Early look at Big Central Football 2025: Bernards looks to keep program rolling as Voorhees, Delaware Valley, JP Stevens look to make strides in Patriot Gold

Forget school size, for a second. The Bernards football program is one of the most solid in the entire Big Central Conference. It doesn’t matter that they’re a Group 2 school; they get a ton of kids in the program and they stick with it. These are kids who mainly could afford to go anywhere they want, but choose to stay at Bernards.

And how have they been rewarded? In the past two seasons, the Mountaineers are 23-2, have won 23 straight games against Big Central opponents dating back to an early 2022 loss to Hillside (second only to St. Thomas Aquinas at 31), 30 regular season games overall dating back to that same loss (longest in the BCC), and have a sectional title and two sectional finals berths to their credit. Whether they can repeat that in 2025 is another question, but that’s why they play the games.

With head coach Jon Simoneau the veteran coach in this division – now going into his 18th season – the rest of the Patriot Gold has some newer coaches who should see their teams improve with another year in the system under their belts. That includes Ben Ibach in his third season at Delaware Valley, John Hack in his second at Voorhees, and David Kunyz being elevated from defensive coordinator to head coach at JP Stevens.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the Patriot 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 (*).

Bernards Mountaineers (11-1, 3-0, Patriot Gold Division champs in ’24)
Head Coach: Jon Simoneau (121-57, 18th season)

• Week 0: Cranford
• Week 1: at Hillside (Sat, 1p)
• Week 2: Delaware Valley*
• Week 3: at Voorhees*
• Week 4: JP Stevens*
• Week 5: at South Plainfield
• Week 6: at Summit (Sat, 1p)
• Week 7: Governor Livingston
• Week 8: Carteret

Offensively, the Mountaineers saw sophomore Nolan Walsh throw for nearly 2,000 yards last season – he was 49 shy – and 18 touchdowns. The fact he’s got two more seasons running the offense bodes well for Bernards, plus another soph coming back in runningback Patrick Carlisle, who went for 762 yards and ten touchdowns last season, plus rising senior Logan Stevens and his 606 yards and ten touchdowns. Solid receivers Sean Arcelay (17 catches, 266 yards, 2 TDs) returns, while Stevens also caught 21 passes for 315 yards and two scores. Defensively, the team’s top tackler in Terrence Hanratty (132 total, 2 sacks, 6 TFLs) has graduated, but active linebacker Thomas Diemar will be the anchor. Last year, he finished with ten sacks, 18.5 TFLs, and had one force fumble/recovery. Teagun Hartnett had two picks last year as a junior.

Delaware Valley Terriers (6-3, 2-1, 2nd place in ’24)
Head Coach: Ben Ibach (11-7, 3rd season)

• Week 0: bye
• Week 1: South Plainfield
• Week 2: at Bernards*
• Week 3: at JP Stevens* (6p)
• Week 4: Voorhees*
• Week 5: at South River (Sat)
• Week 6: Johnson
• Week 7: Roselle
• Week 8: New Providence

Kelton Ibach returns for the Terriers, after throwing for 1,211 yards and 16 touchdowns a season ago in his junior campaign, but he’ll need some new targets, as all six players to catch passes last year were seniors. The runningback room was also senior heavy, but Del Val didn’t run as much, only going for 704 yards last season. Still, just 137 of that returns, and 72 came from Ibach himself. There will be key guys to replace on defense, too, like senior LB Patrick O’Boyle (2 sacks, 1 forced fumble) and DB Eric Klemmer (2 INT, 2 TFLs). After a 5-4 debut season for head coach Ben Ibach, last year’s squad went 6-4. Some newcomers here could determine if they’ll improve upon that at all.

JP Stevens Hawks (2-7, 0-3, 4th place in ’24)
Head Coach: David Kunyz (1st season)

• Week 0: Lakewood (Thurs, 6p)
• Week 1: at Bound Brook
• Week 2: Voorhees* (6p)
• Week 3: Delaware Valley* (6p)
• Week 4: at Bernards*
• Week 5: Manville (Sat, 4p)
• Week 6: at Metuchen
• Week 7: at Roselle Park
• Week 8: Roselle (6p)

Jason George did a fine job in two seasons as head coach, developing the Hawks in his first season, and delivering them their first win since 2018 in his second, snapping a 31-game skid that was the longest in the state at the time. But he’s left to be an assistant with his father at Woodbridge, and now defensive coordinator David Kunyz takes the reins. So, yes, it’s a coaching change, but there will still be some consistency, a good thing for the program which has struggled mightily with numbers in recent years. He’ll face the challenge of finding a replacement for senior quarterback Marquise Webb (616 yards, 2 TD) and top rusher Quadir Johnson (321 yards, 3 TDs). The defense saw some underclassmen make play, like sophomore Joshua Collins and junior Elijah Hollman (1 sack, 1 TFL each).

Voorhees Vikings (3-6, 1-2, 3rd place in ’24)
Head Coach: John Hack (3-6, 2nd season)

• Week 0: at Orange (Thurs, 6p)
• Week 1: at JFK
• Week 2: at JP Stevens* (6p)
• Week 3: Bernards*
• Week 4: at Delaware Valley*
• Week 5: North Plainfield
• Week 6: at Governor Livingston (Sat, 1p)
• Week 7: Hillside
• Week 8: North Hunterdon

The crossover schedule won’t be an easy one, but there are some key players back that could help the Vikings take a step up in Year Two under head coach John Hack. Among them is rising senior Matteo Tramutola, who rushed for 1,258 yards last year and scored 17 touchdowns, while QB Sam Meekings threw for 1,327 yards and 16 scores as a junior in 2024. Some younger backs will round out that room, while five receivers who went for at least 125 yards each and ten touchdowns overall should be back, led by senior Ryan Benitez, who had nine catches for 182 yards and three scores last season.