Franklin’s Jah’naad Cady has game for the ages in road win at Woodbridge that clinched playoff berth, earning him Week 8 Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week honors

Turf toe doesn’t sound like much, but it’s painful.

“It’s a torn ligament at the bottom of the foot, and I got it from someone falling on me… and it tore it from there,” says Jah’naad Cady, the Franklin senior quarterback who suffered the injury Week Zero against Ewing. He missed three games, came back for two, then missed more time.

So after rehabbing more, and working his way back into the lineup, Friday’s night’s do-or-die Cutoff Weekend game at Woodbridge was sort of like playing the opening game of the season. And one could excuse him if he didn’t go 100 percent.

Well, he didn’t. In fact, Cady turned out 110 percent.

The senior quarterback went 20-of-28 passing for 377 yards and five touchdowns, paving the way for a huge 49-40 road win over the Barrons that helped clinch Franklin’s first playoff berth since 2012, ending the longest active postseason drought of any Somerset County school.

For his efforts, senior runningback Jah’naad Cady of Franklin is the Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Player of the Week for Week Eight.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko with Week Eight Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week Jah’naad Cady of Franklin:

The Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week is chosen from nominees by Big Central coaches. At the end of the season, one player will be chosen to receive a $500 scholarship courtesy of Bellamy & Son Paving. As always, we will recognize selected “Honorable Mentions,” and recognize all other all nominees in our weekly story.

Honorable Mentions:

• Adrian Bernknopf, Dayton: The Bulldogs’ senior QB kept his team in a wild, 48-43 loss to Manville, going 19-of-30 passing for 280 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 170 yard and a touchdown on 22 carries, accounting for 450 total yards of offense, while breaking the all-time Dayton passing record. In his second year as a starter, he’s 169-of-286 passing for 3,003 yards and 38 touchdowns. And Dayton still has a playoff game Friday night at Butler in the opening round of the North 2, Group 1 section.
• Chase Krauscheunas, Delaware Valley: The junior QB was an efficient 10-of-13 passing for 262 yards and four touchdowns – for 60, 45, 34 and 18 yards – while also rushing eight times for 58 yards and another score. More impressive? In a 35-7 win over Belvidere, he did it all in the first half, not playing in the second half with the game in hand.
• Aiden Waheed, Linden: The junior signal-caller came up big in a 25-21 win over Union Friday night. “Everyone in the stadium knew he was carrying the ball and he still rushed for 236 yards,” says Linden head coach Mark Ciccotelli. He did all that on 38 carries, and scored three TDs. But it was in the passing game where he left his biggest mark. Though he only threw it 15 times and completed seven passes for 96 yards, it was his lone touchdown pass – a 36-yarder to Akhenaton DeRose as time expired – that was the highlight of the night. The win earned linden a playoff berth, where they’ll travel to Elizabeth Friday night in the North 2, Group 5 first round for a rematch of their 39-18 defeat at Williams Field back on October 2.
• Kevin Reilly, New Providence: The senior quarterback was a very efficient 20-of-24 passing for 302 yards and four touchdowns in a rivalry game, as the Pioneers topped Governor Livingston 41-10 at home Friday night.

Other Notable Performances:

• Jream Sorrell, JP Stevens: The sophomore wide recveiver kept his team in a double-overtime loss at Middlesex, 20-14. Sorrell had six catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, with a long of 47. That TD tied the game in the fourth quarter, and he also caught a two-point conversion that tied the score, helping send the game to OT in the first place.
• Sal Fama-Linn, North Brunswick: The senior wideout had eleven catches for 234 yards on offense, landing him No. 1 in the Raider record books with 93 career receptions over two varsity seasons. But that wasn’t all he did in a 49-21 Senior Night win over East Brunswick. At free safety, he made five tackles, one TFL, and had a 96-yard interception return for a score. He also threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Nolan Joseph in the second quarter.
• Zion Farley, North Plainfield: In a 33-7 win Friday against Brearley at Krausche Field, the Canuck senior was 10-of-19 passing for 132 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing 23 times for another 166 yards and a score on Senior Night.
• Sherwin Appiah, Sayreville: The bell cow of an offense that used multiple formations to rally and beat Piscataway 16-7 at home Friday night, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, Appiah rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown and had 361 all-purpose yards against the Chiefs in a classic GMC rivalry game.