Early look at Big Central Football 2025: Longest league win streak lives in National Silver Division, with St. Thomas Aquinas at 31 and counting

Whatever division St. Thomas Aquinas football has played in over the last four seasons, they have essentially dominated. With a 31-game winning streak against Big Central opponents that dates back to their last game of 2021 (their last loss came to Bernards, which has won 23 BCC games in a row, second best) the Trojans enter 2025 with more change than ever before.

Head coach Tarig Holman was not brought back – the school has never publicly said why – and new hire John Germano was in and out, heading back to Bergen Catholic before the team ever got to practice with him. Shamir Bearfield comes in from St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, and inherits the streak, but will have many challenges ahead.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the National Gold Division teams – in alphabetical order – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge. Please note game dates and times may be changed without notice as the season approaches. Division games marked with an asterisk (*).

Edison Eagles (5-5, 1-3, 4th place in ’24)
Head Coach:  Matt Yascko (8-12, 3rd season)

• Week 0: at Piscataway (6p)
• Week 1: Old Bridge
• Week 2: Sayreville*
• Week 3: at North Brunswick*
• Week 4: Franklin*
• Week 5: at Colonia
• Week 6: St. Thomas Aquinas*
• Week 7: at South Brunswick
• Week 8: at Paterson Eastside

The Eagles graduated a ton for Yascko’s first season at the helm of his alma mater, and last year they improved from 3-7 to 5-5. But just like his first year, when he head to replace his son at quarterback, he’ll now have to replace Brian Calantoni, who threw for nearly 1,000 yards last season. Robert Roma could step into that role, but he only threw one pass last season as a junior. There will be some good underclassmen runningbacks returning, including Lenier Whetstone, who leads those coming back with 110 carries for 535 yards and three touchdowns, as well as some options to throw to. The defense will look to limit points, as it allowed 35 or more points in four of Edison’s five losses last season.

Franklin Warriors (4-6, 1-3, 5th place in ’24)
Head Coach: Blair Wilson (7-22, 4th season)

• Week 0: at Hammonton (Thu, 6p)
• Week 1: Passaic (6p)
• Week 2: at East Brunswick
• Week 3: St. Thomas Aquinas (6p)*
• Week 4: at Edison*
• Week 5: at Plainfield (6p)
• Week 6: Sayreville* (6p)
• Week 7: Monroe
• Week 8: North Brunswick*

Wilson has seen improvement since his first season, going 0-8 in 2022, then 3-8 in 2023, and 4-6 last season. They started like gangbusters, with wins over Trenton, Passaic and East Brunswick, but then lost six of their next seven to close the season. They’ll look to Jah’naad Cady, who threw for 1,040 yards and 13 touchdowns as a sophomore, to lead the offense, which has its top five runningbacks returning, and plenty of options to replace the senior receivers graduating. Key defensive pieces return, too, like seniors Miles Muldrow (3 sacks, 1 TFL, 1 INT) and Maurice Langford (1 sack, 7 TFLs).

North Brunswick Radiers (4-6, 2-2, 3rd place in ’24)
Head Coach Mike Cipot: (58-23, 9th season)

• Week 0: Jackson (Thu, 6p)
• Week 1: South Brunswick (6p)
• Week 2: at St. Thomas Aquinas* (6p)
• Week 3: Edison*
• Week 4: at Sayreville*
• Week 5: St. Joseph-Metuchen (6p)
• Week 6: Westfield (6p)
• Week 7: at Ridge
• Week 8: Franklin* (7:15p)

After a 6-4 debut season, head coach Mike Cipot had never won fewer than seven games over a span of the six seasons that followed. That ended last year, when they started 0-3 and stumbled to a 2-7 finish. They didn’t exactly light it up on offense, throwing for only 446 yards, while rushing for just 1,217. Gone are both quarterbacks, Al Trevelise and Tommy Koroma, as well as top key skill guys. The defense – typically a strong suit under Cipot – also will lose some key players from a team

Sayreville Bombers (4-6, 2-2, 2nd place in ’24)
Head Coach: Mark Poore (4-6, 2nd season)

• Week 0: at Colonia (Thurs, 6p)
• Week 1: Linden
• Week 2: at Edison*
• Week 3: Hillsborough
• Week 4: North Brunswick*
• Week 5: at Piscataway (6p)
• Week 6: at Franklin* (6p)
• Week 7: Montgomery
• Week 8: St. Thomas Aquinas*

After Don Sofilkanich took the Bombers to an 8-3 mark in 2023, but was let go, Mark Poore’s club struggled to a 4-8 record in the Sayreville alum’s first season, never putting together back-to-back wins, but then again, never losing more than two in a row either. Either they scored a ton of points – topping 40 three times – or rarely scored, like in two shutout losses, and even a 7-0 win at Montgomery late in the season. Junior Tyler Butka, who took over QB duties halfway through the year, is back after throwing for 301 yards, just one touchdown, but no picks in six games. Even more impressive is that junior Shaun Jackson (1,485 yards, 14 TD) returns as well. A number of juniors made their mark on defense as well last season, including linebackers Brian Zangrillo (2 sacks, 8 TFLs, #3 tackles with 65) and Charles Barnes (1 sack, 8 TFLs, 1 INT, 1 FR).

St. Thomas Aquinas Trojans (9-1, 4-0, National Silver champs in ’24)
Head Coach: Shamir Bearfield (1st season)

• Week 0: Montclair (1p)
• Week 1: at Red Bank Catholic
• Week 2: North Brunswick*
• Week 3: at Franklin*
• Week 4: Elizabeth
• Week 5: Paramus Catholic
• Week 6: at Edison*
• Week 7: St. Joseph-Metuchen
• Week 8: Sayreville*
• Week 9: Pope John

Forget about the 31-game Big Central winning streak; if Bearfield can coach up his remaining players, it could take care of itself. The non-division schedule is what’s daunting, but that’s been the Trojans’ way of scheduling in the last couple of years, looking for stronger opponents to challenge themselves and boost their seeding come playoff time. Offensively, though, two big stars are gone. Senior Roman Blanks (1,367 yards, 16 TDs) is gone to graduation, as is RB Chase Young (611 yards, 8 TD), but so is sophomore Chukwuma Odoh, who transferred to Paramus Catholic after rushing for 1,418 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. Can they find someone – or multiple backs – to take up that slack? That might be the biggest question mark – than and how a whole new staff comes together – for the Trojans in 2025.