JFK won a wild consolation game nearly at the horn in North Edison Thursday night, one of more than a dozen consolation games on the schedule involving Big Central schools.
Friday night, the attention shifts to the opening round of the state playoffs, with 27 of the 29 teams participating in action, with two others – Piscataway and Montgomery – playing their first-round games Saturday afternoon.
Click here for the full weekend schedule of all playoff and consolation games.
Meanwhile, read on more more recaps, links, scores, Notes and Nuggets, and the rest of the weekend schedule.
Anthony Nyers nabs first win as JFK coach, as Mustangs win their first of the season…
JFK rallied from a 7-0 halftime deficit to get its first win of the season, and first for new coach Anthony Nyers in his debut season at the helm.
After Kennedy tied it at seven in the second half, JP Stevens took the lead again on a 27-yard field goal with 7:33 to go in the game by Pranav Iswara.
With about two minutes to go, the Mustangs drove the length of the field, and got close to the goal line with six seconds to go. Stopped at the one, an injury timeout led to a long delay, and one more play from the one with just nine seconds left on the clock.
That’s when senior Braylon Diaz came up the hero, after falling a yard short with a reception on the previous play. He darted around the left side of the line and into into the end zone from one yard out to give the visitors a 13-10 lead, which Kennedy secured for the win with excellent coverage on the ensuing kickoff.
JFK is 1-9 on the season, while JP Stevens is 2-8.
Click below to watch postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Marcus Borden with JFK head coach Anthony Nyers and senior Braylon Diaz, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!
Notes and Nuggets…
- Bound Brook finished its season strong – unless they play another consolation game, which is permitted by the NJSIAA – winning its fourth straight game Thursday night. After an 0-6 start, the Crusaders won at Dunellen, 21-0 on October ninth, then reeled off two more over Middlesex and Sussex Tech before beating the Zebras, 21-6, Thursday night.
- The win by JFK Thursday night left just one Big Central team winless at the end of the year, assuming New Brunswick doesn’t pick up one last opponent next week. That’s the best showing in league history. Last year, three BCC teams finished without a win – North Brunswick, JP Stevens and Dunellen. There were another three in 2024, four in 2023, and five each in 2022 and 2021. There were five in the COVID-shortened season of 2020, but that number is skewed because some teams didn’t muster a full schedule. Westfield only managed two games, and finished 0-2, while JP Stevens finished 0-4.
- Monroe bounced back from the heartbreak of their tiebreaker/head-to-head scenario that left them out of the playoffs with a 28-6 win over Edison that finishes their season at 6-4. Missing the postseason aside, that’s a five-win turnaround from last season, in which the Falcons went 1-8, and the best finish under fourth-year head coach Nick Isola. Monroe’s last playoff appearance came in 2013, under Chris Beagan, who would coach there one more year before taking over at his alma mater, Sayreville, in 2015, following a massive hazing scandal at the school. Beagan coached the school to its only sectional title in 2009.
- East Brunswick finishes 4-6 with its 24-7 win over Hightstown. That’s a one-win improvement for head coach Zach Gega’s group over his debut season, when the Bears went 3-7, and the most wins in a season for the program since Andy Steinfeld led the Bears to an 8-2 season in 2021, coming out of the COVID year.
THURSDAY SCORES
- JFK 13, JP Stevens 10
- South River 36, Keansburg 8
- North Plainfield 28, Scotch Plains-Fanwood 21
- Brearley 40, Whippany Park 35
- Middlesex 42, Metuchen 29
- Voorhees 21, Spotswood 12
- Hillsborough 40, Allentown 7
- Bound Brook 21, New Brunswick 6
- Livingston 41, Hunterdon Central 34
- Monroe 28, Edison 6
- East Brunswick 24, Hightstown 7
- Raritan 56, South Plainfield 21
- North Warren at South Hunterdon
WEDNESDAY SCORE
- Westfield 36, Colonia 12
For the full weekend playoff schedule – including non-Big Central teams, click here.
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