Marcus Borden’s Camp Caravan 2026: Week 1 Notebook

Week One (August 10-15) of the Caravan was hot and humid with the temperatures in the high 80’s and 90’s!

Monday morning, I kicked off the 2026 preseason at J.F. Kennedy’s Louis M. Bartha Memorial Stadium as first year head Coach Anthony Nyers and his young staff, which includes his younger brother Nick, never stopped coaching/talking to the forty-plus players who have been working hard since February.

Senior WR/DB Kamali “KJ” Walker emphasized the importance of being there for his teammates and stressing the need to encourage them to focus in on what has to be done to have back to back winning seasons.

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Fellow senior captains Braylon Diaz and Dushyant Kumar know that the youthful Mustangs have to continue to put in the work by being prepared, knowing the plays and having each others back.

Junior Jonathan Sedlmayer, who has not missed a workout since his new coach was hired, said he looks forward to playing defense for J.F. Kennedy and he can’t wait until they kick off the season August 28 at East Brunswick.

Tuesday’s stop at Spotswood High School saw the Chargers marching into the stadium all wearing the same blue and gold tee shirt with a clear message on the back: Work Hard, COMPETE, Do it Right.

Emphasis in pre-practice was the kicking game while the lineman worked on footwork and blocking progresions. This was followed by a team dynamic warm-up.

Individual period saw a variety of drills performed by position groups and it was obvious that plenty of work was done during the summer by the 40 plus players in attendance.

Head Coach Andy Steinfeld had the practice well-scripted and there was little time wasted as the coaches focused on technique and intensity.

Spotswood has great Senior leadership with QB Jonathan Regan, and Linemen Nicholas Albert and Phil Palmer. Junior WR/DB/KR Ryan Foster made a name for himself last year in all three phases of the game and will be counted on to do the same as the Chargers prepare for a Week 0 match-up with Monmouth Regional on Thursday August 27.

Wednesday’s nine am practice at Tapp Webb Memorial Field at Delaware Valley H.S. saw about 45 players in half-pads with the Varsity in navy and JV’s in white.

Ben Ibach begins his fourth campaign as head football coach without his talented son Kelton who was the quarterback the past two seasons. All he did was throw for nearly 3000 yards and 36 touchdowns. The younger Ibach, a talented lacrosse player leaves for Hood College tomorrow.

How do you replace your signal caller? Insert the 6’5″ athletic Junior Chase Kraucheunas who has an offer from Syracuse as a free safety. His ability to throw and run the ball was quite evident throughout the practice as teammate Picardo-Leask will attest with his catch above.

Expectations are high for the Terriers who return a plethora of defensive starters like Marcus Gary, Ben Culberson, Brayden Costello as well as Picardo-Leask and Kaucheunas.

The focus of this group is to return to the playoffs with the goal of earning the right to play for a championship. With that being said, Delaware Valley will rely on their defense as the offense continues to develop throughout the preseason.

The Terriers open up Week O with an August 27 Thursday night 6:00 p.m kickoff vs. neighboring North Hunterdon.

Thursday the East Brunswick Bears were on the field at 7:30 am at Jay Doyle Field. Second-year head coach Zach Gega wasted little time getting his team focused on the practice plan which was defense.

There was plenty of energy as the players moved quickly between drills and scripted periods which covered every phase of the game.

Senior linebackers Cole Zebro and Nicholas Espindola were vocal leaders as they encouraged their teammates to give the maximum effort and focus in on the finer details of alignment and play recognition.

Senior Brendon Adams a stalwart on the offensive and defensive line was equally impressive as he laid the leather during a one on one drill with force and and leg drive as the circle of his Bear teammates “oohed and aahed” during the drill.

East Brunswick had about 70 players on the main field while their 8th grade team was down on the lower turf field.

The Bears will host J.F. Kennedy on Thursday August 27 at 6:00 p.m. with two head coaches who are quite familiar with each other as they were on the Woodbridge staff with former coach Joe LaSala.

Friday’s practice in New Brunswick was held at Memorial Stadium on Joyce Kilmer Ave which is behind the New Brunswick Middle School. Players were picked up and bused to practice.

Second-year head coach Geoffrey Chrisman and his assistants were there early unloading the players equipment which was tied together with the helmet and shoulder pads. Practice pants and knee and thigh pads were distributed as players got off the bus then headed to the locker room under the stadium.

Practice got underway after listening to an impassioned speech by their coach with the emphasis on building off last year’s season-ending victory which ended the Zebras 32-game losing streak.

Sophomore Arisniel Mota-Sánchez a running back and free safety was impressive as a defender during the defense’s Skelton Pass session and reminded me of Maurice Ffrench who played at the University of Pittsburgh. Senior Alan Rodriguez along with Juniors Arion Lugo-James and Ervin Muñoz-Juares all bring experience and leadership to a team that opens their season at Highland Park.

Christian has increased the team’s roster to about 50 kids with a large sophomore class with several players who got their feet wet as freshmen in last year’s season finale.

The final stop of the Week 1 BCC Camp Caravan Tour was Saturday morning at St. Thomas Aquinas as the Trojans hosted a Red and Black intrasquad scrimmage as well as a barbecue for players and coaches prepared by the parents Booster Club..

The return of junior quarterback Zymere Weaver who threw for 2236 yards with 24 touchdowns last season along with seniors Tristan Bester at receiver and defensive back, Sebastian Azofeifa on the offensive and defensive line and linebacker Jaylen Frias with over 100 tackles in 2025 has second-year head coach Shamir Bearfield feeling good about the team improving this season.

If Saturday’s situational scrimmage was any indication of how this team can handle adversity on game day, the Aquinas faithful can be rest assured that the Trojans will be ready for anything that comes their way this season as they open up on the road at Sheepshead Bay High School in Brooklyn on August 29 at 1:00 p.m.

Marcus Borden’s Camp Caravan Week 2 Scrimmage Schedule is as follows (subject to change):

• Monday, August 17: at Elizabeth with Hillside, South Brunswick and Toms River North at 9 am
• Tuesday, August 18: at Somerville with Woodbridge, Ridge and Wall at 10 am
• Wednesday, August 19: Montgomery vs. Hillsborough at 10 am
• Thursday, August 20: at Edison vs. Watchung Hills at 11 am; at Old Bridge vs. Red Bank Catholic at 6 pm
• Friday August 21: at Westfield vs. Cranford at 10 am
• Saturday August 22: at Bound Brook vs. Point Pleasant Beach at 10 am

Marcus Borden’s Camp Caravan Week 1 Coverage:

• Monday, August 10: J.F. Kennedy
• Tuesday, August 11: Spotswood
• Wednesday, August 12: Delaware Valley
• Thursday, August 13: East Brunswick
• Friday, August 14: New Brunswick
• Saturday August 15: St. Thomas Aquinas