Perth Amboy looks to rebound from season-opening loss with win over rival Carteret Friday

Perth Amboy football hasn’t put together a season with more than three wins in some time, but when it’s a big rivalry game, you can throw all that out.

Now in his seventh season, William Clark has coached against the Ramblers six times. And though the wins, overall, haven’t come, the Panthers are 3-3 against Carteret under Clark’s tenure, and they’re one of the teams Amboy has had success against.

Throw in the fact that Friday night’s matchup – the the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving – is a big rivalry game, once played on Thanksgiving and considered “the granddaddy of ’em all” dating back to 1927, and the fact Amboy has a game under its belt, you never know what can happen.

This will be the 98th meeting all-time in the series, with Perth Amboy leading 50-45, with two ties, in 1937 and 1970.

You can hear Friday’s game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with kickoff time set for 6 pm at Perth Amboy’s Waters Stadium, with pregame set for 5:45. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will call all the action; click here to listen.

While Carteret has yet to play a game, Amboy is 0-1, after a 36-0 loss to JFK in it season opener. The biggest issue for the Panthers is replacing the talent that graduated. That includes senior quarterback Laivon Balthazar, who threw for 1,447 yards and 12 touchdowns last year, while also leading the team in rushing, with 415 yards and four scores. Top receiver Brandon Bradsher also graduated, along with his 55 catches, 1,055 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

The only offensive player – starter or backup – who recorded any varsity stats last year was Ricky Henriquez, who rushed 45 times for 290 yards last season.

And it’s much of the same on defense, as only Henriquez (20 tackles, 12 solo) and defensive lineman Cesar Marquez (40 tackles, 20 solo, 1 TFL) recorded any varsity stats last year from a group that had 9 1/2 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and six interceptions, three of which came from Bradsher.

Click below to hear Perth Amboy head coach William Clark talk about the Panthers as they get set to take on Carteret in an old Thanksgiving Day rivalry: