Tag: Big Central

by Mike Pavlichko

Watchung Hills veteran Joe Ascolese promoted from OC to head coach of Warrior football program after departure of Rich Seubert

Joe Ascolese, the Watchung Hills football team’s Offensive Coordinator who has spent nearly two decades on the program’s staff over two stints, has been named the Warrriors’ new head coach, following the recent departure of Rich Suebert.

The move was approved Tuesday night by the Watchung Hills Regional High School Board of Education, according to Athletic Director Dan Root.

The 45-year-old Ascolese has been the team’s OC since 2019, and also was with the program as an assistant from 2005 through 2015. In between, he coached split ends, tight ends and defensive backs at A.L. Johnson in Clark.

He has also been a physical education and health teacher at Watchung Hills for more than two decades, and was named Watchung Hills Regional High School Educator of the Year in 2024.

This will be his first head coaching job.

Seubert stepped down in late March after a ten-year run leading the Warrior football program. He turned the program’s fortunes around in a few years, getting the team to .500 at 5-5 in 2019, and went 5-2 in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

The Warriors’ best two seasons under his tutelage came in 2022 and 2023. The first of those teams went 7-3, while the ’23 squad went 8-3, with an opening round playoff win over Bridgewater-Raritan, just the program’s second playoff win ever. In 2023, Seubert was named Somerset County Coach of the Year by the Bill Denny/Rutgers Football Letterwinners Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

Seubert’s squads finished 41-57 over ten seasons, and Athletic Director Dan Root says Seubert’s impact was felt more than just in terms of wins and losses, and Xs and Os on the football field.

“We were very fortunate to have him as our head coach for as long as we did,” Root told CJSR Saturday morning via text message. “He gave so much to the program, the school and the community, and for that I am incredibly grateful. I know that ultimately whatever he decides to do, he will be successful.”

Suebert was a starter on the Giants’ offensive line in their Cinderella Super Bowl XLII run that culminated with a 17-14 win over New England, the David Tyree “Helmet Catch” game. According to the Giants website, he played in 104 games for Big Blue with 88 starts over nine seasons after joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2001.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Joe Ascolese about taking over the Watchung Hills football program:

by Mike Pavlichko

Watchung Hills football coach Rich Seubert steps down after a decade leading the Warriors

After retiring from football with the New York Giants in his mid-30s with a Super Bowl ring on his finger, Wisconsin native Rich Seubert and his family moved to California for a few years, where he coached a little football at the high school level.

But eventually, he came back to the East Coast, returning to New Jersey, and started coaching the offensive line at Watchung Hills. One year later, in the summer of 2016, he was promoted to head coach.

Now, after ten years, Seubert has stepped down as the program’s mentor. Seubert said in a text message to Central Jersey Sports Radio Saturday morning that it was “just time to move on,” but notes he “loved his time coaching” and said he would continue to be around the area, since his daughter is a freshman at Watchung Hills.

Seubert inherited a 4-6 program from 2015, but the Warriors struggled early on, going 2-8, 4-6, and 0-10 in his first three seasons. Then, things turned around, as Watchung Hills got to .500 at 5-5 in 2019, and went 5-2 in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

The Warriors’ best two seasons under his tutelage came in 2022 and 2023. The first of those teams went 7-3, while the ’23 squad went 8-3, with an opening round playoff win over Bridgewater-Raritan, just the program’s second playoff win ever.

In 2023, Seubert was named Somerset County Coach of the Year by the Bill Denny/Rutgers Football Letterwinners Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

Seubert’s squads finished 41-57 over ten seasons, and Athletic Director Dan Root says Seubert’s impact was felt more than just in terms of wins and losses, and Xs and Os on the football field.

“We were very fortunate to have him as our head coach for as long as we did,” Root told CJSR Saturday morning via text message. “He gave so much to the program, the school and the community, and for that I am incredibly grateful. I know that ultimately whatever he decides to do, he will be successful.”

Suebert was a starter on the Giants’ offensive line in their Cinderella Super Bowl XLII run that culminated with a 17-14 win over New England, the David Tyree “Helmet Catch” game. According to the Giants website, he played in 104 games for Big Blue with 88 starts over nine seasons after joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2001.

by Mike Pavlichko

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 defensive coordinator and running backs/linebackers coach for the last several years under Toby Jefferis, who was not retained after the 2025 season following 16 years as the head coach. Jefferis was 73-81 in that span, with the team going 1-7 this past season, but dealing with low participation numbers in the program.

According to MyCentralJersey.com, the Eagles had just 22 players on the roster this fall, and one of Hart’s main jobs will be to increase numbers in the program.

The 35-year-old Hart also is a physical education teacher at South Hunterdon Regional High School, and was named Educator of the Year in 2025, according to a December Facebook post on the school’s page.

by Mike Pavlichko

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 down at the end of that year.

This will be Nyers’ first head coaching job.

Nyers, who will turn 32 this May, was a high school standout in the GMC, playing for Woodbridge under Brian Russo. In his senior season of 2011, he had 30 catches for 546 yards and six touchdowns. He was a two-time All-State Group 3 selection, named to the second team as a junior, first-team as a senior.

He went on to play in college at East Stroudbsurg for a year, then spent two at Kean University in Union before suffering a knee injury that effectively ended his playing days. He eventually returned to Woodbridge to coach with his father, Bill Nyers’, in his second stint with the Barrons, while his younger brother, Nick, was also on the team.

Westfield head coach Matt Andzel says he’ll miss having Nyers on his staff. “Anthony came on board with us in the Spring of 2025,” Andzel told Central Jersey Sports Radio Monday.

“I knew him from coaching with his dad (Bill) a while back. Our players immediately gravitated towards him. He is going to put in the work to make his team the most prepared they can be. I can expect JFK to be a competitive program for as long as he’s their coach,” Andzel said.

“Anthony was a tough, talented, hard nosed player who loved his teammates and gave his all always,” said Brian Russo, who coached Nyers at Woodbridge and now is the head coach at Rahway.   “He has put his time in and I am sure he will do great things with the Kennedy football program.”

Nyers takes over for Mike Henderson, who stepped down after four seasons leading the Kennedy program.

Henderson had been an assistant since 2010, but took over as head coach in 2023, having not won more than two games in a season from 2017 through 2021, the COVID-shortened year.

His first season, the Mustangs went 2-8, then 1-8 the following year, but made improvement, jumping up to four wins in 2024, going 4-6. And this year’s squad went 6-4, with a 5-4 mark on Cutoff Weekend, though they missed the playoffs.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with new JFK Football Coach Anthony Nyers:

by Mike Pavlichko

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 playoffs in 2021 due to the COVID-shortened campaign.

Hack told Central Jersey Sports Radio that he resigned on January 12th at Voorhees, where he guided the Vikings to an 8-2 record this past season and a Central Jersey Group 2 playoff berth behind a stout rushing attack led by senior Matteo Tramutola, who carried for 1,338 yards and 17 touchdowns en route to a Central Jersey Group 2 playoff berth.

The air-game was excellent, too, as senior Sam Meekings threw for 1,560 yards and 19 touchdowns to a talented corps of receivers, including Rylan Benitez (39 catches, 775 yards, 11 TD) and Logan Direny (28 catches, 408 yards, 4 TD), as well as junior Toby Dorr (20 catches, 233 yards, 2 TDs).

Hack says besides the fact he lives in the West Morris-Mendham district, the move also will give him an opportunity – in a few years – to coach his only son, who’s currently in the fifth grade. That means he plans to stay at Mendham a while, as long as they’ll have him.

He also says he was blown away by the administration at Mendham, and as many coaches know, you’re only as good as the people supporting you.

Hack was contacted about the job before Thanksgiving after the departure of Jeros. Prior to his arrival, Mendham had not had a .500 season or better since 2014, but Jeros told the local Observer-Tribune earlier back in January that he felt his coaching and leadership of the program had suffered the past two seasons. He’s a guidance counselor in Manville, which kept him from building the kind of relationships he wanted to at Mendham.

Hack is an Immaculata grad, who returned under the late Pierce Frauenheim in 2004 to coach the defensive line. He succeeded the legendary coach – the school’s original football coach dating back to the 1960s – and spent two seasons there in 2013 and 2014, going 9-12 in that span – before heading to Morris Catholic and coaching there from 2015 through 2023.

He then spent the past two years leading the Vikings up in Glen Gardner.

Click below to listen to John Hack talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

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 spend more time starting a family and on his burgeoning real estate career, but says he “got the itch” again pretty quickly, and now, he’s leading his alma mater as the only the fifth coach in school history.

Mike and Marcus take a look at the hire from multiple angles, including what it’ll mean on the football field and off.

Click below to listen to the “off-season” edition of “Gameday with Marcus Borden”:

by Mike Pavlichko

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 in each of the last three seasons under Chris Meagher.

Meagher stepped down at the end of the 2025 season, in which the Chargers – inexplicably – finished 8-1 but failed to make the playoffs, losing out on the 16th and final seed on the third tiebreaker, OSI, to Camden Eastside, a 3-5 football program that had lost its last four games by a combined total of 160-20.

Frustration aside, Steinfeld was thrilled to be a part of the program last season, and is excited to be the new head coach, citing what he calls “the it factor” about the Spotswood kids, and falling in love with a true family atmosphere around the program and district.

Steinfeld was 18-29 in five seasons as East Brunswick head coach, going 4-5 his first year in 2019, then 4-4 in the shortened 2020 COVID season, before coming out of it with an 8-2 campaign and a playoff appearance in 2021, losing 28-14 in the opening round of the playoffs to Toms River North.

But he was let go two weeks before camp started in July of 2024, even though he had good performance reviews, after being asked to re-interview for the job. That session, Steinfeld told Central Jersey Sports Radio at the time, included “community members” who were “against our program, bashed our program,” and had complaints about East Brunswick’s middle school football program siphoning players away from their own league.

After a year off, Steinfeld joined Meagher’s staff at Spotswood, and now he’s back where he belongs: as a head coach.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko and Marcus Borden talk with new Spotswood football head coach Andy Steinfeld:

by Mike Pavlichko

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 2021, the COVID-shortened year.

His first season, the Mustangs went 2-8, then 1-8 the following year before jumping up to four wins in 2024, going 4-6. But this year’s squad went 6-4, with a 5-4 mark on Cutoff Weekend, though they missed the playoffs.

Henderson said he enjoyed his time coaching the program, and is “proud of all the things our players have accomplished as a team. I made the decision that was best for my family, and hope for nothing but the best for the Mustangs.”

He will remain a physical education and health teacher at Kennedy.

Henderson is the second coach to step down following the 2025 season. Spotswood’s Chris Meagher (32-17 in five seasons) in left to take a physical education job at Edison, while Toby Jefferis was not brought back at South Hunterdon after going 1-7 this season, although the Eagles were 9-2 just two seasons ago.

This year’s coaching carousel has been a small one so far. There were 14 coaching changes last year in the 59-team Big Central Conference, and more than half the league has coaches who have come on board in just the last three years, with many of the others longtimers like Rich Marchesi at South River, Dan Higgins at Piscataway, Hillsborough’s Kevin Carty Jr., or Kevin Kostibos at Summit, to name a few.

by Mike Pavlichko

It’s New Year’s Eve, and it’s time for the 2nd Annual Central Jersey Sports Radio 2025 Tournament of Champions!

It’s the last day of 2025, so why not listen back to some of the top title games we covered live here at Central Jersey Sports Radio in the year gone by?

We put it to a vote by the fans on the 13 championship games we aired in 2025, and narrowed it down to the top five vote-getters. Now, we’re going to rerun those broadcasts, starting with No. 5 at noon, then right up to No. 1, ending just before midnight!

by Mike Pavlichko

Maxwell Football Club announces New Jersey “Mini Max” winners; ten from the Big Central

The Maxwell Football Club is out again with its top players from across the region – in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware – announcing “Mini Max” winners from each state. And out of the 55 selected from the Garden State, ten come from the Big Central Conference, three more than a year ago.

The student-athletes are nominated by their coaches, and are evaluated based not just on their football skills, but also academics and community service.

The 55 from New Jersey – and ten from the BCC – are finalists for the Maxwell Club’s New Jersey as well as the Jim Henry Regional Player of the Year. All will be announced on February 1st at the Mini Max Awards Dinner in Drexel Hill, PA.

Tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

Here’s the list of players honored from the Big Central:

  • Logan Stevens, Bernards: Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Two-Way Player of the Year for 2025 as a running back and defensive back, Steven excelled both ways. On offense, he carried 125 times for 1,100 yards and 14 scores, with four receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown. On defense, he had 44 tackles, 18 solo, a TFL, a forced fumble, three picks and two blocked kicks. He was also the only non-quarterback to be a two-year captain in program history.
  • Stephen Pikulin, Bridgewater-Raritan: A senior defensive lineman for the North 2, Group 5 champion Panthers – their first sectional title in school history – Pikulin recorded nine TFLs and 1 1/2 sacks this year, along with 54 tackles, 28 solo.
  • Chidiogo Iherobiem, Dayton: Playing both sides of the ball, Iherobiem caught 21 passes this yer – tied for the team high – for 343 yards and five TDs, while also rushing five times for 15 yards and a score. At defensive back, he logged two picks, a forced fumble and nine TFLs, with 69 total tackles, 36 solo for the Bulldogs, who had a signature late-season win over then-undefeated Spotswood in a 7-2 campaign this fall.
  • Trey McFadden, Montgomery: The senior was a huge reason the Cougars made their first ever sectional final this season, though they eventually lost to Phillipsburg in the North 2, Group 4 title game. A wide receiver, McFadden caught 63 passes for 821 yards and ten touchdowns, with two multiple-TD games; he also rushed four times for 59 yards and another score. In the secondary, he logged 36 tackles, 30 solo, and had one fumble recovery plus five interceptions. He also returned kicks and was 14-for-21 booting extra points, kicked one field goal, and scored on a two-point conversion in a huge upset win at Somerville.
  • Mike Petses, New Providence: A runningback, Petses carried 45 times for 318 yards and four scores, after being called upon more following an injury to main back A.J. Whitehead; he also caught five passes for 57 yards. As a linebacker on defense, he recorded a whopping 105 tackles, 65 solo, with six TFLs and two forced fumbles. He also logged a safety, one interception, and had one of two blocked kicks by the Pioneers, who went to the North 2, Group 1 final for the second year in a row.

  • Sam Dech, Phillipsburg: Dech took the mantle at runningback as the main option of the offense after the graduation of Felix Matos and record-setter Matthew Scerbo, Jr., and the Stateliners did the same thing they did last year: won a sectional title in North 2, Group 4, their tenth overall in New Jersey. Winner of CJSR’s “Hard Nosed Runner” Award, Dech carried 92 times for 790 yards and nine touchdowns, leading the team in carries and rushing yardage, while also catching four passes for 38 yards. At linebacker on defense, he had 52 tackles, 42 solo, a sack, two TFLs, and one forced fumble and recovery.
  • Aidan Vesuvio-Bush, Somerville: The Week 7 Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week for an outstanding performance against Plainfield late in the season, Vesuvio-Bush rushed for 1,299 yards and 18 touchdowns on 199 carries, the clear team-leader in all three categories. He also caught 26 passes for 254 yards and a score.
  • Sam Meekings, Voorhees: The senor quarterback had another great year leading the Viking offense, throwing for a career-best 1,560 yards on 99-of-165 passing for 19 touchdowns as Voorhees rode an 8-1 record into the postseason, where they fell in the first round to eventual state Group 2 champion Camden.
  • Dillon Nunes, Watchung Hills: Nunes, the Borden’s Baller selection from Watchung Hills, caught 35 passes this year for 637 yards and nine touchdowns, while also passing twice, completing both, one for a touchdown against Somerville. He also had four interceptions on defense in the secondary, and a fumble recovery, along with 33 tackles, 26 solo.
  • Ben Seward, Westfield: The senior defensive back recorded 53 tackle,s 35 solo and a TFL, along with a pick-six and half a safety.