A.L. Johnson – Central Jersey Sports Radio

Competitively speaking, overall, the Patriot Silver Division was one of the top groupings in the Big Central Conference last season. The top three teams all won at least seven games, and even the one that finished in last place – Roselle, at 4-7 – was 4-4 out of their division.

A.L. Johnson won the division, going 7-2 overall, with Delaware Valley their only Big Central loss. New Providence went 9-3 and reached the North 2 Group 1 finals, their first trip to a title game since 2011. Metuchen was 7-3 in Year Three under Jordan Leitner.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the Patriot Silver Division teams – in alphabetical order – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge. Please note game dates and times may be changed without notice as the season approaches. Division games marked with an asterisk (*).

A.L. Johnson Crusaders (7-2, 3-0, Patriot Silver champs in ’24)
Head Coach: Gus Kalikas (1st season)

Week 0: Madison (Thursday)
Week 1: Brearley
Week 2: at New Providence*
Week 3: at Roselle* (6p)
Week 4: Metuchen*
Week 5: Governor Livingston
Week 6: at Delaware Valley
Week 7: at North Plainfield
Week 8: Perth Amboy

After the departure of Anthony DelConte as head coach, Athletic Director Gus Kalikas steps in to take the reins, and he’ll have the starting quarterback and the Crusaders’ top-rusher return from a team that lost just one Big Central game last season. That includes QB Robert Gallagher, a dual threat who threw for 742 yards and 7 TDs as a junior, while going for 634 on the ground with eight touchdowns. Runningback Ryan George also is back for his senior year after going for 656 yards and 10 TDs last season. The defense was a little more senior-laden, and will have some big shoes to fill, like those of linemen Sebastian Perez (6 sacks, 1 forced fumble) and Mark Hansen (3 sacks, 1 forced fumble), who graduate.

Metuchen Bulldogs (7-3, 1-2, 3rd place in ’24)
Head Coach: Jordan Leitner (15-15, 4th season)

Week 0: Delaware Valley (Sat, 1p)
Week 1: at South River (Sat, 1p)
Week 2: Roselle* (Sat, 1p)
Week 3: New Providence (Sat, 1p)
Week 4: at A.L. Johnson
Week 5: at Highland Park
Week 6: JP Stevens (6p)
Week 7: at Brearley (Thurs, 6p)
Week 8: North Plainfield (Sat, 1p)

Alum Jordan Leitner has truly done well at Metuchen, where it wasn’t long ago the program was struggling with numbers. Symmetrically, he took a 3-7 team his debut season to 5-5 in 2023, and flipped the numbers last year, going 7-3. And there’s no reason they can’t continue to improve. While senior Evan Toth – the team’s top rusher at 746 yards and eight touchdowns – graduates, his younger brother Ryan is back after a sophomore year at QB where he went 56 of 91 for 651 yards and 10 touchdowns. And there are other receivers back like Josiah Bourne and Matt Jelleme, Justus Leitner and Kyle McPartlan, who all will be seniors. The defense, however, loses a number of seniors, like Kyle Johnston (4.5 sacks, 14.5 TFLs) and Michael Montemurno (3 sacks, 6.5 TLFs) that will be tough to replace.

New Providence Pioneers (9-3, 2-1, 2nd place in ’24)
Head Coach: Chet Parlevecchio, Jr. (51-31, 9th season)

Week 0: bye
Week 1: at Governor Livingston (Sat, 1p)
Week 2: A.L. Johnson *
Week 3: at Metuchen* (Sat, 1p)
Week 4: Roselle*
Week 5: at Middlesex
Week 6: Verona
Week 7: Bound Brook
Week 8: at Delaware Valley

Coming off their first trip to a sectional final in 14 seasons, the Pioneers will have a mixed bag on offense in 2025. They’ll lose senior quarterback T.J. Munn to graduation. He threw for over 600 yards, but more importantly ran for over a thousand last season. But junior running back A.J. Whitehead, who also rushed for over 1,100 yards and 13 touchdowns is back, and should be the focal point of the offense. There are some good receivers in the stable, too, and Kevin Reilly – who saw action in just two games last year as a sophomore – could be an option at QB. A number of key contributors on defense return, including lineman Drew Gullo (3.5 sacks, 1 TFL) and junior Mike Petses (5 TFLs, 1 forced fumble, 1 INT, 1 safety) among others.

Roselle Rams (4-7, 0-3, 4th place in ’24)
Head Coach: Tyrone Turner (4-7, 2nd season)

Week 0: bye
Week 1: at Spotswood (6p)
Week 2: at Metuchen* (Sat, 1p)
Week 3: A.L. Johnson* (6p)
Week 4: at New Providence*
Week 5: Hillside (Sat, 1p)
Week 6: at Newark Collegiate
Week 7: at Delaware Valley
Week 8: at JP Stevens (6p)

In Turner’s first season with the Rams, they maintained their win total from the previous season. Can they take a step up in 2025? That will be tough losing senior QB Brandon Puryear, who threw for 1,130 yards and eleven touchdowns last season, but junior Deion Nelson saw significant time last season, too, and should compete with fellow rising senior Tyrone Smalls, Jr. Puryear also led the team in rushing at 579 yards, but some younger backs return as well, including Davon Rhodes and Raekwon Anderson. Defensively, lineman Jaeden Shorey (2 sacks, 3 TFLs, 2 INT, 1 fumble recovery) should be back for his senior year, along with fellow senior Mike Hnderson (also 2 sacks, 3 TFLs).

Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino will be quite busy this weekend, bringing listeners a triple-dip of high school sports coverage, including two big rivalry games.

Coverage begins Friday night at 5:50 pm for our pregame show from Vince Lombardi Field, where No. 9 Old Bridge (1-0) takes on East Brunswick (1-0) in the battle of Route 18 in an early kickoff at 6:00. Though the Knights have dominated the series all-time, the Bears put up a valiant effort in 2019, losing 17-14, the closest they’ve been since they beat Old Bridge 34-6 in 2010. Old Bridge has won 23 of 26 meetings overall.

Saturday afternoon at 1, we’re at legendary Bill Denny Stadium in South River (0-1) as the Rams take on Spotswood (1-0). The teams have met every year since 1978, with South River dominating the series 33-10 since it began in 1978. But the Chargers – who had never won back-to-back games in the series – won three straight from 2014-2016 – and have won four of the last six, including 17-14 last year at Chargers Stadium. Pregame hits the air at 12:50.

Finally, CJ Sports Radio brings listeners a Monday evening game – another early kickoff – as Bernards (0-1) entertains A.L. Johnson of Clark (0-0). Theirs is a relatively recent rivalry, never having played until 2009. The Crusaders lead the all-time series 5-4, but Bernards has won the last two and four of the last 6 in the series. Pregame begins at 5:50 pm for a 6:00 kick.

You can listen to all games on Central Jersey Sports Radio – LIVE and for FREE – by clicking the Listen Live button at the top of this page.