Old Bridge moves up; Bridgewater-Raritan, Hunterdon Central, St. Joseph-Metuchen join Marcus Borden’s Week 1 Top Ten… plus rankings for BCC West, Middlesex and Union Counties

We are fully underway in the Big Central, with every team playing in Week One, as fifteen teams who did not start the season in Week Zero made their debut.

This past Friday, I was in Somerville for the clash between the Pioneers and the Cougars of Cranford. Both teams were hit heavy by graduation and were still putting the pieces to the puzzle together with a new cast of underclassmen and a few seniors who were returning with game experience.

Cranford would get on the board first as junior quarterback Aiden Capizzi found fellow classmate John Fiore Jr. on a five-yard touchdown pass after an 8:12 long drive in the first quarter for a 6-0 advantage.

Somerville wasted little time in taking the lead 7-6 after a 42-yard burst to the end zone by senior Aidan Vesuvio-Bush with 8:55 left in the second quarter.

Both teams traded punts as the defenses stiffened up and it seemed the Pioneers would punt once more with 55.7 seconds before halftime after a Cranford sack and a stop on a third down run.

Cougar senior Joseph Acinapura would block the Somerville punt and return in for a score as Cranford went in at halftime with a 12-7 lead.

Vesuvio-Bush would give the Pioneers a 15-12 lead with 6:30 to go in the third quarter with his three-yard score in the Wildcat and subsequent two-point conversion from the same formation.

Somerville would add to its lead when Vesuvio-Bush would score once more on a one-yard run adding to his final tally of 182 total yards on the night. The PAT failed making it 21-12 with about seven minutes remaining in the game.

Cranford would have one more opportunity to close the gap as they had third and goal on the Pioneer five-yard line. With Somerville junior defensive end Nikhai Smith pressuring the quarterback, sophomore James Hampton intercepted the errant pass taking it 103 yards to pay dirt while helping his team to improve to 2-0 in the early season.

On Saturday, Hillside faced visiting Bernards in first-year head coach Isa Abdul-Quddus’ debut at Conant Street Park.

The visiting Mountaineers would get on the board first. Junior quarterback Nolan Ryan would find senior running back Logan Stevens on a swing pass towards the Bernards bench as he sidestepped several Comet defenders and sprinted to the end zone for a 25-yard score with 7:29 left in the first quarter.

Hillside would threaten with Kamari Robinson running the ball and quarterback Jayden Ashford mixing in the pass. The Comets would miss a 35-yard FG attempt late in the first quarter.

Bernards would add to its lead with a 37-yard field goal by junior Daniel Nagy-Lewis with 6:09 to go before halftime as there was a storm brewing behind the Hillside home side bleachers.

Kamari Robinson stepped up his game as the the physical shifty back would score on a 14-yard run play with two minutes and five second before halftime and closing the gap to 10-7.

Both teams would intercept passes with Bernards taking a knee to end the half up 10-7.

With the game being called due to heavy rain and multiple lightening strikes, it was decided to resume play on Sunday at 11 a.m. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the finale as I was in Brick for a 7U tackle game at 9 a.m. But the Mountaineers closed it out, winning 24-14.

Here are my Week 1 Top Tens for the entire Big Central Conference, plus the BCC West, Middlesex County and Union County: