No. 8 Sayreville makes short trip to No. 3 Old Bridge in playoff rematch, with nearly as much on the line

No. 8 Sayreville football has gotten off to another strong start with the 2026 regular season past its midway point, but heading into this weekend, how 2025 ended surely looms large.

In former alum and former quarterback Mark Poore’s third year as the head coach, the Bombers (4-1, 3-0) are off to their second excellent opening stretch of the season, after starting 7-0 in 2025.

They went 8-1 in the regular season and earned the second seed in the Central Jersey Group 5 tournament. But Sayreville’s season came to a close at home to third-seeded Old Bridge. The Bombers rallied from a 21-7 deficit with 20 straight points to take the lead back, but the Knights got the last laugh, as star quarterback Brody Nugent found receiver Amari Alsbrook for a 13-yard score with 90 seconds to play for a 28-27 win.

But now, it’s a new season with a new team, and another good one at that. Even though Sayreville saw heavy graduation — including all five starters among the offensive line — it looks poised to make another postseason run.

The Bombers have played their best ball of late, as well. After a 21-7 loss to Ridge in Week 1, they’ve won three straight, scoring at least 37 points in all three games and allowing just six points twice. They also re-entered the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten rankings at No. 8 this week for the first time since that loss to the Red Devils.

This week, Sayreville comes to Lombardi Field in Old Bridge to play the third-ranked Knights in the Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Kickoff is set for 6:00, with pregame at 5:45 as Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the action. Click here to listen.

As with most teams, it took a couple weeks for the Bombers to find their footing and really get going.

Part of that was a mix of new — and some familiar — faces in new roles. Gone is star running back Shaun Jackson, now a freshman at FCS New Haven, as well as those five in the trenches. Also gone are eight starters on last year’s defense, a unit that didn’t allow 20 points in a game for the first month.

But many of this year’s standouts have seen snaps over their high school careers and have stepped up to take the reigns, creating a strong pipeline for development.

At quarterback, sophomore Marcus Butka takes the reigns from his older brother Tyler, and Poore says there’s still room to involve the younger signal-caller even more in the offense, as his confidence continues to rise with more snaps.

In place of Jackson are primarily three returning upperclassmen — junior Dion Osae and seniors Gabriel Manson and Sherwin Appiah — who all saw heavy snaps last season and have kept the run game going. At wideout, seniors Andrew Provenza and Jorge Zapata return as Butka’s top targets on the outside, playing as part of the Bombers’ Wing T offense.

On defense, Sayreville brings plenty of size and toughness along the front seven, along with athleticism and playmaking abilities in the back-end. Junior safety Christian Woodard is among the returning starters leading the way with 45 tackles, three for loss.

Day by day, the Bombers have taken steps forward as a team and their efforts have been rewarded with big wins over Edison, Franklin, and St. Thomas Aquinas.

But it’ll be a tough test on the road against Old Bridge, another high-octane offense. The Knights aren’t short on playmakers on both sides of the ball, and many of those top contributors that took down Sayreville 11 months ago remain Matt Donaghue’s top options.

The rematch is set for Friday, as the postseason picture grows closer and clearer, with both teams certainly in the mix.

Click below to hear Sayreville head coach Mark Poore talk about the Bombers’ season and Friday night’s road game at Old Bridge with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel: