Junior quarterback Arique Fleming of Elizabeth unleashes a long touchdown pass to Quameen Willliams in a Big Central Conference games at Linden on August 29, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
With one exception, St. Joseph-Metuchen and Elizabeth have played some tight games the last few years.
The Falcons won this game 41-20 a year ago. The previous two times these two clashed, in 2023 and 2024, the combined margin of victory for St. Joseph was three points. And in 2022, Elizabeth won 23-21, but that was four years ago.
This new class of Minutemen and head coach Eugene Kline, since being named the head man at Elizabeth, have yet to know the feeling of defeating the Falcons.
In order for history to be made Friday night, fourth-year staring quarterback A’rique Fleming has to be on his A-game. The senior is 0-3 against St. Joe’s in his career, completing 58.9% of his passes for 565 yards (188.3 ypg), six total touchdowns, and three interceptions.
You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio in the Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving. Kickoff is set for 6 pm, with pregame at 5:40 pm from Williams Field. Alec Crouthamel and Dylan Allen are on the call; click here to listen.
More importantly, the Minutemen’s run defense has to be top-notch.
In the past three games against St. Joseph, the Falcons have averaged 197.7 yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns per contest. In that span, the closest Elizabeth has been to victory was a 21-20 loss in 2024. The Minutemen held Joe’s to just 62 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, while shutting them out in the second half.
It was almost a comeback for the ages as Elizabeth trailed 21-0 at halftime. But across the other two losses, the Falcons ran for a combined 531 yards.
Fortunately for A’rique Fleming – the Week 2 Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week, who earned the award for a big pick-six he had late to seal the win, in addition to his QB exploits – he has some star-studded wide receivers to choose from in Qua’Yon Williams, Erick Cespedes, and Nahjae Smith.
Williams and Cespedes have combined for 433 yards and five touchdowns, while Smith has missed time due to an ankle issue, according to Kline, he’s still a player you do not want to take lightly. In 2024, his sophomore season, Smith had his breakout year with 32 receptions, 640 yards, and seven touchdowns – all career highs.
What’s at stake for these two teams besides snagging a win in the American Gold division? Remaining unbeaten. St. Joseph enters the contest at 2-0; Elizabeth at 3-0, for the first time since 2015, when they started 4-0, and finished 7-2.
St. Joseph is coming off a 28-6 win at Westfield, while Elizabeth took the trip to Union, beat the Farmers 19-7, and now are playing their first home game of the season.
Click below to hear Elizabeth football head coach Eugene Kline talk about the Minutemen’s season so far and upcoming matchup against St. Joseph-Metuchen, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen:
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