A look back at Central Jersey Sports Radio Award Winners through the years
With the 2025 Central Jersey Sports Radio Big Central Awards Show in the books, we decided to take a look back at all the award winners we’ve had in the show’s six years. So far, we’ve honored 111 different players and 34 of the Big Central’s 59 teams, and that’s not even counting all the Honorable Mentions in the various categories. Here’s a closer look at each category, followed by each year’s “specialty” awards: Offensive Player of the Year: Defensive Player of the Year: Special Teams Player of the Year: Two-Way Player of the Year: Coach of the Year: Leadership…
Phillipsburg Stateliners repeat as sectional champs, No. 1 in Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten in 2025… and once again are Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Big Central Team of the Year
Everyone knows the Phillipsburg mystique, but Frank Duffy prefers to call it “the standard.” The measuring stick by which all Stateliner teams are judged. That stick has 758 marks on it, one for every win the program has, the most in New Jersey history, spread across 120 years of football that sometimes has taken them to Pennsylvania, more often here at home in the Garden State, and – like next year – will see a mix of Pennsy and Jersey schools on the schedule. But in 2025, after losing key contributors like Jett Genovese, Matthew Scerbo Jr., and Felix Matos…
Voorhees’ Matteo Tramutola runs off with Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week Scholarship for 2025
As always, there were tons of great performances across the Big Central during the 202 high school football season, and it’s not always easy choosing the Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week Award. But, of course, thanks to Central Jersey Sports Radio founding sponsor Joe Bellamy – without whom none of this would be possible – somehow, we figure it out. Each week, we pore over all the nominations. Some weeks it’s like a chip shot field goal. Other times we just fire it downfield and hope to hit the open man. Then, after nine weeks of regular…
Proving it was no hype, just reality, Brody Nugent of Old Bridge delivers for Knights, wins CJSR Offensive Player of the Year Award
Before the season even started, before Marcus Borden’s Camp Caravan, the ex-East Brunswick coach raved about Brody Nugent. He was a big fan, and predicted big things from the Old Bridge senior. He delivered on every one of them. Historic high school football stats are hard to come by in New Jersey. Around 2010 is the last year one can find somewhat reliable stats publicly available. And in all that time, it appears no one has done what Brody Nugent did this year. That’s not counting the intangibles, of course: leadership, grit, toughness. But numbers-wise? No Middlesex County quarterback has…
Phillipsburg’s disruptive Aedan Hywel is the Central Jersey Sports Radio Defensive Player of the Year for 2025
With a reputation for being one of the Big Central Conference’s most physical football teams, having someone who’s a ball-hawk all over the field is a nice touch. More than that, senior Aedan Hywel is not just a ball-hawk, he’s a quarterback hawk. He is a major reason the Phillipsburg Stateliners shut out two teams, held two more to single digits, and – through the North 2 Group 4 championship game, were holding teams to an average of just 12.4 points per game, despite playing in perhaps the most challenging division in the league, top to bottom. And a big…
In split award, South Plainfield’s Dominic Massaro is CJSR Special Teams Returner of the Year, while Cooper Smoragiewicz of Summit’s clutch boots win him Kicker of the Year
Sometimes, we just can’t decide. Here we were, four members of the Central Jersey Sports Radio staff, gathered at a local watering hole to determine all our Player of the Year honorees, and we had an easier time picking appetizers. Then again, maybe that should have been a sign: We eventually settled on three of them. For the 2025 CJSR Special Teams award, we hemmed and hawed, then just decided to heck with it. We’ll split it up and have a Special Teams Returner of the Year and a Special Teams Kicker of the Year. Those awards go to South…
Back again this year, Rahway’s Andrew Avent claims CJSR Three-Way Player of the Year in 2025
As many who have followed Central Jersey Sports Radio over the years know, beyond the typical Player of the Year winners, we often choose “specialty” awards, or put another way, find ways for more players than just a handful to be recognized. Over 50 Big Central student-athletes are being noted this year alone, whether they be the Player of the Year in a particular category, win a specialty award, or are Honorable Mentions in any of several categories. One of the awards we give every year is the Two-Way Player of the Year, for the Big Central football player who…
A winner whichever side of the ball he’s on, Logan Stevens of Bernards is CJSR’s 2025 Two-Way Player of the Year
There are the offensive numbers, and the defensive numbers. Then, there are the intangibles. Logan Stevens has all of them. He’s the Central Jersey Sports Radio Two-Way Player of the Year, getting it done all over the field. It was another outstanding year for Stevens, who ran it 125 times for 1,100 yards even and 14 touchdowns, including five multiple touchdown games, one of which came in the playoffs. He also had four catches for 112 yards and a score. On the defensive side, from the secondary he made 44 tackles, 18 solo, and also had one TFL and a…
Bridgewater-Raritan’s D.J. Catalano led Panthers to first title, is named 2025 Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year
Being Coach of the Year isn’t just about having the best team or the most skilled players. Well, you probably have to have most of them, or you’re not playing for championships any time soon. But often, it’s about something extra: overcoming some adversity, or simply making a key decision or two, more than the next guy. Sometimes, it’s Xs and Os, sometimes it’s something most don’t see. Sometimes it’s just a steady, guiding hand. That’s the case for Central Jersey Sports Radio’s 2025 Coach of the Year: D.J. Catalano of Bridgewater-Raritan. Catalano has been the head man in Bridgewater…
Central Jersey Sports Radio announces football “Specialty Awards” for 2025
Our goal at Central Jersey Sports Radio since our founding in 2020 has always been to bring attention to all the great things done by the many outstanding student-athletes in our area, both on and off the field. Even with Honorable Mentions in each category, just having one each of Offensive, Defensive Special Teams and Two-Way Player of the Year isn’t quite enough to cover the massive 59-team Big Central Conference. So, in our quest to honor as many great student-athletes as possible, here are our 2024 Central Jersey Sports Radio Specialty Awards: “Hard Nosed Runner” Award: Sam Dech, Phillipsburg…
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