosse Team.