Central Jersey Group 5 Final Preview: Old Bridge Knights vs. Washington Twp. Minutemen

Central Jersey Group 5 Final
When: Friday, 6 pm
Where: Tom Brown Field, Sewell, NJ
Matchup: #3 Old Bridge (10-1) at #1 Washington Twp. (11-0)
Weather: 46 degrees at kickoff, clear skies, winds WNW 6MPH (cross-wind)

HEAD COACHES:

Old Bridge: Matt Donaghue (4th season, 25-16)
Washington Twp: Mike Schatzman (3rd season, 49-30)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Old Bridge:
First Round: def. #6 Freehold Twp., 38-31
Semifinals: def. #2 Sayreville, 28-27

Washington Twp:
First Round: def. #8 Howell, 41-0
Semifinals: def. #4 Rancocas Valley, 44-26

Who’s next? The winner of this game will play the South Jersey Group 5 winner in the Group 5 semifinals. That title game features top-seed Atlantic City (9-1) hosting third-seed Kingsway (9-2) Friday night at 6:00. Should Old Bridge win, the Knights – fourth overall in the South Group 5 supersection – would either play at Atlantic City (the overall two-seed) or host Kingsway next Friday at Lombardi Field. The Dragons were seventh overall in South 5.

SERIES HISTORY:

This will be the first meeting between Old Bridge and Washington Township. They have no common opponents, but each has played a team from the other league. The Minutemen beat Hillsborough 43-12 in the Battle at the Beach down at Rowan University in Week Zero, while Old Bridge beat Cedar Creek out of the West Jersey Football League in the same showcase the next day, 21-7. Cedar Creek and Washington Twp. did not play each other.

OLD BRIDGE PREVIEW:

• Old Bridge seeks first sectional title as Knights head down to deep South Jersey to face Washington Twp. in Central Jersey Group 5 final

FINALS HISTORY:

Old Bridge:

The Knights already have set a program record for wins, but remember, that’s only since the 1994 merger of Madison Central and Cedar Ridge, so we’re “only” talking about 30 years of history here. Be that as it may, this could very well be the best team Old Bridge has had in that time frame, just on record alone.

This will be just their third time in a sectional final, and the Knights are seeking their first trophy since the merger. For the record, of the two township high schools that formed Old Bridge, Madison Central won two titles – in 1987 and 1988 – after falling in their first appearance in 1980. Cedar Ridge never appeared in a sectional final.

Playoff Berths: 17
Playoff Record: 11-16
Previous Finals Berths: 2
Sectional Titles: none

Central Jersey Group 4
2001: #1 JP Stevens def. #6 Old Bridge 14-7 at Rutgers
2015: #1 South Brunswick def. #3 Old Bridge, 42-0 at Rutgers

Washington Twp:

The defending sectional champion Minutemen were 10-3 last season, falling in the CJ5 final to Toms River North. But this year, they’ve taken it to new heights. Their first playoff appearance came in 1982, 12 years after the playoffs era began in 1974.

When Washington Twp. is the No. 1 seed in their section, they are 3-0 in the finals. They’re 1-6 otherwise.

Playoff Berths: 30
Playoff Record: 25-26
Previous Finals Berths: 10
Sectional Titles: 4

South Jersey Group 4
1987: #4 Washington Twp. def. #2 Toms River South, 34-19
1989: #4 Brick Twp. def. #3 Washington Twp., 13-12
1992: #1 Washington Twp. def. #3 Brick Twp., 20-6
1993: #1 Cherokee def. #2 Washington Twp., 16-6
1995: #1 Washington Twp. def. #2 Shawnee, 19-6
2002: #5 Shawnee def. #2 Washington Twp., 14-10
2003: #8 Eastern def. #6 Washington Twp., 14-7
2004: #1 Shawnee def. #6 Washington Twp., 26-13
South Jersey Group 5
2023: #1 Toms River North def. #2 Washington Twp., 49-14
2024: #1 Washington Twp. def. #2 Atlantic City, 27-6

2025 OLD BRIDGE COVERAGE:

• Old Bridge wins 28-27 thriller in CJ5 semis at Sayreville on late TD catch by Alsbrook and PAT, to clinch first title game berth in a decade
• Old Bridge takes late lead, hangs on for 38-31 home win over Freehold Twp. in CJ5 1st round
• Brody Nugent sets Old Bridge single-game passing record, earns Week 3 Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week nod
• Nugent carries Knights, gets Old Bridge 21-7 win over Cedar Creek in Battle at the Beach
• Marcus Borden’s 2025 Camp Caravan:  Old Bridge already focused on Cedar Creek in Battle at the Beach
• Early look at Big Central Football 2025: Who will challenge Piscataway, Old Bridge in National Gold Division?

NEWS & NOTES:

Nugent is a true dual threat…

Old Bridge quarterback Brody Nugent has put up big numbers this year. And while it’s been a big year for passing quarterbacks in the Big Central – with Nugent, Dylan Chiera of Colonia, Devin Thomas of Plainfield and Zymere Weaver all tossing for over 2,000 yards this season – Nugent is the only one who has also run it for over 1,000 yards, and none of the others even come close.

Chiera leads the BCC in passing and is fifth in the state at 2,436 yards, along with 24 touchdowns. Weaver is next with 2,236, while Thomas checks in at 2,214 and Nugent at 2,118. And he’s still got at least one more game to go.

But the kicker is he’s rushed for 1,239 yards, making him responsible for 3,457 yards of total offense.

Chiera has rushed for 112 yards, Weaver for 290 and Thomas for 482, a little more than a third of Nugent’s total.

And historically, few Middlesex County quarterbacks have thrown for 2,000 yards in a season. In fact, the four BCC signal callers who’ve done it this year is a record. Only two have done it in the prior five seasons of Big Central play, both in 2021: Jay Mazuera of Hillsborough (2,040, 23 TD) and Patrick LePoidevin of Bound Brook (2,116, 24 TD).

As far as we could tell, with records going back to around 2011 publicly available online, no other Middlesex County QB has eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark. Even Art Sitkowski of OId Bridge, who went on to play Division 1 college football at Rutgers and Illinois, never even topped 1,500 yards passing in either of his two varsity seasons.

As for Washington Twp. QB Cole Aquino – he’s thrown for 1,281 yards and 19 touchdowns, but has only carried for 88 yards and three scores.

First to Get Two?

Should Old Bridge win the sectional title, head coach Matt Donaghue would be the first coach in the Big Central’s admittedly short six-year history to win a title as the head coach of two different sports at the same school.

The Knights were Central Jersey Group 4 champions in baseball in 2023, beating North Brunswick 2-1 for the title. They then beat Eastern in the Group 4 semifinals, then fell 4-0 to Ridgewood in the state Group 4 championship.

Hillsborough’s Kevin Carty Jr. and Cranford’s Erik Rosenmeier won sectional titles at their schools in 2021, the first Big Central teams to do so. Neither coaches another sport. Same for Edison’s Matt Yascko in 2022, and North Hunterdon’s Kevin Kley, who’s no longer there.

Bernards was the only BCC team to claim a title in 2023, and Jon Simoneau is only the head coach for football. Last year it was Somerville and Phillipsburg claiming titles, but neither Matt Bloom nor Frank Duffy coach another sport.

Although…

Completely unrelated to Old Bridge, but a fun fact nonetheless, the two coaches named “Matt Bloom” in Somerset County have both won NJSIAA sectional titles in different sports.

We just mentioned Somerville in 2024, but the other – and there’s no relation – is Matt Bloom, the boys’ basketball coach at Rutgers Prep. He and the Argonauts won the Non-Public South A title against Red Bank Catholic in 2022.