My Friday night game saw St. Thomas Aquinas improve to 4-1, continuing their dominance in league play by winning their 34th consecutive Big Central Conference game versus a talented Elizabeth squad, 35-21.

Like two heavyweight boxers who traded punches in a highly-anticipated matchup , Elizabeth took the first shot on the opening kickoff with senior placekicker David Lazo recovering his own kick.

The Minutemen would then proceed to drive down the field mixing the run and pass for a little over five minutes in the the first quarter but the Trojans forced a fumble at their eight-yard line ending the Elizabeth scoring threat.

After a short three-yard jab by running back Ian Roberts, the senior speedster followed up with a 89-yard body blow as he raced down the Homecoming sideline putting Aquinas up 7-0 at 5:56 in the first quarter.

Once again, Elizabeth would mix the run and pass, hoping to limit the touches for the Aquinas’ high octane offense. However, they were forced to punt with just eight seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Aquinas needed just two plays before sophomore quarterback Zymere Weaver would land a haymaker on the Elizabeth defense, as he rolled right and cut back left down the visitor sideline for a 78-yard touchdown run and subsequent two-point conversion, extending the Trojan lead to 15-0 at the 10:58 mark of the second quarter.

On the ensuing Elizabeth drive junior quarterback A’rique Fleming would look to land a few punches of his own with quick passes and his own body shots as he punished would-be tacklers while methodically moving the chains into the red zone. Fellow classmate running back Jamiir Gregory would then finish the flurry with a 10-yard touchdown run at 6:04 in the second quarter closing the gap to 15-7.

Aquinas wasted little time regaining a two-score advantage with consecutive combos by Roberts, the second a 74-yard jaunt for his second touchdown and a 21-7 lead after the failed two-point conversion.

Neither team threatened before halftime as they headed to their locker room to make halftime adjustments.

Elizabeth looked poised to score, coming out after halftime, as the Minutemen marched down the field in four plays into the red zone. It was, however, a jarring hit by linebacker Dante Jennings that caused the Elizabeth ball carrier to cough up the ball into the arms of Anwar Witherspoon, who took it to the house for a score. But the play was called back due to defensive holding.

Aquinas’ Weaver and company wasted little time as the the nifty signal caller hit a wide open Tristan Bester on a 76-yard toss down the middle of the field for a 28-7 lead at 8:31 in the third quarter.

With neither team wanting to kick deep to the opposition’s returners, Aquinas was forced to re-kick after the first squib kick went out of bounds. The second attempt bounced directly into the hands of Eric Cespedes, who took it near the Aquinas sideline across the field to the visitor’s side and back across the grain to the Aquinas 11-yard line.

Three consecutive runs with the last a six-yard dive into the end zone by Fleming at 6:17 remaining in the third quarter brought the Minutemen closer making it Aquinas 28, Elizabeth 14.

Elizabeth would try to recover the ensuing onside kick with Lazo being called for illegal touching.

Aquinas would get the ball near midfield and adeptly mix the run and pass setting up Witherspoon for a 13-yard Wildcat touchdown run as he burst up the middle blasting his way through two Elizabeth tacklers for a commanding 35-14 lead with 2:58 remaining in the third period.

Once again, Elizabeth’s returner – this time Qua’Yon Williams – nearly returned the kickoff for a score, but a penalty moved the ball back to midfield. The quarter would end with Elizabeth still driving and Fleming scoring on a 14-yard run with 10:30 remaining in the game and the Trojans up 35-21.

St. Thomas would milk the clock advancing the ball down field and coming up a half yard short of a touchdown on fourth down.

Elizabeth – being down two scores – would valiantly try to score quickly, but the Trojans prevent defense and constant pressure proved too much for the visitors as the final horn sounded, giving St. Thomas their fourth win of the season.

Here are my Week 4 Top Tens for the entire Big Central Conference, plus the BCC West, Middlesex County and Union County:

My Friday night game saw Sayreville improve to 4-0 on the season for the first time since 2018 when they beat Williamstown to capture the NJSIAA Central/South Bowl Championship at MetLife Stadium, finishing that season at 11-1.

The Bombers raced out to a 21-0 lead over visiting Hillsborough as senior running back Shaun Jackson scored on runs of seven, 76 and three yards, while the defense held the Raiders in check for the first half in front of the Red, White and Blue clad hometown Bombers fans, celebrating a U.S.A. theme and their Class of 2025 Hall of Fame Inductees.

Hillsborough came out for the second half with a renewed sense of urgency and immediately got back in the game with a huge pass from senior quarterback Devon Khurana to fellow classmate Hameed Kamari which set up a Andrew Schwarz three-yard touchdown at 9:52 in the third quarter, making the score 21-7.

The Raiders defense would force Sayreville to punt with 3:20 left in the third quarter. They would mix the run and the pass moving the ball to midfield. Schwarz would then pick up a fourth-and-one on a run to his left towards the visitors sidelines.

After another Schwarz short gain and the clocking running down to the close out the third quarter, Khurana ran a play action pass, hitting a leaping Jayden Carter on a post pattern, who would then outrun the Bombers to pay dirt closing the gap to 21-14 to start the fourth quarter.

On their ensuing drive Sayreville would look to run the ball and limit the opportunities for Hillsborough. With the clock reading 6:47 remaining in the game, Sayreville would take a timeout facing a fourth down and one on the Raiders 46-yard line.

The visiting Raiders would be up for the challenge stopping the Bombers short of the line to gain.

Hillsborough would methodically run the ball with their workhorse Schwarz and mixing in short passes getting to the Bombers 29-yard line with an injury timeout called with three minutes and 56 ticks remaining in regulation.

Schwarz would carry to ball inside and outside down to the Bomber 20-yard line with Hillsborough facing a fourth down and five while there was an injury timeout with 2:40 left on the clock.

When play resumed, Khurana would hit Sanjay Mills who ran a stop route and was tackled by linebacker Chase Barnes and safety Shaun Jackson close to the line to gain.

My video footage from the game verified that the ball was short of the first down and it was the Bombers’ ball.

Hillsborough would use its remaining timeouts hoping to get another opportunity to possess the ball. Jackson would break a huge run cutting back towards the home team’s sideline while getting knocked out off bounds inside the Raiders ten-yard line.

After a few penalties on the offense, Jackson would cap the scoring with his fourth rushing touchdown of the night making the final score 28-14 and a 4-0 start in the Bombers second home game of the season.

Here are my Week 3 Top Tens for the entire Big Central Conference, plus the BCC West, Middlesex County and Union County:

If anyone was wondering who would pick up the the reins of the Phillipsburg football program after being hit hard by graduation this past June, fear not Stateliner fans, the cupboard is not bare!

In a dominant performance at Hunterdon Central this past Friday, a packed house at Stewart Field found out how Phillipsburg’s defense would force the Red Devils to punt just 1:05 into the game, then score on a Sam Dech 11-yard run after a faking punt on their first series.

The Stateliners would race out to a 34-7 halftime lead with Dech scoring again and fellow backfield mate Zihyan McGurn scoring on two long runs while sophomore quarterback Dominic Bracco found Jaysen Blacknall on a deep strike over the middle.

Dech would score two more times in the third quarter with a running clock as he and the starters were relegated to cheering on their second team brothers on offense and defense in the final stanza. The backups put the finishing touches on a 55-14 victory which should send a clear message to their future opponents: WE DIG!

Saturday afternoon’s game between the Roselle Rams and the Metuchen Bulldogs was ultimately decided in the final three minutes of the contest.

Metuchen trailed 12-7 in the fourth quarter, forcing the visiting Rams to punt with 6:02 remaining in the game. They would begin their drive at the Roselle 45-yard line.

After a short run the Bulldogs took to the air along the Roselle sideline while getting first down by a pass interference call on the Ram’s defender. On the very next play the Roselle defender was called for defensive holding as Metuchen took to the air again.

Metuchen would milk the clock running on four consecutive plays with quarterback Cam Hayes-Durina getting a first down to the five-yard line. A counter play to Josiah Bourne would get the ball to the one-yard line with 1:49 on the clock.

Bourne would not get up and the training staff would work on comforting the senior running back, placing his leg in an air cast. Both teams were at their sidelines until Josiah was loaded on a stretcher and wished well by his teammates. The game would resume after a brief warm-up by both squads.

Metuchen would line-up at the Roselle 1-yard line as the signal for play allowed the Bulldogs to let the clock run down while Hayes-Durina would bully his way into the end zone, putting the Bulldogs up 13-12 with 1:20 remaining in the game.

Roselle would go offsides on the point after attempt allowing the home team to go for a two-point conversion, which would force the Rams to score a touchdown or kick a field goal to tie the game. But Metuchen would fail to cross the goal line as the Rams were up to the challenge.

Roselle was ready for the squib kick and took the ball around their forty-five yard line. After an incomplete pass, the Rams would run a quick screen to Raekwon Anderson who would get the ball to the Metuchen 35 yard line.

After another incomplete pass, Anderson would catch an out route from quarterback Deion Nelson, getting the ball out of bounds. Roselle would call a timeout with 43 seconds on the clock.

The Rams would run a screen to their sideline getting out of bounds with :27 left in the game and the ball on the Metuchen 19-yard-line. Nelson would then loft a prayer to Anderson on a fade pattern to the end zone with two Bulldog defenders in position to intercept the ball.

The Rams’ junior receiver went up and maintained his focus on the ball as it was tipped into his hands while he got both feet down for the touchdown resulting in a wild celebration on the Roselle sideline.

With 18 seconds remaining on the clock, the Rams two-point attempt would fail, keeping the score 18-13. A penalty would allow the Rams to squib the ball down the field with senior Kevin Sanchez recovering the fumbled kick, securing Roselle’s first win of the season.

Here are my Week 2 Top Tens for the entire Big Central Conference, plus the BCC West, Middlesex County and Union County: