55th annual Bill Denny awards dinner honors local football standouts, coaches, and more
More than three dozen high school football players from Middlesex and Somerset Counties, along with several coaches, administrators, educators and officials were honored Sunday at the 55th annual awards dinner of the Bill Denny/Rutgers Football Letterwinners Chapter of the National Football/College Hall of Fame at the Pines Manor in Edison. The local chapter also awarded several scholarships, now having given out more than $380,000 in funds to deserving Middlesex and Somerset County Scholar-Athletes, over a span of nearly six decades. The ceremony was presided over by Fred Roselli, chapter president, with awards presented by Tom Bara and Frank Noppenberger. Read…
South Hunterdon Board of Ed approves assistant coach, alum Kyle Hart’s promotion to become Eagles’ next football coach
South Hunterdon assistant football coach Kyle Hart has been promoted to become the next head coach of the Eagles football program, with his hire approved by the local Board of Education Monday night. Hart is a “hometown” name, growing up playing youth football for the Lambertville Raiders. He played fullback and linebacker for the Eagles in high school in the mid/late-2000s, graduating from South Hunterdon High School in 2009. He went on to play collegiately at William Paterson University, where he played in ten games and rushed 26 times for 85 yards and a touchdown. He had been serving as…
Woodbridge alum Anthony Nyers leaves Westfield to become new JFK football coach
Former Woodbridge standout Anthony Nyers is the new head coach of the JFK football program, after his hire was approved by the Woodbridge Board of Education last Thursday night. The Woodbridge Board of Ed oversees all three district high schools, including Kennedy, Colonia, and Woodbridge. Nyers had spent the past year working as the wide receivers’ coach and Offensive Coordinator at Westfield under Matt Andzel, who just wrapped up his second season as the successor to Jim DeSarno. He held the same positions on the staff of Al Chiola for the 2024 season, and came to Westfield after Chiola stepped…
OPINION: When will we get stability – and common sense – in high school football? Don’t count on it any time soon.
High school football is at it again. According to a report out Thursday from Shore Sports Insider (formerly Shore Sports Network), the NJSIAA’s Leagues and Conferences committee has recommended that the NJSIAA move back to snaking playoff brackets in each section, rather than splitting them up geographically. Snaked brackets are intended to “balance” them. In that process, when the top 16 in North and South in each group are determined, teams are placed into sections with, for example, the top overall seed in Central, then seeds 2 and 3 in South, then 4 and 5 in Central, 6 and 7…
John Hack approved as new football coach at Mendham, after stepping down from Voorhees
When John Hack took the head coaching job at Voorhees two years ago, he told his athletic director the only other job he’d ever take would be in the his own home district, where he and his family live, up at Mendham. Two years later, that’s where he’s headed. Hack was approved Monday night by the West Morris-Mendham Board of Education to be the new head football coach at Mendham, replacing Ethan Jeros, who was not brought back following a 4-6 season. He was 26-25 in five years leading the Minutemen, making the playoffs the last four seasons, with no…
Gameday with Marcus Borden: Immaculata’s football hire
It may be January, with the high school football season two months in the rearview mirror already, but there was plenty to talk about this week, and we dive into it on a special “offseason” edition of Gameday with Marcus Borden. On Thursday, February 5, Immaculata announced it was parting ways with head football coach Mike Columbo, and announced the hiring of alum Dallas Whitaker (IHS ’11), along with Jeff Vanderbeek as football program director. Vanderbeek resurrected the Somerville football program in the mid-2010s and handed the keys to Whitaker a few years later. Whitaker stepped down in 2021 to…
Whitaker, Vanderbeek and Immaculata AD Gambino talk Spartans’ splash with new football leadership
By the time the Q&A session cleared out, there they were: in their best suits, ready to take Immaculata football by storm. Dallas Whitaker, a 2011 graduate and two-time state champion playing for Peirce Frauenheim had already talked to the kids. “I chose you,” he told them. While that’s very likely the case, it’s also a little for him. It’s always been his dream job. Whitaker caught the coaching bug at Rutgers, where he was a walk-on for Kyle Flood, but self-admittedly was “one of the least talented players on the team.” Sometimes that’s how coaches get into the profession,…
Immaculata names alum Dallas Whitaker as Spartans’ new football coach, with former mentor Jeff Vanderbeek in tow
Dallas Whitaker will be coaching football in Somerville again this fall, but this time, he won’t be wearing orange and black. It’ll be with the team wearing blue and white just a few blocks away, at his alma mater, Immaculata. And his former mentor, Jeff Vanderbeek, will be with him. The school announced the move in a press release Thursday morning, then held a meet-and-greet with the two later in the afternoon. MORE COVERAGE: Whitaker, Vanderbeek and Immaculata AD Gambino talk Spartans’ splash with new football leadership Whitaker will be the head coach and an “athletics associate,” while Vanderbeek will…
Big Central’s first off-season hire comes in Spotswood, where Andy Steinfeld is promoted to lead Chargers after one year as an assistant
Andy Steinfeld played at East Brunswick for Marcus Borden, and coached there under him, then led the program now on his own. Last season was the first he spent with another program besides that of the Bears in three decades, working as an assistant under Chris Meagher, and alongside his son, Matt. Now, he’s his son’s boss. Andy Steinfeld was appointed as the tenth football coach in Spotswood history Tuesday night, when his hiring was approved by the Board of Education. He’ll take over a program that has had great on field success in the past several years, going 8-1…
JFK football’s Mike Henderson steps down after four seasons leading Mustangs
After three seasons leading the JFK football program, Mike Henderson handed in his resignation on Monday to spend more time with his family. Henderson confirmed the news to Central Jersey Sports Radio this week, saying it was a “difficult decision to make,” but says he has two young children at home – two years old and nine months – and says he “didn’t want to be absent for either responsibility,” family or coaching. Henderson had been an assistant since 2010, but took over the program in 2023, having not won more than two games in a season from 2017 through…
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