Author: Mike Pavlichko

by Mike Pavlichko

Ridge remains No. 1 in Big Central Media Poll; Summit joins the mix

There was very little change in the Week 6 Big Central Media Poll, a week after then-top-ranked Phillipsburg’s loss to Hillsborough threw upheaval into the rankings.

Again, North Brunswick got three first-place votes, while St. Thomas Aquinas got two, but it was Ridge that took the top spot based on the poll math: 10 points for a first place votes, 9 for second, etc.

In fact, the top five teams stayed the same, while Montgomery and Watchung Hills flip-flopped after the Cougars’ win over the Warriors Saturday night.

Bernards and Union also flip-flopped – the Farmers falling to Hillsborough at home Friday night – and Summit joins the top ten for the first time ever. (This is the fourth season of the Big Central Media Poll.

Click below for the full Week 6 Big Central Media Poll:

by Mike Pavlichko

North Brunswick takes No. 1 in CJSR Top Ten for second straight week

Things appear to be settling in past the halfway point of the high school football season, at least as far as the rankings are concerned.

In the Week 6 Central Jersey High School Football Top Ten, North Brunswick is at the top of the list for a second straight week. The Raiders are 5-0 after a shutout win over Franklin Friday night, their first of the season.

There was very little movement this week, with the top two teams (North Brunswick and Ridge) staying the same, the third and fourth place teams (Hillsborough and Phillipsburg) flipping, and the two teams tied for sixth (Montgomery and St. Thomas Aquinas) now tied for fifth.

Watchung Hills dropped two places to seventh, while Bernards broke out of a ninth place tie with Sayreville and Hunterdon Central to finish eighth. The Bombers stayed ninth. Union dropped two places to tenth, and Hunterdon Central dropped out.

Below are the full Week 6 Central Jersey Sports Radio high school football rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 6 Montgomery pulls away in second half to top No. 5 Watchung Hills in battle of unbeatens

In a game where Montgomery never trailed, but never led by more than a touchdown until the fourth quarter, the No. 6 Cougars topped No. 5 Watchung Hills Saturday night, 28-21, in a battle of undefeated teams.

The win clinches the Liberty Silver Division title for Montgomery.

Senior quarterback Michael Schmelzer, Jr., figured in all four touchdowns, throwing three TD passes to his favorite target, fellow senior Matt D’Avino, and running for another.

It was a tight game throughout, with the teams trading touchdowns.

D’Avino caught a 31-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to put Monty up 7-0. In the second quarter, Jake Arakelian scored on a nine-yard run to tie it for Hills, but Schmelzer, Jr., ran one in from 19-yards out before the half to wrest the lead back.

Watchung Hills again tied it on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Aleks Sitkowski to Braden Fenton, but Montgomery got it right back on a 24-yard Schlmelzer to D’Avino hookup.

The pattern would be broken in the fourth, when the Monty duo teamed up again for a 20-yard TD reception to make it 28-14. Hills got one back – a 12-yard pass from Sitkowski to David Dubas – but the Cougars would hold on.

Montgomery improved to 6-0 with the win, while Watchung Hills took its first loss and falls to 5-1.

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Legendary Phillipsburg football mentor Bob Stem passes away, aged 84

Former Phillipsburg head coach Bob Stem – who won 112 games with the Stateliners in two separate tours of duty as head coach – has passed away at the age of 84, his death first reported by Lehigh Valley Live.

Stem’s first go-round with P’burg was from 1973 to 1981, then he coached another six years from 2005 to 2010.

A native of the Phillipsburg, Stem starred in football and wrestling in the mid-1950s. He was an All-State and All-American in 1957, and also was a state champion wrestler in 1958.

He went on to play at Syracuse, where he was a three-year starter at linebacker and center and a significant piece of the Orangemen’s national championship team of 1959, a team which starred Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis and tight end John Mackey.

He later played in the AFL and CFL.

As coach of the Stateliners, he won a title in 1977, and three more during his second stint with the program.

According to Lehigh Valley Live, not only did Stem play in the 50th annual Thanksgiving Day meeting between Easton and Phillipsburg, but he coached in the 75th and 100th meeting of the two schools.

The website reports Stem not only taught in Phillipsburg for 35 years, but notes his four children eventually taught there as well.

by Mike Pavlichko

Little rest, but not weary: Hillsborough hangs on for 15-7 win at Union on four days’ rest

Jackson Jankowicz has set the tone often in games for Hillsborough.

The junior – a starter last year as a sophomore – is a veteran now, and he knows what his team, when it needs it.

What it needed – and got – Friday night at Cooke Field in Union was a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the game, staking 4th-ranked Hillsborough to an 8-0 lead over the No. 8 Farmers after a converted two-point pass play..

The Raiders (5-1) then got a defensive stop, and marched all the way downfield for a scoring drive, capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Lobelo.

That’s how the game went into the half: 15-0 Hillsborough.

Union (4-2) got a score in the third on a 13-yard TD pass from O’Malley King to Cedric Raymond.

But in a game of intensely physical play on both sides – “It was as physical a game as you’ll see,” said head coach Kevin Carty, Jr. – the Farmers couldn’t break through again.

After an upset of No. 1 Phillipsburg Sunday in the Rumble on the Raritan, 14-13, which played out in a similar fashion – Hillsborough up early and hanging on defensively – the Raiders’ have now held two ranked teams to a total of 20 points on consecutive weeks to pick up some big back-to-back wins after their first loss of the season to another ranked club, Ridge.

Click below for postgame reaction from Kevin Carty, Jr., with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Stateliners shake off injuries, beat Hunterdon Central 21-7 to get back in win column

Phillipsburg’s rumble with Hillsborough on the Raritan back on Sunday left the Stateliners with a number of injuries at key spots, including tight-end and quarterback.

Next man up.

Third-ranked P’burg got two second quarter touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead into the half at Maloney Stadium Friday night against ninth-ranked Hunterdon Central to beat the Red Devils 21-7.

Backup quarterback Nick Stettner – in for Jett Genovese, who injured his ankle against the Raiders Sunday but shouldn’t be out long, according to head coach Frank Duffy – threw two touchdown passes in the second quarter, one each to John Wargo and Kevin Burgess – of 10 and 56 yards, respectively.

Hunterdon Central’s only score came in the fourth quarter, when the Red Devils’ fell on a Phillipsburg fumble in the end zone. That made it 14-7, but John Wargo’s second touchdown of the game – a 38-yard rush – gave Phillipsburg back the cushion it needed.

The Stateliners improve to 4-1, while Central dropped its second straight game to fall to 4-2.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk about the Stateliners’ win with head coach Frank Duffy:

by Mike Pavlichko

Piscataway handles Old Bridge in the rain with 2 TDs each from Stephens, Thompson

Football coaches love a kid who can score many different ways.

De’shaun Stephens scored twice, both in different ways, Friday night in the rain for Piscataway.

The Chiefs got a two rushing touchdowns from Horace Thompson, and two more from Stephens – a receiving touchdown and a pick six – to help seal the deal.

But it didn’t start the way Piscataway (3-3) wanted. Old Bridge (1-5) got on the board first on a Jaden Griffiths touchdown after the Knights’ recovered a Chiefs’ fumble.

But Thompson scored twice in the second quarter to give Piscataway the lead for good, en route to 28 unanswered points the rest of the way.

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Thomas’ 4 TDs, perfect first half, proper Carteret to 46-7 win over JP Stevens

The night belonged to Jakir Thomas.

The Carteret junior runningback – already over 2,000 yards coming into the game for his career – scored four touchdowns in the first half – and the Ramblers scored the ball every time they touched it except for the final drive of the game where the clock ran out – en route to a 46-7 win over visiting JP Stevens Friday night, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Thomas had TD runs of 29, 31, 11 and 35 yards, finishing with 10 carries for 154 yards.

Carteret’s game plan was to pound the rock, and they did; the Ramblers only attempted one pass all game, going for three yards to Sir Hezekiah Ragland.

It’s the fourth time this year Carteret scored 40 or more points in a game, one off the all-time school mark of five set during 2012’s undefeated state championship season, the last time the Ramblers won a title.

Carteret improves to 5-1, while JP Stevens drops to 0-5 and has now lost 37 straight games, the second longest active streak in New Jersey.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Carteret runningback Jakir Thomas
Carteret head coach Kevin Freeman
by Mike Pavlichko

Highlanders do it with defense: Governor Livingston stymies South Plainfield, 25-6

Governor Livingston entered Week 5 play Thursday night in 16th place in the North Group 3 playoff chase, despite being 4-1.

All they can do is win games at this point, and so far, just about all they have been doing is winning games.

The Highlanders made it their fifth in a row with a 25-6 win at South Plainfield’s Frank Jost Field Thursday night, pulling away in the second half and blanking the Tigers after halftime.

Quarterback Ryan Balent found Patrick Smith four minutes into the game on a 15-yard touchdown pass, and after a failed two-point pass, they led 6-0.

That was all they would muster the rest of the game. GL scored 25 unanswered, starting with the equalizer, a one-yard run by Jack Dally after quarterback Lucciano Santamaria – a fellow junior – set him up with a huge run on fourth down to get near the goal line. The extra point made it 7-6 with 2:39 to go in the quarter.

After a scoreless second, Governor Livingston ratcheted up the defense, and got some insurance. A Mason Barker field goal made it 10-6. A touchdown pass to Matthew Shaffer made it 17-6. A safety made it 19-6, and Owen Chait capped it off with one last touchdown.

The win gives the Highlanders their best start since 2006, when they started 8-1, but dropped their final two games, losing to Raritan in the Central Jersey Group 2 semifinals. It’s also their first five-game win streak since then, a year they started 1-1 but won their next seven games through the first round of the playoffs.

South Plainfield fell to 3-3.

Click below for postgame reaction with Marcus Borden from Frank Jost Field, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: