Author: Mike Pavlichko

by Mike Pavlichko

Cranford remains unbeaten as Worrell’s two TDs sink No. 10 Rahway, Cougars net 14-7 road win

A pair of touchdowns from senior runningback Gabe Worrell gave Cranford all the cushion it would need to survive a fourth quarter Rahway touchdown, keeping the Cougars undefeated with a 14-7 road win in a Big Central Conference crossover game at Madden Field Friday night.

Worrell scored on a 27-yard run in the opening quarter, and that was all anyone would get in the first half.

He added a five-yard touchdown on the ground in the third quarter to put his team up 14-0, and it was enough insurance to withstand a 16-yard touchdown pass from Rahway QB Jaquan Robinson to Anthony Robertson in the fourth quarter, giving the Cougars the win.

Worrell finished the night with 22 carries for 148 yards, with his first quarter TD the longest run by any player on the night.

No. 10 Rahway suffered its first loss of the season, falling to 4-1.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Marcus Borden, with head coach Erik Rosenmeier and senior RB Gabe Worrell, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Friday Night Big Central Roundup: Old Bridge uses mammoth rally to beat Piscataway, Montgomery takes second straight from Somerville; two Top Ten unbeatens go down

There was no calm before the storm Friday night in the Big Central Conference.

While a Nor’easter is set to hit the Garden State Saturday, with the worst effects expected to be at the Jersey Shore and in coastal communities – postponing two of three BCC games slated for Saturday until Monday – the results on the field were pure chaos.

Consider:

  • No. 4 Old Bridge scored 27 unanswered points to rally and beat No. 2 Piscataway at home, 27-26
  • No. 8 Rahway was stymied at home by Cranford, 14-7, to remain undefeated
  • Montgomery won a see-saw battle with No. 7 Somerville, 38-35, their second straight win over the Pioneers
  • Unranked Sayreville upset No. 9 St. Thomas Aquinas 37-21 in North Edison

It was a wild night, and we’ve got you covered as you scroll down through the Friday Night Big Central Roundup for Week Four.

Montgomery scores 22 unanswered to take down Somerville, again…

In their first seven meetings, from 2002 through 2008, Somerville owned Montgomery, winning five of those matchups. But since 2012, it’s been the other way around.

The Cougars won their second straight over the Pioneers Thursday night, 38-35 in a back-and-forth affair that saw Montgomery (3-2) score the last 22 points of the game, all on touchdown runs by Zach Mutton, who scored four in the game.

No. 7 Somerville (3-2) led 13-0 after one on a Justin Bowen 30-yard touchdown run (the PAT was blocked) and a nine-yard run by James Hampton. But Monty took a 16-13 lead into halftime on a six-yard run by Mutton and a three-yard run by Zach Furey, converting for two after each.

Then, it was back to Somerville, who got a 42-yard run by Shyheim Hobbs-Harris and a seven-yard jaunt by James Hampton, also completing a pair of two-point conversions, giving them a 29-16 lead in the third. Mutton scored from three-yards out, to get Montgomery within six heading into the fourth quarter.

But that’s where the defense held, and Mutton kept doing his thing. He scored on four- and five-yard runs in the fourth quarter – also booting the PAT on the first and running it in for two on the second – to give the Cougars a nine-point win.

Montgomery now leads the all-time series with Somerville, 8-7.

Click below for postgame reaction from Montgomery head coach Sean Carty with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Notes and Nuggets…

  • Saturday’s schedule in the Big Central is down to one game, but who knows if that will even happen. No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan is set to play at Westfield at 1 pm, and as of late Friday night, the game was still on. Blue Devils head coach Matt Andzel told CJSR that the situation will be assessed again in the morning. Already, two other Saturday games were moved to Monday: No. 1 Phillipsburg will plat at No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen at 3 pm, while Franklin will host North Brunswick at 6:00. For teams that play on Friday the next week, games must be played no later than Monday, and Monday’s weather is no guarantee right now, either. The Panthers host Hunterdon Central Friday night, while Westfield will travel to Woodbridge. No doubt both would prefer not to have such a quick turnaround.
  • After Friday’s games, there are five undefeated teams remaining in the Big Central, with only one of them ranked at the moment. Hillside, and Cranford may have the best shot to get in, after teams seven though ten (Somerville, Rahway, St. Thomas Aquinas and Ridge) all lost Friday night. But don’t forget about Sayreville, which beat No. 9 St. Thomas and visits current No. 4 Old Bridge next Friday night.
    • No. 3 Elizabeth (5-0)
    • Highland Park (5-0)
    • Hillside (5-0)
    • New Providence (4-0)
    • Cranford (4-0)
  • New Providence now has the longest active winning streak in Big Central play, up to 16 games after a 48-0 win over Roselle. They have allowed just 30 points in four games all season. Besides Friday night’s shutout, they allowed seven in a season-opening win at Voorhees, 20 in a win over Johnson the following week, and three points against Metuchen last week, outscoring their four foes 136-30. Old Bridge has the second longest league win streak, now at ten. Piscataway had a seven-game win streak against the BCC heading into their loss to the Knights Friday.
  • What a season debut for North Plainfield senior quarterback Zion Fairley. He scored six touchdowns in a 41-7 win over JFK, including three passing – two to Zyon Brown and one to Anthony Costello – two rushing, and one more on a blocked punt he returned for a touchdown. Fairley transferred in from Hudson Catholic during the off-season, but as a senior transfer, had to sit out per NJSIAA rules.

FRIDAY SCORES

  • No. 4 Old Bridge 27, No. 2 Piscataway 26 (Game story with audio)
  • No. 3 Elizabeth 28, No. 10 Ridge 23
  • Montgomery 38, No. 7 Somerville 35
  • Cranford 14, No. 8 Rahway 7 (Recap with video via Marcus Borden)
  • Sayreville 37, No. 9 St. Thomas Aquinas 21
  • South Plainfield 14, Carteret 6 (Game story with audio)
  • Brearley 33, JP Stevens 0
  • Union 42, Hillsborough 13
  • Dayton 40, Roselle Park 35
  • New Providence 48, Roselle 0
  • East Brunswick 34, Voorhees 7
  • Woodbridge 28, Colonia 21
  • Perth Amboy 40, Metuchen 0
  • North Plainfield 41, JFK 7
  • Watchung Hills 21, Hunterdon Central 19
  • Johnson 21, Spotswood 6
  • Bernards 28, Delaware Valley 0
  • Middlesex 21, Dunellen 0
  • Highland Park 47, South River 0
  • Belvidere 35, Bound Brook 0
  • Scotch Plains-Fanwood 33, North Hunterdon 22
  • Plainfield 37, Linden 14
  • Manville 42, South Hunterdon 8
  • Hillside 44, New Brunswick 0
  • South Brunswick 38, Monroe 14

SATURDAY SCHEDULE

  • No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan at Westfield, 1 pm

MONDAY SCHEDULE

  • No. 1 Phillipsburg at No. 5 St. Joseph-Metuchen, 3 pm
  • North Brunswick at Franklin, 6 pm

THURSDAY SCORES

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 4 Old Bridge scores 27 unanswered points to come back and stun No. 4 Piscataway, 27-26

Old Bridge football coach Matt Donaghue got four solid quarters of football from his team, the only problem being that two of them were last week and two of them were this week.

Last Friday night, they needed a late field goal to hang on and beat then-No. 8 St. Thomas Aquinas, 26-24. This week, the No. 4 Knights fell behind in the first half, and were down 26-0 at halftime to No. 2 Piscataway at Lombardi Field in Old Bridge, but rallied to come away with a 27-26 win, with a PAT after a game-tying touchdown turning out to be the difference.

The Chiefs (4-1) got three touchdowns from Zaire Young – of seven, one and two yards – in what was a dominant first half, with quarterback Landon Pernell doing some damage as well.

Donaghue didn’t have to say much in the locker room at halftime. He just repeated the score until, one by one, the Knights picked each other up. The game plan was fine, the execution was another story.

In the second half, all that changed, just three plays in, when Chase Rizzo got Old Bridge on the board with a 74-yard touchdown run. Then, he ran for another. And caught a third from Aiden Rios. All in the third quarter.

With just under six minutes to go, he caught a 71-yard TD pass from Rios to tie the game, and the extra point by Araion Mezera put the Knights up by one. But the defense still had to hold on.

And hold on they did, as Griffin Nugent picked off Pernell with 25 seconds to go to seal the deal, handing Piscataway its first loss of the season.

Old Bridge improves to 4-1 ahead of a home game with currently unranked (but maybe not for long) Sayreville (4-1), which handed No. 9 St. Thomas Aquinas its second straight loss, beating the Trojans in North Edison Friday night, 37-21.

Click below to hear Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue talk about the win over Piscataway with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

dramatic dark clouds over garesnica croatia
by Mike Pavlichko

Nor’easter set to hit Jersey Shore, and two Saturday Big Central games have been rescheduled; wind still could be a factor in games, including Friday

As a multi-day Nor’easter appears set to provide misery to coastal areas of New Jersey with rain, wind and flooding, and though the worst is supposed to be at the Jersey Shore, two of Saturday’s three Big Central games already has been rescheduled.

Franklin head coach Blair Wilson informed Central Jersey Sports Radio that the Warriors’ (0-4) home game against North Brunswick (1-3) has now been moved to Monday at 6 pm.  Later in the evening, it was announced that No. 5 St Joseph-Metuchen’s (2-1) home game against No. 1 Phillipsburg (3-1) also had been rescheduled. That game will now take place in Metuchen at 3 pm Monday.

However, one other game remains on the BCC slate. That’s at 1 pm, as No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan (3-1) travels to Westfield (1-3).

The NJFCA sent out an email to members about the proper procedure for cancellations and postponements, so some may be in the works, and some may have already happened, but as of early Friday afternoon, all three BCC games are still on the slate.

 

As for the weather, as of noon Friday, AccuWeather is predicting for the Metuchen, Franklin and Westfield areas showers and clouds in the morning, with about a quarter-inch of rain likely to fall between noon and two pm, with winds out of the north-northeast at 25 miles pe hours, and gusts potentially topping 50 miles per hour. Temperatures will be in the low 60s.

A little less rain is expected to fall in Westfield, which tracks with statewide forecasts calling for worse conditions along the Jersey Shore, and varying up and down the coast.

The forecast calls for continued rain into Sunday, and even into Monday. Any games would have to be played no later than Monday if a team plays Friday next week – as is the case for Franklin and North Brunswick – and anyone playing next Saturday could delay as late as Tuesday.

As for Friday, rain shouldn’t be a factor, at least in the Big Central Conference’s footprint, but wind could be. For Carteret, which hosts South Plainfield in the Bellamy & Son Paving Game of the Week tonight at 7:00 – click here to listen – the forecast calls for 69 degrees at kickoff, low humidity, but 20 mile per hour winds out of the north-northeast, and gusts up to 37 miles per hour.

by Mike Pavlichko

McKeever, Marx, Schnall power Summit to 20-0 home win over Edison

On the field before Thursday night’s home game against Edison, Summit head coach Kevin Kostibos was asked about his defense, which has bee giving up just over 19 points a game through the first four this year.

His response was that they’ve played well, but big plays had been the difference.

Well, they didn’t give up many against the Eagles, and the ones they did didn’t matter, as they shutout Edison 20-0 at Tatlock Field in the Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, and heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

In fact, they held Edison to turnovers on downs on the Eagles’ first two possessions, the first of which stopped then on the Hilltopper 15 yard line.

Offensively, Summit did enough to win against an Edison defense that was, in the main, up to the task – if only they could have put some points on the board.

Gavin Schnall rushed 17 times for 100 yard and a six-yard score in the fourth quarter. QB Matt McKeever threw for 115 and a 33-yard touchdown to Will Heil in the first quarter. And Jackson Mark went 2-for-2 on PATs and 2-for-2 on field goals, matching his season high of 37 yards late in the third.

Summit moves to 3-2 with the win ahead of a trip to Watchung Hills next week. Edison drops to 1-4 but has the first of three home games coming up next week as East Brunswick rolls into town.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas with Summit QB Matt McKeever, RB Gavin Schnall, head coach Kevin Kostibos and Athletic Director Allison Flockhar, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Governor Livingston 28, Lyndhurst 20

Junior runningback Elijah Garcia ran for two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass as the Highlanders one back-to-back games for the first time this season, taking a road win at Lyndhurst in Bergen County.

Sophomore QB Colin Hughes also threw a pair of touchdown passes in the win, which gets the Highlanders to 3-2 on the year, heading into a Saturday home game next week against Johnson, the first of three straight home games the next few weeks for Governor Livingston.

by Mike Pavlichko

No excuses for dinged up Carteret, as run-first Ramblers host South Plainfield in traditional GMC matchup

Carteret and South Plainfield have been playing each other for years, whether it’s in the Big Central Conference or the GMC.

Both are blue-collar, grind-it-out, run-the-rock football teams. And when they meet again this Friday night at the newly-renovated Walt Overholt Stadium – affectionately known as “The Pit,” don’t expect much different.

It’s our Friday night Big Central Game of the Week on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with kickoff set for 7 pm, and pregame at 6:45. Mike Pavlichko and Nick Hart have the call; click here to listen.

The Ramblers come in at 2-2, but have split their first four games, alternating between wins and losses. Throw out a 53-6 loss to the largest public school in the state, Elizabeth, in the opening week – and the Minutemen are off to a fantastic start – and the Ramblers are 2-1 the rest of the way, and have allowed just 25 points in their last two games, including a 13-6 loss at Summit two weeks ago, and a 16-12 win at Scotch Plains-Fanwood last Friday.

Senior Danyun McKill runs the offense, but it’s Al-Naiquan Boseman who powers it, taking 75 carries this season and going for 591 yards and five touchdowns, while the mobile McKill is next on the list at 130 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. He can run it if he has to, but Boseman is the No. 1 option most plays.

Defensively, Carteret is a bit thin in the secondary due to some injuries, but they do get after the ball, and get behind the line of scrimmage. To wit, they have six sacks and 25 TFLs on the season, with linebacker Nick Gomm leading the way at eight hits behind the line.

Click below to hear Carteret football coach Kevin Freeman talk about the Ramblers and their matchup against South Plainfield with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Dennis McNulty to take the reins at New Brunswick boys’ basketball

When Dennis McNulty stepped down as the boys’ basketball coach at Timothy Christian in Piscataway after six seasons and unprecedented success, the next question was “Where would he land?”

The short answer was at Rutgers Prep, where he signed on as an assistant this past season for Matt Bloom, who’d also been having a successful run as head coach.

But back in mid-August, Bloom also left – not long after Mary Klinger retired was head coach of the girls’ program – and now McNulty is back in the head coaching game, just not with the Argonauts.

The New Brunswick boys’ basketball program announced on Twitter Thursday morning that Dennis McNulty will be its new head coach.

McNulty spent six season as the head coach at Timothy Christian, and was quite successful. The Tigers reached double digit wins each season, even in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign, with standouts like Jalen Fleming – the school’s all-time leading scorer – and big man Chukwudi Raphael Mamah.

In his first season as head coach, he took a 5-19 squad in 2019 and went 15-10 with a third place finish in the GMC Gold Division at 13-5.

His teams were 88-58 overall, and 66-16 in divisional play in the GMC. They shared or won outright three division titles, sharing the 2021-22 Gold Division title with Wardlaw-Hartridge, the 2023-24 Blue Division title with Spotswod, and winning this past season’s Blue title outright, with a 9-1 record.

The Tigers – who were the ten-seed in the 2023 GMC Tournament – also knocked off seventh-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen in the opening round, with a 56-53 road win.

New Brunswick is likely banking on McNulty’s work to turn around Timothy Christian in the hopes he can do the same with the Zebra program, which has struggled in recent years.

New Brunswick was 6-19 last season under Antoine Allen, and 2-8 in the GMC Blue American Division. Allen’s teams never won more than six games in a season, and were 20-88 over his five-year run leading the program. The last time they won at least ten games in a season was an excellent 2019 campaign, going 20-8 (10-2 in the GMC White Division) that season. While they were a one-and-done in the GMC Tournament, New Brunswick, they reached the semifinals of the Central Jersey Group 4 state playoffs, falling 77-72 to Marlboro, after picking up wins over West Windsor-Plainsboro South in the first round and Montgomery in the quarters.

by Mike Pavlichko

Gameday with Marcus Borden: Week 4

It’s Week 4 – and the halfway point of the high school football season in New Jersey and the Big Central – and it’s time to talk about it all with Central Jersey Sports Radio analyst Marcus Borden!

We open the show looking back at last week’s games, Elizabeth’s big win over St. Joseph and Old Bridge winning a battle at home against St. Thomas Aquinas.

We also took a look at some of the “resurgent” teams in the Big Central, including Elizabeth, Rahway, Hillside, Union, Highland Park, Perth Amboy, Piscataway and Monroe.

Then it’s into this week’s contests featured on CJSR, including Edison at Summit, Rahway at Cranford, South Plainfield at Carteret, and Phillipsburg at St. Joseph-Metuchen, as well as Friday night’s game between Piscataway and Old Bridge.

Click below to listen to the Week Four edition of “Gameday with Marcus Borden”:

by Mike Pavlichko

New York Giants name Elizabeth’s Eugene Kline Coach of the Week after big win over Falcons

The Elizabeth football team is off to a fantastic start this year, 4-0 for the first time since 2015, but after its biggest win of the year – a 62-35 home victory Friday night over St. Joseph-Metuchen – head coach Eugene Kline has been named the Lou Rettino Coach of the Week by the New York Giants.

Kline has been instrumental in elevating the Minutemen this year to what now is a No. 3 ranking in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, and his players are putting up video-game numbers seemingly week in and week out.

In the win over the Falcons Friday night – heard live right here on Central Jersey Sports Radio – senior and fourth-year starter A’rique Fleming threw for 378 yards and five touchdowns. He was he Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Player of the Week two weeks ago; this week it was Qua’Yon Williams, who scored four touchdowns – two receiving, one rushing, and one on a 48-yard punt return.

Now 4-0 on the season, No. 3 Elizabeth can match its win total of five from last season with a victory Friday night at No. 10 Ridge (2-1).

With Kline’s honor comes a $2,000 check from the Giants Foundation and Gatorade that will go to the school’s football program. Kline also will receive a certificate of recognition signed by Big Blue head coach John Harbaugh, and will be honored at a postseason dinner, and at a preseason home game next season.

“It is with great humility and gratitude that I would like to extend a huge thank you to the New York Giants and Gatorade for naming me the Lou Rettino High School Coach of the Week,” Kline said in a press release issued by the Giants. “Thank you for all that you do to support high school football and for thinking of me and our program. This recognition means a great deal to me.

“This is not a ‘me’ award—it is a ‘we’ award, Kline added. “It represents the collective effort, sacrifice, and commitment of everyone who is a part of our program. ‘All In, All Together!'”

Read the full release from the Giants here, with a message from Kline here.

From the New York Giants: “The Lou Rettino High School Football Coach of the Week Award is part of the Giants’ continuing effort to support local high school football programs. The Giants elected to name the award in memory of former Union High School (NJ) coach, Lou Rettino, for his fine commitment to the game of football, his community and the betterment of his athletes’ lives. Each week during the high school football season, the Giants select one area high school head coach as the Coach of the Week winner. The selection is based on the coach’s continuing commitment towards promoting high school football, developing motivated student-athletes and contributing overall to their community.“

by Mike Pavlichko

Finally in the win column, Edison looks to keep it going Thursday night at Summit

After three tough losses to open the season, Edison got its 22026 campaign headed in the right direction in Game Four on Week Three. (We know, it doesn’t make any sense. Just roll with it.)

That’s when they exploded for 34 points – after scoring just 14 in their first three games – in a ten-point win over North Brunswick, with senior Shaun Garland having himself a day.

Their biggest standout, the senior scored four times on runs of one, seven and 18 yards, while also picking off a second quarter pass and taking it 33 yards to the house.

They’ll need a mirror image of that effort, and maybe more, when the Eagles (1-3) travel to Summit for a rare Thursday night game at Investors Bank Stadium at Tatlock Field up in Union County.

It’s our Thursday night Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, with kickoff slated for 6:30 pm. Pregame starts at 6:15 with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas on the call; click here to listen.

The first three games weren’t exactly pretty for Edison – a 35-0 loss to Union, 14-8 loss at Woodbridge, and a 41-6 loss two weeks ago at Sayreville, their only road game so far. But they certainly have some pieces.

Beyond Garland, who’s actually the team’s second-leading rusher, though he has a team best four touchdowns, there’s senior Michael Florentino with 245 yards on 53 carries, both team bests. The Eagles won’t throw the ball much, as senor Ryan Toth – who transferred in from Metuchen before the 2025 season – has only attempted 41 passes on the year; the team has yet to record a receiving touchdown.

Among their most active on defense are two seniors: defensive back Maki Williams (23 tackles, 14 solo, 1 sack, 2 TFLs) and linebacker Logan Ulozas (a team-high 29 tackles). And, of course, there’s Garland, who plays up front, and had a big pick-six against the Raiders in last week’s win.

It’s only the second-ever meeting between Edison and Summit. Their first came in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, with the Eagles taking a 20-17 win on Mischief Night.

Click below to hear Edison head coach Matt Yascko talk about the Eagles’ season so far and Thursday night’s matchup at Summit with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: