Category: Football

by Mike Pavlichko

Plainfield takes championship at Jets Nike “11-On” 7-on-7 Tournament in Florham Park; Bridgewater-Raritan, Union also shine at two-day competition

All three Big Central Conference participants made it to Day Two of the New York Jets’ “11-On” 7-on-7 High School Football Tournament up at the team’s Atlantic Health Training Center in Florham Park, with Plainfield winning the championship out of the entire 16-team field defeating Curtis (NY) of Staten Island Saturday afternoon, 32-8, in the finale.

The Cardinals got a good look at some of their skill players, and played especially good defense at the event. In three games of Saturday’s round-robin playoffs to determine the teams that would play for the title, Plainfield allowed just 19 points, the fewest of all eight teams who made it to the championship bracket. And they got a good look at the future under center, as rising sophomore Tyree Huff threw some tight touchdown passes, with his brother, rising seniors Tymir Huff, Makai Talley, and rising sophomore Kiion Jones getting on the board.

Plainfield also had an interception to stall Curtis’ opening drive of the game, courtesy of rising junior Jaylen Fosten.

Watch highlights of Plainfield’s 32-8 win over Curtis (NY) in the Nike 11-On High School Football Tournament at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ:

Here’s audio from champion Plainfield, as well as Bridgewater-Raritan and Union, with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the field with the head coaches:

Plainfield head coach Donald Jones and rising senior Makai Talley with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko
Union head coach Barris Grant with Alec Crouthamel
Bridgewater-Raritan head coach D.J. Catalano

Big Central results…

Here’s how each of the three Big Central teams fared in the tournament.

FRIDAY – POOL PLAY

Plainfield, 3-0 (Pool C Champions):

  • Beat Curtis (Staten Island), 29-20
  • Beat Montclair, 33-7
  • Beat Paramus Catholic, 17-8
Plainfield gets set to run a play in Saturday’s opener of the Jets Nike 11-On 7-on-7 Tournament in Florham Park on June 27, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Union, 2-1 (Pool D, 2nd place)

  • Beat Caldwell, 19-17
  • Lost to Monsignor Farrell, 29-21
  • Beat DeWitt Clinton (Bronx), 20-12

Bridgewater-Raritan, 2-1 (Pool B, 2nd place)

  • Beat Midwood (Brooklyn), 25-0
  • Beat Passaic, 20-17
  • Lost to Fairfield Ludlowe (CT), 24-8
Bridgewater-Ratitan head coach D.J. Catalanto talks to his team after their opening game Saturday in the Jets Nike 11-On 7-on-7 Tournament on June 27, 2026 in Florham Park NJ. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

SATURDAY – PLAYOFFS AND CHAMPIONSHIP

Plainfield, 2-0-1 in Green Bracket (Champions)

  • Tied Union, 6-6
  • Beat Bridgewater-Raritan, 28-5
  • Beat Ramapo 17-8
  • Beat Curtis (NY), 32-8

Union, 2-0-1 in Green Bracket

  • Tied Plainfield, 6-6
  • Beat Ramapo, 24-18
  • Beat Bridgewater-Raritan, 26-14
Union takes on Plainfield in Saturday’s opener of the Jets’ Nike 11-On 7-on-7 Tournament on June 27, 2026 in Florham Park, NJ. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Bridgewater-Raritan, 0-2-1 in Green Bracket

  • Tied Ramapo, 24-24
  • Lost to Plainfield, 28-5
  • Lost to Union, 26-14

How it all worked…

High school 7-on-7 tournament rules can vary from event to event. In the Jets’ tourney, touchdowns are worth six points, but with no linemen or kickers, PATs are like a two-point conversion, except that teams could go for one with the ball spotted on the five-yard line, or go for two from the ten. A three-and-out on defense was worth three points, while a defensive stop otherwise is worth two. An interception was worth three. All games were 21 minutes with a running clock, with tagging in place of tackles, played solely on one end of the field.

The 16 teams were divided into four pools, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to Saturday’s round of eight. Those were divided into two additional pools, the Green Bracket and White Bracket. Each had four teams, and after another three round-robin games, the winner of each bracket qualified for the championship.

by Mike Pavlichko

Mini coaching carousel that sent Riggi to Metuchen elevates Sofilkanich to defensive coordinator at St. Joseph

Very few of the dozen head coaching changes at Big Central Conference football schools this off-season came about because of other departures, unlike a couple of years ago.

After the 2023 season, Joe LaSala left Woodbridge, Joe Goerge left South Brunswick to take the Barrons’ job, and Ibrahim Halsey left Roselle for the Vikings, leaving Tyrone Turner to take over at Hillside. In the past week, he joined the staff of new head coach Steven Brown at North Plainfield.

No, none of that happened this year, but Joe Riggi’s departure as Defensive Coordinator at St. Joseph-Metuchen to take the vacant head coaching position right down the road at public school Metuchen – after alum Jordan Leitner stepped down – did leave a big opening on the staff of Falcons’ head coach Bill Tracy less than two months before the start of camp.

But Tracy has moved quickly, elevating veteran coach Don Sofilkanich to the job, after he joined Tracy’s staff last season, helping out with the offensive line and inside linebackers.

Tracy was well aware of Sofilkanich’s bona fides when while serving as the head coach at Livingston – prior to his very solid run at Ridge – and Sofilkanich was the DC at Roxbury under John Quinn, who he calls “truly one of the best head football coaches in the history of our state.”

“I had the pleasure, or displeasure, of coaching against Coach Sof many years ago. (His) defenses were very tough, so well-prepared, and we had a very tough time against him,” Tracy told Central Jersey Sports Radio this week. “I was fortunate to add him as an assistant coach last season, and when Joe Riggi, my former outstanding DC, got another opportunity, promoting Sof was an easy move.”

“He is great with the kids, very well-prepared, dedicated, and gets the best out of our guys,” Tracy added. “We are lucky to have him.”

And Tracy isn’t the only one to think that way.

“It’s a no-brainer,” says Central Jersey Sports Radio high school football analyst Marcus Borden, who coached Sofilkanich (a 1988 grad) at East Brunswick, later had him on his staff with the Bears, and later worked under him when Soflikanich took a head coaching job at then-Bishop Ahr, now St. Thomas Aquinas.

Sofilkanich came to prominence in Middlesex County as a coordinator under John Quinn at New Brunswick on two state championship teams, the first of which came in 2003 when he led the defense on a squad that featured future New York Giants captain and two-time Super Bowl winner Jonathan Casillas and future NCAA All-American Dwayne Jarrett, who played at Southern Cal. That ’03 championship was the Zebras’ first title since 1926. They won again in 2006 with Soflikanich as the Offensive Coordinator..

He then left to become head coach at Asbury Park, turning around a program that went 1-9 in 2006, going 11-1 in 2007 with a Central Jersey Group 1 title.

After two more 11-1 seasons – and two more CJ1 championships – he moved next door to to Neptune for a year before coming back to the GMC to lead Bishop Ahr from 2011-2013, going 12-18. He spent the next three years at New Brunswick, going 15-16, including an excellent 9-2 in 2015.

Soflikanich coached two years at Plainfield in 2019 and 2020, going 4-11, and Sayreville in 2023, where he was 8-3.

“He will not be out-coached by anyone,” Borden says of Sofilkanich. “Don, as a football player in high school, was one of the hardest workers, and focused-in on technique, which made him successful,” said Borden. He says that carried on to Soflikanich’s play in college. “He used his physicality and ability as a technician to be successful.”

That laid the groundwork for his coaching career. When he later joined Borden’s staff at East Brunswick, “he taught the kids how to be physical.”

Borden recalled a scrimmage between his East Brunswick squad and Soflikanich’s Asbury Park team one year: “We were on the field at Heavenly Farms. It was raining. His kids were tough, physical and hard-nosed just like him.” He said he told the Asbury kids as they left practice in the rain, “Believe in your coach and what he’s teaching you. Because I know you will have success.”

by Mike Pavlichko

After more than two decades as a source for coaches, fans – and journalists – Gridiron New Jersey shuts down

Forget transfer scandals, playoff format changes, and big upsets.

The biggest news to rock the high school football world in New Jersey in recent memory came on Friday, June 26, 2026: the shutdown of Gridiron New Jersey.

Since 2002, and especially since 2018 when the NJSIAA drastically altered its football playoff formula in favor of the NJ UPR model – which at the time included the Born Power Index, Jon Fass has run the website Gridiron New Jersey, an easy-to-navigate site, free for all users, featuring all team results, power point calculations, and UPR standings. It also included every single NJSIAA postseason bracket dating back to the start of the playoff era in 1974.

But now, it’s all gone, per an announcement made on the site’s main landing page Friday morning.

It began in 1999, when Fass was working at WGHT in Pompton Lakes with a young Kevin Burkhardt, according to a 2017 profile of Fass and Gridiron in the Cherry Hill Courier Post. They began a high school football radio show on multiple local stations, then three years later branched our when Fass was dissatisfied with how long it took the state to release power point standings.

Eventually, the site and the power point standings took up so much time, Fass decided to ditch the show altogether and focus on the site. Eventually, he’d be correcting the NJSIAA on power point totals.

Then came 2018, and a massive overhaul of the playoff system that included two metrics that made up the UPR (United Power Ranking) system: traditional power points and the Born Power Index, the second of which was a proprietary ratings system developed by New Jersey math teacher Bill Born decades prior. It rated teams based on their relative strength rating, and the scores of games.

But as this reporter sought to learn about the system while covering high school football at the-1450 WCTC for its Saturday “Football USA” show, it was learned that teams were being rewarded with better playoff seeding by winning games via larger margins. Essentially, running up the score was rewarded.

The NJSIAA did an abrupt about face, and kept the UPR, but made its own version of the Born Power Index and used it in reverse. Instead of rating teams on their own strength, buoyed by the number of points they won by, teams would be credited with the value of the opponent, which discouraged running up scores. Teams would get the full value of an opponent for a win, half for a tie.

And Gridiron New Jersey was selected by the NJSIAA to do all the calculations, already having the bulk of the infrastructure in place.

After this 2025 season, Gridiron’s site appeared to go down temporarily, with the site informing visitors that it was “under construction,” suggesting that it would be back soon. Such shutdowns would happen from time to time as Fass adjusted coding, and even the look and feel of the site, eventually making it more mobile-friendly.

But as the months passed, many started asking questions about whether it would really be back, as the NJSIAA announced earlier this year that NJ.com would be the official calculator of power points, Strength Index (the successor to the Born Power Index), the UPR and playoff standings. NJ.com had not previously posted that information.

But the site had its own issues in the fall when all of its sports webpages went down right in the middle of the high school football playoffs for more than a week, driving coaches (not just football coaches, as all coaches were affected) into a frenzy, unable to report scores, or to look at their own statistics. The source of the issue was never publicly disclosed.

It’s also received some criticism from coaches, since they are asked to input stats and results, but can’t actually see them online without an NJ.com account. It’s unknown if users must simply have a free account or actually purchase a subscription of some kind.

Reaction comes in…

“I will miss it,” Edison head coach Matt Yascko told Central Jersey Sports Radio on Friday. “Like many coaches, I was on that site multiple times a day, even in the off-season. It was the easiest way to find playoff brackets, schedules and standings.”

John Thompson, a volunteer assistant at Piscataway, has long been the program’s power points guru. Late in the season, he and this reporter would collaborate to see what the other guy had, even when the formula was “just” traditional power points, and we even worked together to crack the code of the Born Power Index.

“Gridiron New Jersey was the one-stop shopping site for New Jersey football stat heads such as me,” Thompson said Friday. “It was the reliable, historical place to go for scores, records, power points and playoff scenarios.”

Thompson says it’s been a huge part of the program for 20 years, helping them figure out what teams might be in their line of sight come playoff time, so they’d know who to prepare for, adding, “This is a big loss to New Jersey high school football.”

Hillsborough’s Kevin Carty also weighed in: “I love Gridiron New Jersey,” he said Friday, noting while he may not use it as much as members of the media, “I used it a ton. It pretty much spanned my entire coaching career. And it’s rare to have something be so useful for so long.”

What happens in 2026?

NJ.com hasn’t posted team schedules or any content in advance of 2026 yet, so it’s unknown how any display would look. If it’s anything like how they keep track of power points, it could be pretty robust. And they certainly have the resources to do it.

However, one of the challenges Fass often encountered were all the “caveats” of the formula. For example, at one point, teams could only count one “multiplier” game against non-public programs toward their power point total. For Fass, that meant having to manually go in and change the numbers on his own. Any new system would have to take that into account.

It’s all just a reminder that sometimes the only constant is, indeed, change.

by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2026: Slimmer United Gold Division still packs a punch with defending champ Summit, Cranford, Carteret and Scotch Plains-Fanwood

Hillside is out of the Big Central Conference United Gold Division – moving to the Patriot Gold – but the four-team group won’t be any less challenging this year. While Summit may look a little different with the graduation of Alex Schwark, the well-coached group will likely be a preseason favorite to win it, but Cranford and Carteret may have something to say about that, while Scotch Plains-Fanwood will look to make strides in its third season led by Shawn Johnson.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the United Gold Division teams – in order of 2025 finish – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication, along with a few notes on each squad. Division games are starred.

Summit Hilltoppers (9-3, 4-0, United Gold Division Champions)
Head Coach: Kevin Kostibos (14th season, 91-41)

  • Week 0: Colonia
  • Week 1: at Rahway
  • Week 2: Carteret*
  • Week 3: at Cranford*
  • Week 4: Edison
  • Week 5: at Watchung Hills
  • Week 6: Woodbridge
  • Week 7: at Scotch Plains-Fanwood*
  • Week 8: Bernards

The Hilltoppers were able to deal with a Spring 2024 lacrosse injury that kept Cole Sabol on the sideline – but helping his replacements immensely as an extra “coach” – by rotating the mobile Alex Schwark and passer Matt McKeever. Sabol and Schwark both have graduated, but McKeever returns after going 57-for-110 for 877 yards and four touchdowns. They will miss Schwark’s 1,274 rushing yards and 12 TDs, though, so head coach Kevin Kostibos will have to figure some things out again this year, too, after Summit reached its first sectional final since 2018, falling to West Morris. The defense – which had 21 sacks and 12 picks last year – will be challenged, with Gavin Schnall the biggest contributing junior in what was a senior-heavy unit last year. The linebacker had a sack, 16 TFLs, three picks and one for a touchdown last season, along with 82 total tackles, third best on the team

Cranford Cougars (4-6, 2-2, 2nd place United Gold)
Head Coach: Erik Rosenmeier, 22nd season (140-74)

  • Week 0: BYE
  • Week 1: at Bernards
  • Week 2: Scotch Plains-Fanwood*
  • Week 3: Summit*
  • Week 4: at Rahway
  • Week 5: Montgomery
  • Week 6: at South Plainfield
  • Week 7: at Carteret
  • Week 8: Hillside

If you believe in the cyclical nature of high school sports, Cranford might have typified it over the past few years. They won the North 2, Group 3 title in 2021 at 11-1, then went a solid 7-3 the next year, but dipped to 4-5 in 2023 before going 7-3 again in ’24, then 4-6 last season. And a look at who’s back might just bear that out. Rising senior Aidan Capizzi threw for 1,460 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior, while sophomore Logan Murray carried it 82 times for 470 yards and nine scores. Those two make a nice 1-2 punch, along with two junior receivers who will be back for one last go-round: Luke Owens (343 yards, 4 TDs) and John Fiore (239 yards, 2 TDs), the son of former Spotswood and longtime Montclair coach, now Perth Amboy AD John Fiore. It looks like the defense will lose some significant pieces, but senior Luke Owens (2 sacks, 5 1/2 TFLs) will be back, along with Jaren Acinapura (2 1/2 TFLs, 1 forced fumble), among a few others.

Carteret Ramblers (4-5, 1-3, 3rd place United Gold)
Head Coach: Kevin Freeman, 5th season (22-18)

  • Week 0: Elizabeth
  • Week 1: Perth Amboy
  • Week 2: at Summit*
  • Week 3: at Scotch Plains-Fanwood*
  • Week 4: South Plainfield
  • Week 5: at North Brunswick
  • Week 6: at JFK
  • Week 7: Cranford*
  • Week 8: Monroe

Head coach Kevin Freeman won seven games each of his first two seasons after the COVID pause and taking over for Matt Yascko, now at Edison, but after a couple of four-win seasons, the Ramblers may be back in form. They’ll have an experienced quarterback in Danyun McKill, but the real focal point of the offense is Al-Naiquan Boseman, who rushed for 1,397 yards on 186 carries last year and scored 14 touchdowns as a junior. Give the kid the rock and let him do his thing; that’s Carteret football. Masihah Long was disruptive on the defensive side as a junior last year, registering six sacks and 12 TFLs with a forced fumble as well, and this looks like a very manageable schedule.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders (2-7, 1-3 United Gold)
Head Coach: Shawn Johnson, 3rd season (4-15)

  • Week 0: at Westfield
  • Week 1: Linden
  • Week 2: at Cranford*
  • Week 4: Carteret*
  • Week 5: North Hunterdon
  • Week 6: at South Plainfield
  • Week 6: at Governor Livingston
  • Week 7: Summit*
  • Week 8: at New Brunswick

Head coach Shawn Johnson will have his work cut out for him in his third season, with his biggest offensive player – quarterback Logan Weiss and his 993 passing yards – gone to graduation. Sophomore runningback Gabe Gutierrez should be back, carrying nearly 100 times for 416 yards and a touchdown, while there are two promising receivers back: rising senior Yasir Oates (6 catches for 135 yards) and rising sophomore Joey Reeves (11 catches for 153 yards, 2 TD). The biggest defensive player back should be active lineman Nick Marranca, with two sacks, four TFLs, and three fumble recoveries. At Westfield is a tough opener.

by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2026: Three-way co-champ Somerville seeks third Liberty Silver title; What will Montgomery, Watchung Hills, North Hunterdon have to say as Hunterdon Central joins the fray?

The Big Central Conference’s Liberty Silver Division could be an intriguing one this year.

Somerville – after moving out of the big school divisions a couple of seasons ago and winning the Liberty Silver outright in 2024 – ended up in a three-way tie atop the division last season. The Pioneers, Montgomery and Rahway all finished 3-1, with Somerville falling to the Cougars, Montgomery falling to the Indians, and Rahway losing to the Pioneers.

Got that? There will be a quiz later. (Just kidding.)

This year, Somerville brings a lot back, while North 2, Group 4 finalist Montgomery loses a ton, and Hunterdon Central comes out of the brutal American Silver to join the division, even though their schedule won’t change much. Watchung Hills promoted from within when head coach Rich Seubert left in the off-season, while North Hunterdon will continue to look to make strides to get back to its championship form of 2022, when the Lions won the North 2, Group 4 title.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the Liberty Silver Division teams – in order of 2025 finish – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication, along with a few notes on each squad. Division games are starred.

Somerville Pioneers (8-2, 3-1, three-way Liberty Silver Co-Champions)
Head Coach: Matt Bloom, 4th full season (26-9)

  • Week 0: South Plainfield
  • Week 1: at Piscataway
  • Week 2: North Hunterdon*
  • Week 3: Watchung Hills*
  • Week 4: at Montgomery*
  • Week 5: St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Week 6: Sayreville
  • Week 7: at Hunterdon Central*
  • Week 8: at Elizabeth

The Pioneers were stunned in the opening round of the playoffs last season, taking a 14-13 home loss to Manasquan a year after winning a Central Jersey Group 3 title. But, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and make no mistake The ‘Ville will be back. While they lose senior Aidan Vesuvio-Bush and his 1,299 rushing yards to graduation, they’ll return No. 2 RB Justin Bowen (446 yards, 7 TDs) for his senior year, and No. 1 receiver James Hampton, who had 467 yards through the air and a touchdown. And their quarterback Dylan Boehm – who threw for 1,449 yards and 10 TDs – was just a freshman. Shyheim Hobbs-Harris had three sacks and 15 TFLs as a junior, and will be a focal point on defense along with other returnees. The non-conference schedule here is a tough one, but if the Pioneers can navigate it, the reward will again be a high playoff seed; they have played their last five playoff games over the last two seasons at Brooks Field.

Montgomery Cougars (8-4, 3-1, three-way Liberty Silver Co-Champs)
Head Coach: Sean Carty, 2nd season (8-4)

  • Week 0: Hopewell Valley
  • Week 1: Old Bridge
  • Week 2: at Watchung Hills*
  • Week 3: Colonia
  • Week 4: Somerville*
  • Week 5: at Cranford
  • Week 6: at Hunterdon Central*
  • Week 7: at North Hunterdon*
  • Week 8: Hillsborough

It’s a manageable non-conference schedule for the Cougars, who lose a plethora of key seniors from a North 2 Group 4 finalist that fell in the title game at Phillipsburg, capped with a Cutoff Weekend matchup of the Carty Brothers, with Kevin Jr. at Hillsborough. QB Jack Kristjanson threw for nearly 1,900 yards last season, Trey McFadden caught 63 passes for 821 yards and 10 touchdowns, Caiden Miller rushed for 941 yards and 14 scores, and even offensive lineman Mike Bellamy scored four times on eleven carries, while logging four sacks playing on the D-Line and being a top-level long snapper. And all have graduated, plus others, like the rangy receiver Obinna Obuba (534 yards, 6 TDs). We’ll see who emerges during preseason camp. Same on the defense, though junior Damien Perone is back (4 1/2 sacks, 4 TFLs.)

Watchung Hills Warriors (3-7, 1-3, 4th place Liberty Silver)
Head Coach: Joe Ascolese, 1st season

  • Week 0: at South Brunswick
  • Week 1: Union
  • Week 2: Montgomery*
  • Week 3: at Somerville*
  • Week 4: at Hunterdon Central*
  • Week 5: Summit
  • Week 6: North Hunterdon*
  • Week 7: at Plainfield
  • Week 8: at Bridgewater-Raritan

Rich Suebert’s reign is done, the New York Giant Super Bowl champion stepping down after ten years (41-57). Now, his Offensive Coordinator Joe Ascolese takes the reins, after spending nearly two decades on the staff over two different stints. Gone are senior QB Liam Morris (1,236 pass yards, 11 TD) and two-way wrecking crew Dillon Nunes, who had 637 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on offense, as well as four interceptions in the secondary on defense. Sophomore Marc Drews was the only non-senior to take a snap at QB last year, and he went 5-of-9 got 102 yards and 2 TD over five games. The defense had a good number of sophomores make a mark last year, but will lose some senior leadership. But we like what Watchung Hills did to keep the consistency in coaching, so it’s now up to the staff to build on Seubert’s work and take the Warriors to the next level.

North Hunterdon Lions (1-8, 0-4, 4th place Liberty Gold)
Head Coach: C.J. Robinson, 4th season (5-22)

  • Week 0: at Delaware Valley
  • Week 1: at East Brunswick
  • Week 2: at Somerville*
  • Week 3: Hunterdon Central*
  • Week 4: at Scotch Plains-Fanwood
  • Week 5: Monroe
  • Week 6: at Watchung Hills*
  • Week 7: Montgomery*
  • Week 8: Voorhees

After graduating a slew of talent from their 2022 title team, North Hunterdon went 0-9 in Robinson’s first season before rebounding nicely with a 4-5 2024 season, but fell to 1-8 last year. But the bright side is, there’s talent back, including junior QB Chase Rochelle, who threw for 785 yards last year as a junior, but will need to cut down on the picks. Sophomore runningback Nicolas Alparone was the leading rusher at 313 yards and two TDs, but the receiving corps will be young and inexperienced. Defensively, they’ll miss defensive lineman Aidan Herlihy, who’s graduated after anchoring the defense with five of the team’s six sacks all year, nine TFLs and two safeties.

Hunterdon Central Red Devils (4-5, 0-4, 5th place in American Silver)
Head Coach: Casey Ransone, 10th season (32-52)

  • Week 0: Eastern
  • Week 1: at Hillsborough
  • Week 2: Ridge
  • Week 3: at North Hunterdon*
  • Week 4: Watchung Hills*
  • Week 5: at Bridgewater-Raritan
  • Week 6: Montgomery*
  • Week 7: Somerville*
  • Week 8: at Phillipsburg

This is an interesting schedule: The Red Devils come out of the American Silver Division, but get all four teams as crossovers this year. Things that make you go “Hmmmm…” Last season, of their five losses, three came to sectional finalists, in Old Bridge, Bridgewater-Raritan, and Phillipsburg, with those final two winning North 2, Group 5 and North 2, Group 4, respectively. The only one they escape this year is Old Bridge. And Central will lose senior QB Drew Cella (1,481 yards, 16 TD) to graduation, as well as top receiver James Mongno (50 catches, 762 yards, 11 scores). Two underclassmen took snaps last year: sophomore James Hendrickson and junior Odin Potynsky. Top rusher Reggie Osae-Aye is back, having gone for 516 yards and four TDs last season. Defensively, Potynsky logged two sacks, six TFLs and a pick last year, while juniors Jake Freestone and Jayden Civil could be called upon to step up in 2026 as well. And sophomore punter Andrew Fisher (29.2 yards per punt) should be back as well.

by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2026: Woodbridge, Colonia will need to fill some holes to compete for Liberty Gold supremacy, but don’t count out Linden, Plainfield or newcomer Rahway

Two of the three high school in Woodbridge – Woodbridge and Colonia – help make up the Big Central Conference’s Liberty Gold Division, and both were the cream of the crop last year. But they’ll both have to figure out how to replace some big graduation losses to have the same kind of success in 2026.

Then, of course, they’ll also have to hold the rest of the division at bay, which may not be easy, especially with Plainfield going into its second season under Donald Jones, and Linden doing the same under veteran Mark Ciccotelli. And, of course, there’s Rahway – which moves into the Liberty Gold to take the place of Perth Amboy – who will have to handle the loss of all-world senior Andrew Avent, the Central Jersey Sports Radio Three-Way Player of the Year in 2025, but has plenty of talent returning.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the Liberty Gold Division teams – in order of 2025 finish – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication, along with a few notes on each squad. Division games are starred.

Woodbridge Barrons (8-3, 4-0, Liberty Gold Division Champions)
Head Coach: Joe Goerge, 3rd season (18-4 at Woodbridge)

  • Week 0: Bridgewater-Raritan
  • Week 1: at Edison
  • Week 2: Rahway*
  • Week 3: at Plainfield*
  • Week 4: at Colonia*
  • Week 5: Westfield
  • Week 6: at Summit
  • Week 7: Linden*
  • Week 8: Franklin

Things start hot right off the bat for Woodbridge, with their home opener against defending North 2, Group 5 champion Bridgewater-Raritan. Veteran mentor Joe Goerge will need to work quickly to find a replacement for Joshua Allen, who rushed for 1,579 yards and 20 scores last year on 203 carries. The next two – rising senior Kyle Campis (376 yards, 2 TDs) and rising junior Dylan Stephen (335 yards, 7 TDs) – are good options. Many of the top defenders, like A’arrow Andrewz (4 sacks, 9 TFLs, 2 INTs), Jhonny Collado (3 sacks, 14 TFLs) and Dylan Saab (4 sacks, 4 TFLs), among others, have graduated, but junior Kyle Campus grabbed three picks last year in the secondary.

Colonia Patriots (7-4, 3-1, 2nd place Liberty Gold)
Head Coach: Tom Roarty, 14th season (82-51)

  • Week 0: at Summit
  • Week 1: at Franklin
  • Week 2: Plainfield*
  • Week 3: at Montgomery
  • Week 4: Woodbridge*
  • Week 5: at Hillsborough
  • Week 6: at Linden*
  • Week 7: Rahway*
  • Week 8: South Brunswick

We won’t beat around the bush: Colonia – for the first time in a while – has a lot to replace from a squad that went to the North 2, Group 4 semifinals. That’s not to say they can’t be successful, but gone to graduation are senior QB Dylan Chiera (2,436 yards, 23 TD, just 3 INT) and top receiver R.J. Wortman, who finished with 101 catches, 1,307 yards and 15 TDs. The biggest returning stat line on offense belongs to that of junior runningback Kyle Bell, who rushed for 434 yards last season. On defense, senior Julien Jones (8 sacks, 14 TFLs, 1 INT for a TD, 1 forced fumble, one safety) was a one-man wrecking crew, but also had a solid cast around him. Non-seniors last year who made an impact included junior defensive lineman Jason Eyetan (2 sacks, 12 TFLs) and junior linebacker A.J. Reinoso (2 sacks, 8 TFLs, second on the team in total tackles with 117, 1 fumble recovery).

Plainfield Cardinals (4-6, 2-2, 3rd place Liberty Gold)
Head Coach: Donald Jones, 2nd season (4-6)

  • Week 0: at Sayreville
  • Week 1: Elizabeth
  • Week 2: at Colonia*
  • Week 3: Woodbridge*
  • Week 4: Linden*
  • Week 5: at Union
  • Week 6: Rahway*
  • Week 7: Watchung Hills
  • Week 8: at Westfield

Now in his second season, Donald Jones will have to find a replacement for senior QB Devin Thomas, a mobile QB who ran for nearly 500 yards while also throwing for 2,214 and a mind-boggling 29 touchdowns, with just four picks. And he’s the only one who threw a varsity pass last year. Top receiver Tymir Huff caught 60 passes for 919 yards and 11 TDs as a junior, a good target to have back for whoever is under center. And the defense will miss a guy like senior Tylor Hunter- who got to the QB 13 times last season, while also grabbing an interception – and was very senior-laden in 2025.

Linden Tigers (3-7, 1-3, 4th place Liberty Gold)
Head Coach: Mark Ciccotelli, 2nd season (3-7 at Linden)

  • Week 0: OPEN
  • Week 1: at Scotch Plains-Fanwood
  • Week 2: New Brunswick
  • Week 3: Rahway*
  • Week 4: at Plainfield*
  • Week 5: at Elizabeth
  • Week 6: Colonia*
  • Week 7: at Woodbridge*
  • Week 8: Union

Coming off a 3-7 first season, mobile quarterback Joe Boyd returns after a 1,090-yard rushing year as a junior, with 11 TDs, and 523 passing yards for another five touchdowns. The next two best runningbacks also return, including rising senior. Four junior receivers – led by Zion Francis with seven catches for 158 yards and a touchdown – also should be back. The defense is more senior, but junior Alan Szurgot was a bright spot last year with five sacks, seven TFLs and a fumble recovery. And returner Elijah Pierre brought back one for a touchdown as well. If the Tigers can improve, with teams above them replacing key pieces, they can make a move up in the division.

Rahway Indians (6-4, 3-1, three-way Liberty Silver Co-Champions)
Head Coach: Brian Russo, 12th season (63-46)

  • Week 0: at Willingboro
  • Week 1: Summit
  • Week 2: at Woodbridge*
  • Week 3: at Linden*
  • Week 4: Cranford
  • Week 5: South Brunswick
  • Week 6: at Plainfield*
  • Week 7: at Colonia*
  • Week 8: Edison

The loss of Andrew Avent – one of the most decorated players in Rahway history – will be a big blow for head coach Brian Russo and company. His 1,961 rushing yards set the single-season school record, and helped him take the all-time record, finishing with 4,524 yards and 77 career rushing touchdowns. And last year, not only did he move from linebacker to defensive end, picking up 10 1/2 sacks and 21 1/2 TFLs, but he was also a solid punter as well. So, who’s back? How about rising senior WB Jaquan Robinson, who – despite all Avent did on the ground – managed to throw for 1,045 yards and 15 touchdowns while turning it over through the air just once. He could end up running it more, and even looking to fellow senior Jyvon Cooper (24 carries, 158 yards, 2 TD last season). Wideout Tristan Driscoll is back for another year as well, after catching ten passes for 240 yards and four scores. Jaylen Eastman should be disruptive again on the D-line as a senior; last season, he had 8 1/2 sacks, 14 1/2 TFLs and a fumble recovery for a defense that should be aggressive again this year. Couple that with a solid, entrenched coaching staff, Rahway still could make noise this season.

by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2026: Sayreville, St. Thomas Aquinas to duke it out in National Silver, while Edison, Franklin, North Brunswick hope to make strides

The National Silver may no longer feature the team with the longest Big Central win streak – a distinction that now belongs to Bernards – but St. Thomas Aquinas should be right up there with Sayreville in challenging for the division title in 2026.

The Bombers showed big improvement in Year Two under alum Mark Poore, who went from 4-6 to 9-2 in 2025, falling by one to Old Bridge in the Central Jersey Group 5 semifinals. But the Trojans also should be improved with more continuity under second-year head coach Shamir Bearfield. Franklin has boosted its coaching staff and should present a real challenge in the division, while Edison and North Brunswick are looking for bounceback years.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the National Silver Division teams – in order of 2025 finish – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication, along with a few notes on each squad. Division games are starred.

Sayreville Bombers (9-2, 4-0, National Sliver Division Champions)
Head Coach: Mark Poore, 3rd season (13-8)

  • Week 0: Plainfield
  • Week 1: Ridge
  • Week 2: Edison*
  • Week 3: Franklin*
  • Week 4: at St. Thomas Aquinas*
  • Week 5: Old Bridge
  • Week 6: at Somerville
  • Week 7: at North Brunswick*
  • Week 8: Piscataway

Like Old Bridge – which the Bombers lost to in the Central Jersey Group 5 semifinals last season – Sayreville had just one regular season loss, and that came 43-15 to Montgomery after a 7-0 start. But they will have much to replace this season, including senior runningback Shaun Jackson, who finished his career just 23 yards shy of a two-thousand yard rushing campaign in 2025. Poore will look to rising junior Sherwin Appiah (401 yards, 8 TDs) and rising sophomore Dion Osae (534 yards, 3 TD) to fill the gap for a squad that carried it to the tune of 3,335 yards and 40 scores on the ground last season. And tough standouts like DL Julian Perez (5 1/3 sacks, 1 FR) and Adrian Ciesla (3 1/2 sacks) there are some young-uns who contributed last year on defense expected to be back, like risking juniors Kellan Bowers, Grady Walsh and Christian Woodard, each of whom recorded two sacks last season, with Woodard also recovering two fumbles.

St. Thomas Aquinas Trojans (5-6, 3-1, 2nd place National Silver)
Head Coach: Shamir Bearfield, 2nd season (5-6)

  • Week 0:  at Sheepshead Bay (Brooklyn)
  • Week 1: Westfield
  • Week 2: at Franklin*
  • Week 3: at Old Bridge
  • Week 4: Sayreville*
  • Week 5: at Somerville
  • Week 6: North Brunswick*
  • Week 7: at Edison*
  • Week 8: St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Week 9: OPEN

Shamir Bearfield didn’t get hired until May after a period of turmoil for the Trojan program where Tarig Holman was not retained, and STA’s initial hire changed his mind. So last year’s 5-6 record comes with a little bit of an asterisk. But there’s no doubt Aquinas has the talent to compete again the way they did when they won 32 Big Central Conference games in a row, starting with the late Brian Meeney as head coach with the last win of the COVID season in 20210. Just start with quarterback Zymere Weaver, a sophomore who threw for 2,236 yards and 24 TDs – with just three picks – last year. But while he hit five difference receivers for over 300 yards apiece last year, only one – junior Tristan Bester (338 yards, 4 TDs) will be back, the rest having graduated. The defense returns a ton, including five of the eight players who logged sacks and all four players who totalled five interceptions as a group last year, though the loss of top tackler and linebacker Anwar Witherspoon will be tough to replace with just one person.

Franklin Warriors (4-6, 1-3, 3rd place National Silver)
Head Coach: Blair Wilson, 5th season (11-28)

  • Week 0: Ewing
  • Week 1: Colonia
  • Week 2: St. Thomas Aquinas*
  • Week 3: at Sayreville*
  • Week 4: North Brunswick*
  • Week 5: at Piscataway
  • Week 6: Edison*
  • Week 7: at South Brunswick
  • Week 8: at Woodbridge

It’s a challenging schedule for the Warriors, who opened last year 3-0, but only won one of their final seven games. Wilson has beefed up the coaching staff, bringing on two former head coaches: Derrick Eatman from North Plainfield, and Ibrahim Halsey from South Brunswick, who will coach against his former Vikings in Week Seven. The talent is there to make the push, too, with sophomore QB Jah’naad Cady throwing for 1,040 yards and 13 TDs last year. And on the ground, only one runningback last year – who had two carries – graduates from a group that ran for 1,420 yards last season. He’ll have plenty of targets to throw to as well. A host of solid defensive players should be back, too; freshman Jaden Dublin impressed last year with three sacks and four TFLs, along with a fumble and an INT, while top tackler Maurice Langford registered 62 (23 solo) along with a sack and a fumble recovery.

Edison Eagles (2-8, 1-3, 4th place National Silver)
Head Coach: Matt Yascko, 4th season (10-20)

  • Week 0: Union
  • Week 1: Woodbridge
  • Week 2: at Sayreville*
  • Week 3: North Brunswick
  • Week 4: at Summit
  • Week 5: East Brunswick
  • Week 6: at Franklin*
  • Week 7: St. Thomas Aquinas*
  • Week 8: at Rahway

The Eagles were in a lot of games last year, but just couldn’t get over the hump, or close them out, including a dramatic 33-28 home loss to Franklin where the Warriors scored at the final horn, and two late-season losses right before the cutoff, by one at South Brunswick and two at Paterson Eastside. Flip a few of those this year, and it’s a different season for Edison, whose schedule is manageable. Top rusher Shaun Garland, who had 555 yards and seven TDs (and can also catch the ball) is back for a team that rushed for over 1,700 yards as a group, and has four starters back up front. Garland should also be a big factor defensively, after racking up four sacks, eight TFLs and a forced fumble last season. Other, younger players, however, will have to step up into key roles.

North Brunswick (0-9, 0-4, 5th place National Gold)
Head Coach: Mike Cipot, 10th season (58-32)

  • Week 0: Snyder
  • Week 1: at South Brunswick
  • Week 2: Monroe
  • Week 3: at Edison*
  • Week 4: at Franklin*
  • Week 5: Carteret
  • Week 6: at St. Thomas Aquinas*
  • Week 7: Sayreville*
  • Week 8: East Brunswick

After a 4-6 season that was a downturn for North Brunswick after six straight seasons of seven or more wins, The Raiders went winless last season. But that’s where the program came from when head coach Mike Cipot resurrected it nearly a decade ago, so he’ll be looking to do that again; such is they cyclical nature of high school sports. But he’ll have to find a new quarterback after his nephew, Zach, threw for over a thousand yards last year. The top three receivers – junior Sal Fama-Linn (625 yards, 2 TD), sophomore Kaji Brown (286 yards, 1 TD) and junior Jayvon Dozier (176 yards, 2 TD) should all return for whoever is throwing it to them; sophomore Jasiah Hogans had the most QB experience behind Cipot last year, going 19-of-32 for 234 yards. Brown also had two forced fumbles at defensive back, and linebacker Alie Sakoh (1 fumble recovery, 1 INT) should be among key returnees.

by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2026: Old Bridge, Piscataway will try to hold off South Brunswick, East Brunswick, Monroe in National Gold

The Big Central Conference realignment in the off season didn’t touch the two big school “GMC” (sort of) Divisions, with no changes made to the National Gold and Silver Divisions for the next two season. (We say “sort of,” of course, because all but one of the ten teams in those divisions are from Middlesex County, the only outlier being Franklin, which at one point years ago attempted to defect from the Skyland Conference to the GMC.)

That said, in the National Gold, 2025 champion Piscataway and runner-up Old Bridge both should be in the running for another division title. The Chiefs bring a lot back, while the Knights will have to figure some things out after the graduation of Central Jersey Sports Radio Offensive Player of the Year Brody Nugent. South Brunswick has a new coach, while East Brunswick’s newest mentor is in his second season, and it’ll be Year Three for Nick Isola in Monroe; all will look to make inroads this season, and all have the potential to do it.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the National Gold Division teams – in order of 2025 finish – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication, along with a few notes on each squad. Division games are starred.

Piscataway Chiefs (8-3, 4-0, National Gold Division Champions)
Head Coach: Dan Higgins, 23rd season (181-61)

  • Week 0: East Orange (Jim Grasso Classic at Northern Highlands)
  • Week 1: Somerville
  • Week 2: at East Brunswick*
  • Week 3: South Brunswick*
  • Week 4: at Old Bridge*
  • Week 5: Franklin
  • Week 6: St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Week 7: at Monroe*
  • Week 8: at Sayreville

The Chiefs will open against the Jaguars up at Northern Highlands, a team that went 9-2 last season, but was knocked out of the playoffs in the sectional semifinals by eventual Group 5 finalist Passaic Tech, and they’ll close the regular season at rival Sayreville, with a lot of tough games in between. Fortunately, Piscataway has two senior linemen back, plus QB Landon Pernell for his final year, after an excellent 2026 in which he threw for 1,382 yards and 14 TDs, and just three picks. Top rusher Zaire Young went for 758 yards and seven scores in his junior campaign last year. The defense should have some key returnees back as well, and this veteran coaching staff led by Higgins knows what they’re doing.

Old Bridge (10-2, 3-1, 2nd place National Gold)
Head Coach: Matt Donaghue, 5th season (25-17)

  • Week 0: Shawnee (Battle At The Beach at Ocean City)
  • Week 1: at Montgomery
  • Week 2: at South Brunswick*
  • Week 3: St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Week 4: Piscataway*
  • Week 5: at Sayreville
  • Week 6: at Monroe*
  • Week 7: East Brunswick*
  • Week 8: at Ridge

This won’t be an easy schedule for Old Bridge, then again they did go down and beat Cedar Creek last year in the Battle of the Beach; this year, they open with Shanwee in the same event, but back in Ocean City this year after being at Rowan in 2025 due to a once-every-few-years scheduling conflict. The Knights’ only regular season loss last year came at Piscataway, before they fell to Washington Township in the “Central Jersey” Group 5 final. But the big task will be replacing Brody Nugent, who threw for 2,276 yards and rushed for 1,262 on the season, accounting for more than 3,500 yards of offense in 2025. His backup, Aiden Rios, a sophomore last season, only three three passes last year, completing two for 33 yards, while mostly playing receiver and grabbing 13 catches for 268 yards and three TDs. Much of the receiving corps is back, but the defense will have some spots to fill, though rising senior Justin Barkaszi (7.5 sacks, 3 blocked kicks, 1 fumble recovery) and Latrell Alexander (2 1/2 sacks) should return on the defensive line.

South Brunswick Vikings (4-6, 2-2, 3rd place National Gold)
Head Coach: Mike Gerst, 1st season

  • Week 0:  Watchung Hills
  • Week 1: North Brunswick
  • Week 2: Old Bridge*
  • Week 3: at Piscataway*
  • Week 4: Monroe*
  • Week 5: at Rahway
  • Week 6: at East Brunswick
  • Week 7: Franklin
  • Week 8: at Colonia

The Vikings got off to a 2-1 start last season, but faltered as the schedule got tougher and lost four straight in the second half of September and first half of October to miss the playoffs. Now, Ibrahim Halsey is out after two seasons (and has joined Derrick Eatman as an assistant at Franklin under Blair Wilson) and Mike Gerst steps in from Fort Lee, whose team went 9-0 last year playing in the Super Football Conference Ivy Red Division, meant for rebuilding programs, and who are not eligible for the postseason. It was the Bridgemen’s first 9-0 season in over 100 years of football. But against this competition, it’ll be much more of a challenge. He’ll likely have a returning starting quarterback in Brenden Shearstone, who threw for 675 yards and seven touchdowns last season, while top runningback Oscar Duran rushed for 642 yards and three scores, while fellow junior Kamari Toney went for 606 and five touchdowns. A very senior-laded defense, though, will need to be retooled.

East Brunswick Bears (3-7, 1-3, 4th place National Gold)
Head Coach: Zach Gega, 2nd season (3-7)

  • Week 0: JFK
  • Week 1: North Hunterdon
  • Week 2: Piscataway*
  • Week 3: at Monroe*
  • Week 4: Voorhees
  • Week 5: at Edison
  • Week 6: South Brunswick*
  • Week 7: at Old Bridge*
  • Week 8: at North Brunswick

One thing Zach Gega won’t need to worry about in his second season as the head coach is qho will be the quarterback, as junior Sean Christie returns off a season where he threw for 1,257 yards and six TDs, but he’ll need to cut back on the interceptions. He also ran it for nearly 500 yards, but the only other back to crack 100 was senior Nathan Charleston, who’s now graduated. Tight end Noah DeJesus, Christie’s favorite target, also is gone. And he led the defense with 8 1/2 sacks, too, so the defense will need some figuring out as well. The schedule isn’t easy, but manageable for the Bears.

Monroe Falcons (1-8, 0-4, 5th place National Gold)
Head Coach: Nick Isola, 4th season (10-20)

  • Week 0: at Perth Amboy
  • Week 1: Governor Livingston
  • Week 2: at North Brunswick
  • Week 3: East Brunswick*
  • Week 4: at South Brunswick*
  • Week 5: at North Hunterdon
  • Week 6: Old Bridge*
  • Week 7: Piscataway*
  • Week 8: at Carteret

The Falcons won just their opener last season, a 41-0 victory at West Windsor-Plainsboro, then lost their last eight to end the season, and didn’t play a “crossover” – what the NJSIAA now calls consolation games, which are up to leagues and teams to schedule. But they were only shutout twice and could put up some points. Junior QB Ghayoor Abbas was a thousand-yard passer last year and is expected to be back for his senior year, while top rusher Julian Hughes (492 yards, 4 TD) was just a sophomore. Jayden Badillo – a junior with two sacks and eight TFLs – will be counted on over on the defensive side of the ball.

by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2026: American Silver is one team smaller, but no easier for those who remain

When the Big Central Conference did its realignment this off-season, part of a two-year cycle, it pulled Hunterdon Central from the American Silver Division and put them with smaller schools in the Liberty Silver, including Somerville and Montgomery, among others.

But that won’t make life any easier for the teams left in the American Silver, as Ridge, Bridgewater-Raritan, Hillsborough and Phillipsburg still get the Red Devils as a crossover – and, of course, still have to play each other. The Stateliners moved up to the North Group 5 supersection due to its new success formula, but that doesn’t affect the BCC. And besides, there were in Group 5 in 2022 and 2023 before moving down to four the last two seasons.

And just as an example of how brutal this division can be, both Phillipsburg and Bridgewater-Raritan, 4-0 and 1-3 in the division, respectively, won state sectional titles last season.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the American Silver Division teams – in order of 2025 finish – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication, along with a few notes on each squad. Division games are starred.

Phillipsburg Stateliners (10-3, 4-0, American Silver Division Champions)
Head Coach: Frank Duffy, 11th season (85-27)

  • Week 0: Parkland (PA)
  • Week 1: at Emmaus (PA)
  • Week 2: at Freedom (PA)
  • Week 3: Hillsborough*
  • Week 4: at St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Week 5: at Ridge*
  • Week 6: BYE
  • Week 7: Bridgewater-Raritan*
  • Week 8: Hunterdon Central
  • Thanksgiving: Easton (at Lafayette College)

Due to the NJSIAA’s new success formula, since the Stateliners can pull kids from other districts, and won North 2, Group 4, advancing to the state semifinals last year, they are now up in Group 5 as far as the playoffs concerned. But no matter: Phillipsburg has made the last four sectional finals – twice in Group 5 then twice in Group 4, winning trophies each of the last two seasons. And while they will lose senior runningback Sam Dech – who had a team-leading 1,530 yards on the ground last year and 23 touchdowns – sophomore QB Dominic Bracco is back. All that remains to be seen is which has more juice, the run game or the pass game, and how P’burg will adapt, because one thing is for sure: the Stateliners always have talent. But they will take a big hit defensively from the loss of senior Aeden Hywell, the reigning Central Jersey Sports Radio Defensive Player of the Year, who finished the season with 17 1/2 sacks and 27 TFLs, leading a defense that allowed just 12.4 points per game.

Ridge Red Devils (5-4, 3-1, 2nd place American Silver)
Head Coach: Jeff Sutherland, 2nd season (5-4)

  • Week 0: OPEN
  • Week 1: at Sayreville
  • Week 2: at Hunterdon Central
  • Week 3: at Bridgewater-Raritan*
  • Week 4: Elizabeth
  • Week 5: Phillipsburg*
  • Week 6: Westfield
  • Week 7: at Hillsborough*
  • Week 8: Old Bridge

Second-year head coach Jeff Sutherland has some work to do in finding some key offensive replacements. Senior QB Sawyer Paul graduated, as did top runningback Nick Pfennig (129 carries for 692 yards), along with tight end and top receiver Toby Nicholson, but close No. 2 runningback C.J. Griffith (688 yards, 4 TDs) is back for his junior year, and could be a focal point moving forward, while senior Tristan Frank likely is a top candidate under center. Senior defensive lineman Anthony Valera (4 1/2 sacks) will be missed, as will Nicholson (3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT), among others, but rising senior DE Greg Brown (3 1/2 sacks, 6 TFL) will be back. Ridge will crossover with two Middlesex County schools this year, Sayreville and Old Bridge, both of whom – if the NJSIAA ran football playoffs like every other sport – should have both been Central Jersey Group 5 finalists last season (instead, they met in the semis due to snaking).

Hillsborough Raiders (4-6, 2-2, 3rd place American Silver)
Head Coach: Kevin Carty, Jr., 15th season (92-64)

  • Week 0: at Manalapan
  • Week 1: Hunterdon Central
  • Week 2: at Bridgewater-Raritan*
  • Week 3: at Phillipsburg*
  • Week 4: Union
  • Week 5: Colonia
  • Week 6: at Elizabeth
  • Week 7: Ridge*
  • Week 8: at Montgomery

It’s a unique schedule for the Raiders, who will visit Shore opponent Manalapan opening weekend and close on Cutoff Weekend with the Carty Bowl, coaching against his brother, Sean, now in his second year as head coach at Montgomery. (They coached against each other in the COVID year when then-head coach Zoran Milich had to miss the game for a medical situation – and famously were not permitted to “shake hands” after the game, per NJSIAA COVID policy.) Gone are twins Devon Khurana (QB with 1,125 yards passing) and Shane (WR with 30 catches for 537 yards and 3 TDs), but sophomore Cooper Wright got some experience last year, and should be the leading candidate to take over at quarterback. Carty also will have to replace top RB Andrew Schwarz, who rushed for 1,114 yards and 12 scores last season. Watch Logan Jankowicz, younger brother of Jackson, whose senior season was 2004 and twice rushed for over a thousand yards. The defense will look at guys like Jamie Piccirillo (3 sacks, 3 1/2 TFLs as a freshman) and rising junior LB Tyler Zysk (1 1/2 sacks, TFLs) to hold down the unit.

Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers (9-4, 1-3, 4th place American Silver)
Head Coach: DJ Catalano, 4th season (16-18)

  • Week 0: at Woodbridge
  • Week 1: at St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Week 2: Hillsborough*
  • Week 3: Ridge*
  • Week 4: at Westfield
  • Week 5: Hunterdon Central
  • Week 6: at Union
  • Week 7: at Phillipsburg*
  • Week 8: Watchung Hills

The defending North 2, Group 5 champions will likely look to Evan Woodring as the leading starting QB candidate, with the graduation of Declan Kurdyla (1,371 yards, 13 TD), just as they did when Kurdyla was missed a couple of games last season. But they’ll have top runningback Jahmier Black for his senior season; Black ran for 978 yards and seven touchdowns last season, which also catching nine passes for 187 yards. Defensive end Jamelle Jones (8 sacks, 12 TFLs) is the most disruptive player returning from what was a very senior-led defense in 2025. The Panthers open with two tough crossover tests against Middlesex County foes Woodbridge and St. Joseph-Metuchen, both of whom won eight games last season.

by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2026: St. Joseph still team to beat in American Gold Division, but has a lot to replace

Having swept the Big Central Conference’s American Gold Division each of the last two seasons, one would have to consider St. Joseph-Metuchen a team that will at least be right back in the thick of things in 2026, but there will be work to be done for Bill Tracy and his program, with some key talent lost to graduation.

Their next best competition could very well be Elizabeth, with senior QB Arique Fleming back for his fourth year as the starting signal-caller for the Minutemen. Westfield – coming off a 4-6 season under first-year head coach Matt Andzel – also will look to make strides, as will Union, which went 3-8 last year with a very young club under Barris Grant, who left Hillside for the job.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the American Gold Division teams – in order of 2025 finish – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication, along with a few notes on each squad. Division games are starred.

St. Joseph-Metuchen Falcons (8-2, 3-0, American Gold Division Champions)
Head Coach: Bill Tracy, 5th season (25-15)

  • Week 0: bye
  • Week 1: Bridgewater-Raritan
  • Week 2: at Westfield*
  • Week 3: at Elizabeth*
  • Week 4: Phillipsburg
  • Week 5: at Delbarton
  • Week 6: at Piscataway
  • Week 7: Union*
  • Week 8: at St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Week 9: Donovan Catholic

St. Joseph put up big numbers last year, but some key players who posted those numbers are gone. Senior dual threat quarterback Justin Scaramuzzo threw for 1,212 yards and 12 touchdowns – with just one pick – while leading the team in rushing with 580 yards, while senior wideout Reggie Bropleh had a team-best 522 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Only 70 of 1,604 rushing yards are back, and 206 of 1,215 receiving. And while they’ll lose senior Michael Wellett III (5 sacks), Tommy Kwiatkowski (4 sacks) and Jason Gross (team-best 8 sacks) on defense, others like Jack Cummings (3 1/2 sacks) will be counted on. Always strong coaching when Bill Tracy is running the show, and that helps.

Elizabeth Minutemen (5-5, 2-1, 2nd place American Gold)
Head Coach: Eugene Kline, 2nd full season (9-9)

  • Week 0: at Carteret
  • Week 1: at Plainfield
  • Week 2: at Union*
  • Week 3: St. Joseph-Metuchen*
  • Week 4: at Ridge
  • Week 5: Linden
  • Week 6: Hillsborough
  • Week 7: at Westfield*
  • Week 8: Somerville

It’ll be one last go-round for Arique Fleming, a true team leader who has been the starting quarterback and matured in leaps and bounds since his very first start in the 2023 season opener as a freshman. He tossed for 1,811 yards and 18 touchdowns a season ago, while also leading the team with 551 rushing yards. And with four of the five receivers who each caught at least 200 yards’ worth of passes last season coming back, Fleming will have plenty of options. The defense should be solid, too, with key players like defensive back Eric Cespedes (2 INTs) and and linebacker Isaiah Butler back as well.

Westfield Blue Devils (4-6, 1-2, 3rd place American Gold)
Head Coach: Matt Andzel, 3rd season (9-12)

  • Week 0: Scotch Plains-Fanwood
  • Week 1: at St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Week 2: St. Joseph-Metuchen*
  • Week 3: at Union*
  • Week 4: Bridgewater-Raritan
  • Week 5: at Woodbridge
  • Week 6: at Ridge
  • Week 7: Elizabeth*
  • Week 8: Plainfield

Matt Andzel embarks on his third season as head coach, and gets a tough schedule out of the gate with the two non-publics – St. Thomas Aquinas and division foe St. Joseph – back to back in Weeks One and Two. And the crossover slate doesn’t get any easier with North 2, Group 4 champion Bridgewater-Raritan and a trip to Ridge also on the slate. QB Cole Weidler returns; he began 2025 as the starting quarterback but was replaced by Jordan Walsh when top receiver Ezno Ferrera went down to injury, and the team began to run the ball more.

Union Farmers (3-8, 0-3, 4th place American Gold)
Head Coach: Barris Grant, 2nd season

  • Week 0: at Edison
  • Week 1: at Watchung Hills
  • Week 2: Elizabeth*
  • Week 3: Westfield*
  • Week 4: at Hillsborough
  • Week 5: at Plainfield
  • Week 6: Bridgewater-Raritan
  • Week 7: at St. Joseph-Metuchen*
  • Week 8: at Linden

Barris Grant’s first season resulted in an immediate boost of one win for the very young Farmers, but they are poised to take the next step this season. Take their starting quarterback, for example. Elijah Bryant was just a sophomore, but threw for 1,259 yards and five touchdowns, though he’ll want to cut down on the turnovers this season. The top runningback was a junior; Jamir Hall finished just shy of 1,100 yards and scored 12 touchdowns. The defense was a little more veteran, as seven seniors will graduate, but not all of them starters.