I had the pleasure to cover two BCC teams that played on Friday and Saturday at Rowan University in The Battle at the Beach.

On Friday, Hillsborough faced Washington Twp. in a Group 5 matchup with the 2024 state semifinalist Minutemen, who lost to powerhouse Toms River North, which finished 14-0 last season and won its third straight Group 5 title.

The senior-laden South Jersey team dominated the Raiders 43-12 sending a message to their future opponents that their goal is to win each week as they look to get back to the playoffs so they can make another championship run.

Saturday, Old Bridge faced Cedar Creek in a late-afternoon battle of heavy weights, which was a seven-point game late in the fourth quarter until senior quarterback Brody Nugent somehow escaped the grasp of a plethora of Pirates and raced to the end zone. That made the score 21-7 with about three minutes remaining in the game.

Nugent scored three times and was named MVP and “Hat” winner by local sportswriter Mark Trible, host of the South Jersey Football Frenzy Show.

Here are my Week 0 Top Tens for the entire BCC, BCC West, BCC Middlesex and BCC Union.

Cutoff weekend for the Publics starts Thursday, October 24 and ends Saturday, October 26. Several schools are in a must-win situation in order to participate in the NJSIAA post-season tournament. If you are wondering where you stack up in each section, all you need to do is check here at CJSR and find all the analysis by Mike “The Numbers Guy” Pavlichko.

You definitely should listen to “Gameday with Marcus Borden” – which drops every Thursday morning -0 as Mike and I discuss the key match-ups for this week’s games. We will also have our annual “Playoff Projection Show” on live on Saturday evening at 6 pm.

As for the games I saw last week, Friday night’s contest at Piscataway was very much like a playoff game as both Hillsborough and the Chiefs were looking to improve their chances to host a first round playoff game.

Jackson Jankowicz got the visiting Raiders on the board first with a 46-yard touchdown run by planting and bursting through the middle of the Piscataway defense front to pay dirt. The extra point was blocked at 6:48 in the first quarter.

Landon Pernell wasted little time finding Sean Love for a 33-yard touchdown pass on 4th down putting the Chiefs up 7-6 with 3:27 in the 1st quarter.

Hillsborough continued its ground assault with Andrew Schwarz taking and inside zone to the left while seeing daylight to his right, he cutback down the visitors’ sideline for a 56 yard touchdown run at 8:59 in the second quarter making it 13-7.

With the Chiefs driving Hillsborough defensive end Guiseppe Cicciari intercepts a tipped Piscataway pass and gives his team the ball and the opportunity to grind out another Jankowicz touchdown, a 1-yard run and a 20-7 Raiders lead at halftime.

The 3rd quarter saw ‘Boro go for it on fourth down which resulted in a controversial fumble. The Chiefs were stopped on 4th down and Hillsborough punted it back to Piscataway which drove to the 1 as the 3rd quarter came to a close.

On fourth and inches James Bodley scored on a 1-yard run at 10:48 remaining in the game closing the gap to 20-14 Hillsborough.

The Raiders methodically marched down the field converting on fourth down after a measurement which forces the Chiefs to use all their time outs before Jankowicz scores with 2:22 remaining in the game from 5 yards out making it 27-14.

The Chiefs frantically tried to rally with Pernell being knocked out of the game and back up Jared Butler turning it over on downs with 39 seconds and the Raiders taking a knee and the win over North 5 rival Piscataway.

Saturday’s 11:00 am start had the feel of a Thanksgiving Day game as St. Joseph’s of Metuchen hosted St. Thomas Aquinas and their Marching Band which walked the two-mile trek to The Brenner Family Field.

The Parochial heavy weights traded punches in a scoreless first quarter as the Trojan’s Josiah Zayas snared a Falcons pass by Justin Scaramuzzo and the St. Joseph’s defense forced Aquinas to turn it over on downs.

The Falcons were then intercepted again by Zayas, however the call was reversed, with the officials saying the quarterback was hit out of bounds. Javon Hudson would score on an 11-yard run after the penalty was enforced putting St. Jospeh up 7-0 early in the 2nd quarter.

Roman Blanks would find Zayas on a 51-yard quick stop route down the visitors sideline as he jumped over a would be tackler on his way to the end zone. The point after would fail making it 7-6 at the 7:57 mark of the second quarter.

St. Joseph would march down the field milking the clock and using all their timeouts until they had fourth-and-one from the Aquinas two-yard line. Hudson would score his 2nd touchdown putting the Falcons up 14-6 with 2:40 remaining before intermission. Neither team sustained a drive before the clock stuck zero.

The 2nd half saw the Aquinas kick returner catch the ball at the 1 yard line and go out of bounds. The Trojans second half strategy shifted from running the ball inside as sophomore Chukwuma Odoh would gash the Falcon defense to the outside along with freshman Ca’si Williams as they traveled 99 yards to pay dirt with Odoh’s 3 yard run at 8:14 in the third quarter making it 14-13.

After forcing St. Joseph to punt at 5:47, Odoh scampers to the Falcons 22-yard line and eventually puts the Trojans up 19-14 at the end of the third quarter.

The Falcons would take the lead one more time as Scaramuzzo hits Jacob Pappas on a backside wheel pass for a touchdown and a 20-19 lead as the point after fails with 10:51 remaining in the game.

Odoh and Williams would continue to do the heavy work as Blanks would get two chances from the 1-yard line and score and then toss a back shoulder fade to Zayas at 7:37 in the fourth quarter for a 27-20 lead.

St. Joseph would punt at 5:26 remaining in the game down 27-20.

After few runs by Odoh and one called back due to holding, Williams would take a jet sweep to the house 72 yards down the Falcons sideline increasing the Aquinas lead to 34-20.

Chase Young would then make a diving interception of a Scaramuzzo pass as the visiting Trojans would run out the clock for a hard-fought 34-20 victory over St. Joseph of Metuchen.

It has been a a great week for high school football weather-wise, however let’s not forget we still need to be hydrated so you can play the entire game without getting cramps!

I have been so fortunate to have had the opportunity to cover both of our Middlesex County schools that ended their winless streaks, as Highland Park did it on November 2, 2023 and John P. Stevens this past Friday night September 6, 2024.

Congratulations to the Owls (1-0) and Hawks (1-0). Continue to soar, the sky is the limit!