Sayreville QB Marcus Butka looks to throw against Piscataway in a Big Central Crossover game in Parlin on October 23, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
There’s little to no history between the Sayreville and Rancocas Valley football teams.
The last – and only – time they ever met was in 2010, when the Bombers won the Central Jersey Group 5 title behind standout runningback Delon Stephenson, and beat the Red Devils in the opening round of the playoffs, en route to a title win over Brick Memorial and an 11-1 finish.
This year’s club is 8-2 – with losses to solid squads in Ridge and at Old Bridge – and as the third-seed in Central 5, will travel down to second seed Rancocas Valley (10-0) Friday for a 6 pm kickoff in the sectional semifinals, with the victor to take on the winner of the other semifinal, featuring fourth-seed Williamstown at top-seed Old Bridge, a game you can hear live Friday night on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
The Bombers have had a solid season, winners of four straight as they head down to Burlington County. They’ve been a solid defensive group, and may have saved one of their best efforts for one of their arch-rivals, Piscataway, beating the Chiefs 16-7 on Cutoff Weekend, preventing Piscataway from getting a top-seed in the playoffs, while also improving their own standing.
In that game, their wealth of skill players showed, and the Bombers got offensive players all over the field, a scenario for which the Chiefs had no apparent answer. Last week, Sayreville led Vineland at halftime, but the game went back and forth the rest of the way. Dion Osae – who along with Sherwin Appiah had two rushing touchdowns – scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning touchdown from 52 yards out with 1:36 to go, and they only ended up winning by two after the PAT was blocked.
That’s the kind of game it was.
This week, head coach Mark Poore may want to bring a case of Rolaids with him, because his Bombers are in for another battle.
Rancocas Valley won the West Jersey Football League’s Colonia Division, sweeping all five games. And while their schedule hasn’t been a they own some impressive wins: 36-6 over Shawnee, and 21-20 over an always tough Millville squad.
Among the players to watch are junior quarterback Zach Merhar (1,776 yards passing, 33 TD, 8 INTs) and three wide receivers who have at least 22 catches apiece: junior Andrew Byrdsong and juniors Mike McQueen and Malcolm Harrison. While their leading rusher, Hakim Theresa, Jr., has just 653 yards and six scores on the season, as a team, they’ve rushed for 1,653 and 14 touchdowns, showing a balanced attack.
On the other side of the ball, they have been nearly impossible to score on. In nine regular season games, only Shawnee, Millville and Pleasantville have avoided a goose egg. And in the opening round, eight-seed Jackson Twp. only managed a single touchdown in a 42-7 loss.
But the Bombers have weapons, and though they don’t throw the ball much – just an average of 7.6 attempts per game – sophomore QB Marcus Butka is a distributor, who runs the offense well. Factor in direct snaps to Osae and or Appiah, and it’s enough to give even the best defensive eleven nightmares.
Click below to hear Sayreville football coach Mark Poore talk about Friday’s Central Jersey Group 5 semifinal at Rancocas Valley with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:
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