Brearley seniors (l. to r.) Kristian Janeczko, Ryan Obidzenski and Mike Kollarik pose at Big Central Media Days on August 16, 2023 at Iron Peak Sports & Events in Hillsborough. (Photo credit: Wm. Hauser Photography)
Consistency was the name of the game for Brearly football for more than two decades. Scott Miller won 139 games and a state title in 21 seasons as head coach.
This year, the team has a new skipper – alum Allen Phillips – and also must deal with the loss of several key players from a squad that made it to the North 1, Group 1 final last year.
Matt Sims was a once-in-a-blue-moon talent for the Bears the past two seasons. He could sure sling it, tossing for a total of 1,063 yards and ten touchdowns last year, but then he also ran it for 1,523 yards and 26 more touchdowns. And he had two senior receivers in Brendan Fitzsimmons and Alex Chuley, who combined for 656 yards and eight touchdowns.
All of them are gone, but at least Phillips is not starting from scratch. He’s been on the staff for six years, coaching the secondary, quarterbacks and runningbacks. Between that and having played for Miller, he’s had plenty of exposure to the way things are done – the right way and isn’t exactly looking to reinvent the wheel.
But he will be going for the Bears’ first win of the season – and his first as a head coach – Saturday when Brearley visits Spotswood in a Big Central Conference crossover game.
Kickoff is at 12 noon – moved up from the original 1 pm start time due to lightning in the forecast – with Mike Pavlichko calling all the play-by-play and Max Scheiner providing analysis live from Chargers Stadium. Pregame starts at 1:45; click here to listen.
Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko talk about Brearley and their game at Spotswood with first-year head coach Allen Phillips:
Discover more from Central Jersey Sports Radio
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.