Piscataway’s James Bodley criss-crosses the field for a 91-yard kick return for a touchdown against Bayonne on November 2, 2024. (Photo: Marcus Borden)
Wins and losses are important, program development is important.
But success in some high school football programs is also measured by championships. And that’s the way it is in Piscataway.
Saturday afternoon at Kenny Armwood Stadium, the Chiefs will look to reach their first title game since 2018, when they won North 2, Group 5, then beat Ridgewood in the first North Group 5 bowl game to finish 13-0, setting a Middlesex County single-season win record that remains unmatched to this day.
It’ll be our “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, as second-seed Piscataway (8-2) takes on sixth-seed Bayonne (7-3) in the North 2, Group 5 semifinals live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Pregame is at 12:45 pm, with kickoff at 1. Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas are on the call; click here to listen. The game is sponsored in part by Piscataway Township and Mayor Brian Wahler.
The Chiefs and Bees are familiar with each other. They met last year in the opening round, a 42-13 win for Piscataway, which bowed out in the semifinals, with a 35-0 loss to West Orange, which then lost to East Orange in the finals. The Chiefs also had playoff wins in 2017 and 2014 against Bayonne.
The winner will face off against either top-seed Bridgewater-Raritan (7-3) or fourth-seed Union City (6-3). That semifinal game will be Friday night at Basilone Field in Bridgewater. The Panthers beat the Chiefs at home back on September 5th, 34-27.
If Piscataway and Bridgewater win, the Panthers would host the finals next Friday night. Should the Chiefs get the Soaring Eagles, they would host the North 2, Group 5 title game next Saturday, their first title game at home since beating Union City for that 2018 title.
Piscataway and Bayonne are also very similar teams, with a lot of talent on the field, in need of superior line play to get the ball to their skill guys, and with some pretty good defenses as well. The Chiefs have held opponents to under ten points in five of their last seven games, and are 1-1 in the games where they’ve allowed more. The Bees haven’t allowed more than 15 points in their last six games, all wins.
While both teams are more experienced a year later, perhaps the biggest difference from 2024 to 2025 – for either team – is the addition of two key transfers for Piscataway who both began their scholastic careers in the program: Josiah Zayas and Mickye Simmons.
Zayas – a wide receiver – was in the Chiefs’ program for a year before transferring to St. Thomas Aquinas. Simmons – a runningback – was at P’way for two years before joining Zayas in North Edison. But both came back to their home district for their seniors years, although they had to sit out the first several weeks due to NJSIAA transfer rules, since it was their second switcheroo.
The two have been a big part of what Piscataway does offensively, and are playing big roles on defense, too, with Zayas at middle linebacker, and Simmons in the secondary.
If they and everyone else keeps doing their thing, and the Chiefs keep playing the way they have since a loss to Sayreville at home on October third, they’ll be partying like its 2018, with a chance at a ring for the first time in seven years.
Bayonne, meanwhile – for those unfamiliar – have a very balanced offense, running about 150 pass plays, and 196 on the ground. Senior QB Nico Sampson, Jr., has thrown for 1,362 yards and isn’t turnover prone in the least, with 21 TDs to just two picks. But Piscataway is a plus-10 in that regard this season.
Defensively, the bees have logged 24 sacks, almost two-and-a-half per game. And Jerome Hayes, Jr., the coach’s son, has two pick sixes on the season.
Click below to listen to pregame interviews with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:
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