Nine Big Central Conference football players honored as “Mini Max” Award winners

Football Notebook
by Mike Pavlichko

Once again, some of the Big Central’s top players have earned Mini Max Awards from the Maxwell Football Club, which annually chooses one player of the year each from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

The club honored 55 players overall from New Jersey, a half dozen of whom came from the Big Central.

The student-athletes are nominated by their coaches, and are evaluated based not just on their football skills, but also academics and community service.

Those student-athletes will are finalists for the Player of the Year awards for each state, all three of which will be candidates for 39th annual Jim Henry award as the Outstanding Player for the region. All will be announced on February 2nd at the Mini Max Awards Dinner in Drexel Hill, PA.

Here’s the list of players honored from the Big Central:

  • Jack Morra, Bernards: The wide receiver had 29 catches for 732 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Mountaineers, who finished 11-1 and won the Patriot Gold Division in the Big Central, reaching the sectional finals in the state playoffs for the second straight year.
  • Jackson Jankowicz, Hillsborough: The star runningback scored 24 rushing touchdowns this year – breaking Shawn Mayer’s record, while going for 1,417 yards on the ground this season. He finished with 2,869 rushing yards for his career. He also tied Thomas Amankwaa’s record of 30 touchdowns scored in a season, adding in his half-dozen touchdown receptions.
  • Brandon Rector, Montgomery: The two-way lineman finished he season with 20 tackles, 12 solo, a sack and two tackles for loss.
  • Gianna Carreno, New Providence: At linebacker, Carreno tallied 86 tackles, 40 solo this season, registering 2 1/2 sacks and two TFLs. He also had a forced fumble and recovery, a safety, and blocked a kick. He also carried the ball 14 times – behind QB TJ Munn and starting runningback AJ Whitehead – for 77 yards and two touchdowns for the North 2, Group 1 sectional finalists.
  • Jett Genovese, Phillipsburg: Throwing for a career-best 1,827 yards and 16 touchdowns in his third year as a starter, Genovese finished his career with 4,565 passing yards and 43 touchdowns. He also rushed for over 1,000 in his career, totaling 1,172 and 11 touchdowns on the North 2, Group 4 championship squad, helping lead the Stateliners to the Big Central’s first berth in the state finals.
  • Brady Scheier, Somerville: The Pioneer receiver caught 46 passes this year for 687 yards and eight touchdowns for the Central Jersey Group 3 champions. He finished with 1,034 career receiving yards and ten scores, while adding 28 tackles (19 solo), two tackles for loss, and four interceptions on defense.
  • Brayden Kelly, Watchung Hills: The wide receiver had 26 catches for 532 yards and three touchdowns this season, finishing his career with 1,067 yards and eight TDs.

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