Tag: Carteret

by Mike Pavlichko

A new No. 1 baseball team in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, while a tumultuous week adds four new clubs to the mix

There were some great games, big wins, and some pleasant surprises through the first week of the high school baseball season in New Jersey. And while there’s a lot more baseball to be played, there are four new teams joining the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten in Week One, with a brand-new No. 1 team.

St. Joseph-Metuchen – last year’s GMC Tournament champion at 16-7 – has gotten off to a surprising 0-4 start. And while they’ll still likely be in the mix as we get closer to county tournament season, the winless start has made room for a new No. 1, with nine of the ten teams in this week’s rankings being unbeaten

The new No. 1 team is Immaculata (3-0), the defending Somerset County Tournament champs. The Spartans opened upo with a sweep of Hillsborough, wininng 3-0 on the road Tuesday, then 3-0 at Diamond Nation in Flemington Thursday before taking a 5-3 home decision over West Essex on Saturday.

The three teams right behind the Spartans all moved up a notch as well, and all are undefeated.

Ridge (3-0) is in second, picking up victories over three different teams to open 2026. They won 7-4 at West Morris Tuesday, then opened Skyland Conference play with an 11-1, five-inning win over Montgomery Thursday, followed by a 4-0 shutout win at Rutgers Prep Saturday.

In third is defending state Group 1 champion Middlesex (3-0). The Blue Jays avenged a season sweep at the hands of Spotswood last year with a 6-1 Opening Day win over the Chargers at home, then a 12-1 (full seven-inning game) win at “The Swamp” on Thursday. They topped Perth Amboy on Saturday at home, 4-2.

And in fourth is Edison (3-0). GMCT finalists from a year ago, they won their opener Tuesday at Old Bridge, then two straight at home: 2-1 over the Knights on Thursday, and 5-4 in eight innings on Saturday over South Plainfield, rallying with two runs in the seventh to send it to extras.

Moving up two spots to fifth is South Plainfield (2-1). Before the loss to Edison Saturday, they swept a season-opening home-and-home with then-No. 1 St. Joe’s, 11-1 in five in Metuchen on Tuesday, then 6-2 at home on Thursday.

Joining the rankings at No. 6 is Monroe (3-0). The Falcons swept East Brunswick in its first two games – with a 10-7 Opening Day road win on Tuesday, and a 5-2 win at home Thursday – then beat previously-No. 1 St. Joseph Saturday in Metuchen, 6-2.

Up one place to seventh is Colonia (2-0). The Patriots beat Metuchen on Tuesday, 2-1, and after the Bulldogs rescheduled their Thursday meeting for later in the season, beat in-town rival JFK 13-3 in five innings Saturday.

The last three teams all are new to the rankings, starting with South Brunswick (3-0) at No. 8. The Vikings swept Perth Amboy to open the season, 13-2 at home Tuesday, then 8-6 at home on Thursday. Saturday, they picked up a 1-0 win at Sayreville.

At nine is Carteret (4-0) out of the GMC Blue, which scored 40 runs in four games over the first week. After a 4-3 home win Monday over East Brunswick Magnet, the Ramblers beat the Tigers on the road Wednesday, 12-6, then won 13-8 at North Plainfield on Thursday, and 11-1 Saturday at home against Long Branch out of the Shore Conference.

And at ten is Bernards (2-0). The Mountaineers were 8-1 winners on Opening Day Monday against Summit, and beat Del Val at home 4-0 on Wednesday.

Dropping out were No. 1 St. Joseph-Metuchen (0-4), as well as No. 8 Hillsborough, No. 9 Old Bridge, and No. 10 Woodbridge, the last three all 1-3 on the season.

Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving H.S. Baseball Top Ten for Week One:

by Mike Pavlichko

Through first week – and them some – these high school baseball teams have started the season red hot

The high school baseball season is already a week old, though a few got started a little earlier than most, but more than a few have started the 2026 campaign red hot.

Some were expected, others have turned out to be pleasant surprises.

And that could juggle our first in-season Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, the Week One edition of which comes out Monday morning.

Here’s a look at who’s gotten the season off to a great start after the first week or so or play in the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area, with a minimum of three games played..

GREATER MIDDLESEX CONFERENCE

Red Division

  • Edison: The Eagles are 3-0, and may have had the most success with the toughest opening schedule of all. It was their pitching that helped lock down their season-opening series with Central Jersey Group 4 finalist Old Bridge, picking up 5-2, and 2-1 wins last week. Of course, that’s no surprise looking at who Edison has on the mound: three D1 commits including Robert Roma (Wagner) and Connor Murphy (Monmouth) – who pitched against the Knights, and Dom Innocenti (Wagner) who went four solid innings against South Plainfield in a 5-4, eight-inning home win Saturday afternoon. But the bats can do good stuff, too. Murphy is one of then, already 4-for-8 on the year with two doubles, while Isaiah Lutz is hitting .444 with a double and two RBIs, both of which came against the Tigers, and the last of which walked it off with two outs and the bases loaded Saturday. The Eagles are back at it Tuesday at South Plainfield, then play equally red-hot Monroe (3-0) at home Thursday and away Saturday.
  • Monroe (3-0): The Falcons (3-0) already are a third of the way to their win total from last year, when they went 9-13. And they’ve got two wins over East Brunswick – a series sweep with 10-7 and 5-2 wins – plus a Saturday road victory, 6-2, over defending GMC Tournament champion St. Joseph-Metuchen. In the second win over the bears, junior Ben Faigin pitched five no-hit innings before being lifted and got the win. (Don’t forget, it’s early yet, and some pitchers the first few weeks are on fairly strict pitch counts from their coaches.) Faigin is also doing it at the plate, going 6-for-8 in the first three games with three runs batted in, and he’s walked four times, stealing seven bases already. It’s Monroe’s best start since 2022. The Falcons will close their home-and-home in Monroe Tuesday when St. Joe’s visits, before they play a Thursday/Saturday home-and-home with Edison.
  • South Plainfield: Despite a 5-4 loss in extras at Edison on Saturday, the Tigers are 2-1, and those two wins are nothing to sneeze at. South Plainfield crushed St. Joseph in Metuchen on Tuesday in the season opener, 11-1, then took a 6-2 decision at home on Thursday. Aiden McCarthy pitched the full five innings of Tuesday’s ten-run rule game, allowing just four hits and one earned run, while striking out five, and sophomore Andrew Bena, who blew up on the basketball court this winter, continued to shine on the pitchers’ mound in game two, throwing 6 1/3 and allowing just three hits and two earned runs while striking out eight. McCarthy and Dom Massaro also are tearing the cover off the ball, hitting .455 and .500, respectively, with McCarthy knocking in four runs, while the speedster Massaro – an outstanding football player, and the CJSR Special Teams Returner of the Year in 2025 – has four stolen bases already.

White Division

  • Middlesex: The defending state Group 1 champions and GMCT Final Four team swept Spotswood two games last week, 6-1 on Tuesday at home, 12-1 at “The Swamp” on Thursday, then beat Perth Amboy at home on Saturday, 4-2 to start the season at 3-0. Their two main arms are back this year, Chris Kozak for his senior year and Dominic Long for his junior campaign, and both got wins against the Chargers, with Kozak going the distance, Long going seven, with only Kozak allowing a single earned run. Then they got a solid outing from Dylan Ianiero for the win Saturday allowing four hits and just two unearned runs in six innings pitched. That means the Blue Jays have allowed just one earned run in three wins to start the year. Not too shabby. And, Middlesex is hitting .333 as a team, getting balance from up and down the lineup. Ianiero and Long are both hitting .571 (4-for-7) on the year, with Long also knocking in three runs and walking four times, while Sean Hughes has four runs batted in. After the series finale with the Panthers in the Bay City Tuesday, the Jays get South Brunswick at home, then away, in a Thursday-Saturday two-game set.
  • South Brunswick: New head coach and veteran GMC skipper Lou Urbano has brought a new mindset to the Vikings, and so far, all is looking good at 3-0. They scored a combined 21 runs in their season-opening series against Perth Amboy, which included a 13-2 home win Tuesday, and a n 8-6 road win Thursday. Then, it was a pitchers’ duel Saturday as the Vikings beat Sayreville at home, 1-0, behind four no-hit, shutout innings from starter Collin Perna in his second start of the season. The senior also got the win in Game One against Amboy, and in 8 2/3 innings pitched, has 14 Ks, six walks, and has allowed just three hits and one earned run. The Vikings close out the series with the Bombers in Sayreville Tuesday, before opening a road-home set with Middlesex Thursday and Saturday.

Blue Division

  • Carteret: Off to its best start since 2023, when they went 5-0, the Ramblers have won their first four, sweeping a pair from GMC Invitational finalist East Brunswick Magnet – 4-3 and 12-6 – then picking up a 13-8 win at North Plainfield Thursday, and am 11-1 non-conference win over Long Branch Saturday. As a team, Carteret is in mid-season form at the plate, hitting a scorching .365 as a group, with seven regulars hitting almost .290 or better. Junior Miles Ferreiras is hitting .533 (8-of-15) with six runs batted in, while freshman outfielder/pitcher Jose Parra has knocked in eight. Their pitching is on the younger side, too, with soph Jayden Luciano throwing two scoreless innings at EB Magnet Wednesday, then going the distance in the five-inning mercy-rule win over Long Branch, allowing just two hits and one earned run, while striking out ten. They finish up the home-and-home with North Plainfield Monday afternoon, then open a two game set with South River on the road Wednesday, and home Thursday.

SOMERSET COUNTY

Immaculata visits Hillsborough in a Skyland Conference Delaware Division game on March 31, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Skyland Conference, Delaware Division

  • Immaculata: A home-and-home sweep of Hillsborough – 3-0 in their opener on the road Tuesday, then 3-0 again at home Thursday – plus a 5-3 win over West Essex – a North 2, Group 2 semifinalist a year ago – has the Spartans 3-0 after the first week of play. They’re not exactly tearing the cover off the ball – yet – but the pitching has dominated in the early going, allowing just the three runs to West Essex. Immaculata is off for Spring Break this week, then gets back into action with two against Bridgewater-Raritan the week after – home Tuesday at Diamond Nation and just up the road in Bridgewater Thursday, before an 11 am non-conference game Saturday morning against Delsea, which opens its season this week.
  • Ridge: The Red Devils are 3-0 after a trio of wins over all different teams last week. They opened Tuesday with a 7-4 non-league win at West Morris, then came “home” Thursday and beat Montgomery 11-1 out at Diamond Nation in Flemington, before getting past Rutgers Prep Saturday in Basking Ridge 4-0. There are some new names on the mound, as Dimitri Romer got the win against West Morris, while Matt Brievogel and Dillon Henderson picked up league wins; all three are juniors. At the plate, Ridge is hitting .299 as a team, but they’ve also worked out 17 walks in three games, adding in six hit batsmen. Four games are on tape this week, including a league home and home with Hunterdon Central Tuesday and Thursday, bookended by a non-conference home game against Randolph Monday and a Saturday morning visit to Warren Hills.

by Mike Pavlichko

Mid-Week Girls’ Basketball Update: Several small schools off to good starts, while traditional powers keep things moving along

There’s not much you can say for the old standbys, and this is when they get particularly challenged.

Just barely a week into high school basketball season, Rutgers Prep is 2-0, Gill St. Bernard’s is 1-0, and heavy GMC favorite St. Thomas Aquinas is 2-1. They’ll all load up plenty more wins as the season goes on, and maybe even a few losses as they fan out to showcases on weekends, bookending their conference slates.

But what about some of the smaller schools, or those not always in the mix? A few have gotten off on the right foot.

Fewer schools in Somerset County have played multiple games yet; in fact, of the Skyland teams in our coverage area (Somerset County), everyone has played just one game besides Gill, Prep, and Hillsborough (1-1). So, we’ll be looking more at the Greater Middlesex Conference.

Smaller schools tearing it up…

The way the GMC has muddled their divisions – going away from Red, White, Blue, Gold (and sometimes Silver) to The Red, Blue and White American and National Divisions – there are no more “small school” or “big school” divisions. But two smaller schools in the White National are off to good starts, with Metuchen and Carteret both 2-0.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 21-5 season, but have won their first two games of the year for the first time in thee seasons. They topped Highland Park Monday in their opener, 49-30, before coming back Wednesday to beat JFK, 37-21.

Victoria Zaniecki was the top scorer in both games, respectively. She scored 30 and grabbed 11 rebounds against the Owls, then put in another 13 – and recorded four blocks – in the win over the Mustangs. She’s now just 81 points from cracking the thousand-point milestone.

Carteret, meanwhile, outscored its first two opponents 94-21, beating Kennedy 44-13, and Timothy Christian 50-8 with balanced scoring throughout. Five different players have already scored ten ore more points, led by seniors Anilah Diggs (9.5 ppg) and Samatha Woode (8.5 ppg), while the team has 27 steals already, and eight of the ten players on the varsity roster have more than one.

South River on the rebound…

After a 2-23 record last season in Year One under head coach Nicky Curran – a year in which they lost 21 straight until picking up mid-February wins against Keyport and Woodbridge Magnet – don’t look now, but the Rams are 2-0.

And, going back to last year, have won four of their last five games. They beat Mother Seton 22-20 Monday in their opener, then took a 41-24 decision from Wardlaw-Hartridge Wednesday. Sophomore Arianna Perez leads the team in scoring, pacing South River with 16 points in their most recent win.

The Rams host Calvary Christian (1-1) Saturday morning at 11.

First three-win team is over the bridge…

Maybe, they know how to schedule in South Amboy, but with three games under their belt, the girls are doing just as well as the boys: 3-0.

They opened with a 24-9 win over New Brunswick in the Friends of South Amboy Charity Games Saturday, then beat Woodbridge Magnet 45-24 Monday, and Perth Amboy Magnet 36-19 the next day. Junior

Gabby Evanski has been having a field day, hitting six times already from beyond the arc, and scoring 46 points in three games, while grabbing 30 rebounds. She had 8 points and 11 boards against the Zebras, flipped it against Woodbridge Magnet with 21 and 8 – including four treys – then had a double-double against Perth Magnet, going for 17 points and 11 rebounds, including 7-of-11 from the foul line.

Freshman Valerie Figueroa has scored 26 of her first 31 varsity points in the last two games.

The Tech School Parade continues Friday, when East Brunswick Magnet (1-1) comes to town.

Piscataway Magnet also is off to a 2-0 start, picking up wins against their fellow tech schools: 54-12 over Perth Amboy Magnet Monday, and 44-21 over EB Magnet Wednesday. Freshman Alaina and Alivia Tucker and senior Eva Hernandez all have 24 points scored on the season.

by Mike Pavlichko

Wednesday Night Big Central Roundup: Carteret tops JFK in “consolation” game behind 6 TD night from Boseman; New Brunswick snaps state’s longest active skid; South River picks up first win of season in finale

Al-Naiquan Boseman scored five touchdowns for the Carteret Ramblers, who won a track meet against JFK, 49-31, Wednesday night at “The Pit” in a Big Central Conference crossover “consolation” game.

While the NJSIAA no longer assigns consolation games, teams that miss the playoffs are allowed to set up their own matchups. Scroll down for scores and notes on the rest of the games, many of which were moved from Thursday due to the Nor’easter that’s in the forecast.

Meanwhile, for Carteret, Boseman scored four of his six touchdowns in the first half, after which the Ramblers led 26-25.

Carteret went ahead 33-25 less than a minute into the second half, then went up 40-25 on Boseman’s fifth TD run of the game, a three-yard score with 4:16 to go in the third. He’d score again as time ran out to make it 46-25.

After a Gatik Bhardwah 30-yard field goal made it 49-25, JFK got the game’s final score with 3:49 left on a pick-six by Grant Lorentzen.

Carteret improves to 4-5 with the win, while the Mustangs fall to 6-4.

Carteret Ramblers football team celebrating on the field after a victory, posing for a group photo in their blue and white uniforms.
Carteret celebrates on last win on its home field in 2025, after a 49-31 victory over JFK. (Photo: Marcus Borden)

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden with Carteret head coach Kevin Freeman and players Ronelle Nimneh-Gilbert and Al-Naiquan Boseman, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Here are other scores from around the Big Central Wednesday night:

  • New Brunswick 36, West Windsor-Plainsboro South 0: The Zebras ended the state’s longest active losing streak Wednesday night, winning for the first time in its last 33 games. The 36 points was the most scored by New Brunswick in a game since a 43-14 win at Monroe on October 29, 2021, and it was their first win since a September 16, 2022 home victory over Franklin. And after being shutout four times this season – never scoring more than eight points – it was their first shutout victory since a 14-0 victory over Carteret in 20009, when John Quinn was head coach. They also played Matawan to a shutout tie in 2012.
  • South River 19, Dunellen 0: The Rams picked up their first win of the season Wednesday, finishing the year 1-9. With New Brunswick’s loss, and Dunellen now 0-9, the Destroyers will take the state’s longest losing streak into 2026, now at 19 games. Their last win came against Brearley, 34-28, on October 29, 2023.

  • Millburn 51, Roselle 14
  • Keansburg 27 Middlesex 6
  • South Plainfield 35, Spotswood 28
  • Union 28, Columbia 7
  • Edison 39, Watchung Hills 14
  • East Brunswick 35, Perth Amboy 12
  • Dayton 34, Keyport 6
  • Manchester Twp. 18, JP Stevens 12
  • North Plainfield 42, Highland Park 13
by Mike Pavlichko

Cutoff Weekend Group 3 Playoff Update: Somerville still has a shot at a top seed, Cranford’s in, Carteret still has a shot

It’s Cutoff Weekend in New Jersey high school football, and we’re taking a look at the playoff scenarios for every Big Central team in contention.

This week, Strength Index values are locked in, and out-of-state opponent SI values also have been updated by Gridiron New Jersey, which does all the official calculations of the NJ UPR formula for the NJSIAA. And we’ve double- and triple-checked our own standings to make sure they match with Gridiron’s.

We’ll have another update to the standings after Friday night’s games – yes, there are Thursday games, but none in the BCC, and we’ll only update if there are significant changes.

And, of course, Central Jersey Sports Radio will have its annual “Playoff Projection Show,” airing LIVE on Saturday at 6 pm. Mike Pavlichko hosts with analyst Marcus Borden, and they’ll run through all the projected brackets. Plus, you’ll hear from some of the league’s coaches as well.

Here’s our breakdown of the Group 3 supersections. We won’t be getting into how the brackets look just yet, but we’ll do that with our update after Friday night’s Week 8 action. Click the supersection header to see the official standings on Gridiron New Jersey.

NORTH GROUP 3

  • Cranford: This one is fairly easy. The Cougars (4-4) sit in 14th place, and we think they stay around there. A win over Hillside (2-5) doesn’t move the needle, but it doesn’t hurt them much either. With Weequahic out of the picture, the Cougars are a 5-seed in North 2, Group 4. But they would be 14 or so in UPR (14.6 or so), while the next team above them in fourth, Roxbury, is in seventh, with a 7.4 UPR at the moment. There’s no way they catch them, so we’re not even going to bother with where they stand in the top 16; we think it’s an extremely high probability that Cranford ends up the five-seed regardless of what they do against the Comets.
  • Carteret: The Ramblers (3-4) visit Bernards (8-0) this Friday night. That’s going to be a tough one, especially with banged up QB Nolan Walsh back in the lineup from injury. (He played the second half last week against Linden.) A loss and they’re definitely out. A win and they could get to 17, which would be good enough since Weequahic (9th) is ineligible due to being over the DQ limit. And with a loss from Mendham (4-4) at Randolph (1-7) – which isn’t likely – or a Warren Hills loss at Hackettstown (both are 4-4), they could even get to 15. We think a win gets the Ramblers in, but it won’t be easy.
  • South Plainfield: Even if the Tigers (4-4) beat JFK (6-2), they don’t appear to have a path to the top 17. If everyone around them loses, North Plainfield would jump them, but even they don’t seem to be able to get in with any help.

SOUTH GROUP 3

  • Somerville: The Pioneers (7-1, 3.6 UPR) would have to make up one UPR point to get into a tie with second-place Cedar Creek (7-1, 2.6 UPR). Holmdel (5-2) is in between at third (3.2 UPR) and Burlington Twp. is No. 1 (1 UPR). A Somerville win at Watchung Hills (3-5) could get them as high as second if Cedar Creek and both Holmdel lose. If either wins, the winner gets second and the loser goes to fourth. All we can tell you is, even with a loss, Somerville at least gets one more game back at Brooks Field.

by Mike Pavlichko

Group 3 playoff chase: Summit, Somerville hold top-seeds, but nothing’s guaranteed; Cranford sits in the middle of the pack but could move up

Group 3 only finds two teams from the Big Central in playoff contention, although a third may be able to jump into that fray.

There aren’t too many Group 3 schools to begin with, and a couple of teams with 2-3 records sit well outside the playoffs in the North Group 3 supersection. A late run and going 2-1 of either team down the stretch could get Carteret (24th) and North Plainfield (21st) back in the conversation, with South Plainfield at 2-4, but much closer just two spots out of the top 16.

But hold the phone. A fight a couple of weeks ago in a game between Weequahic and Newark West Side resulted in enough disqualifications for both teams that, per NJSIAA rule, neither will be eligible for the postseason.

West Side is 1-5, so it probably won’t change much there, but Weequahic (4-2) sits in ninth, rising this week. They’re out, so that means, the 17 team would get in as of today, that being Snyder (3-2). But South Plainfield sits right behind them, so they’re “technically” just one spot out of the playoffs. And they may not have to worry about the three teams directly behind them either. Besides West Side at 21, Paramus (19) and Parsippany Hills (20) are both 0-6, with three games left each, and there’s a minimum of two wins to get into the postseason.

Table displaying standings and statistics for Group 3 football teams, including wins, losses, ties, playoff averages, and rankings.

The only two Big Central teams in the top 16 here are Summit and Cranford. Summit is the second seed overall in the supersection, and the loss to Somerville Saturday didn’t hurt them much, as the Hilltoppers were 5-0 with a solid OSI value. Should they drop out of the top two, they could shift up to the North 1 section, but if they stay a top-seed they should be in North 2, as they’re one of the more southern teams in the supersection. They’ll have to watch 6-0 West Morris, just 0.6 UPR points behind them

The Cougars sit 12th overall, a spot behind Wayne Hills. But again, as we’ve talked about, with the new system, you need to look at overall UPR rank since geography decides which section the teams are placed in. Wayne Hills is 10th, and Passaic Valley – fourth in North 1 Group 3 – is in fourth. So to jump two teams and get a home game, Cranford would need to get to No. 6 overall, a jump of six places in the top 16.

The saving grace could be if teams North of them get in the playoffs, displacing the southernmost North 1 teams (Cranford and West Essex) which would bump them into North 2. But even that wouldn’t be a guarantee. We think they’ll end up on the road in the first round.

A table displaying the standings for Central Group 3 and South Group 3 high school football teams, including wins, losses, ties, and various rankings.

In the South Group 3 supersection, again just one Big Central team is in the running, with Somerville at 5-1 sitting second overall, and in the top spot in Central Group 3. They’re the northernmost team in the entire section, so as long as the teams don’t change from year to year, they will never be in a “South Jersey” section again.

They’re not locked in though, just 0.4 UPR points ahead of Holmdel (3-2). The Pioneers have North Hunterdon, Plainfield and Watchung Hills left, and Holmdel has Marlboro, Raritan and Middletown North left. Neither team has huge power point or OSI opportunities left, nor is either schedule particularly weak, and even North Hunterdon’s SI – with just one win – is comparable to anyone Holmdel plays.

We think the Pioneers could be good – as long as they keep winning.

by Mike Pavlichko

Perth Amboy gives Carteret all it can handle, but Ramblers’ big third-quarter gives them fourth straight win over their arch-rivals

In the 98th meeting between rivals Perth Amboy and Carteret, it was the Panthers who dominated play in the first half. Miscues and penalties helped Amboy, no doubt, but they took advantage. Even if that advantage was just keeping the Ramblers off the scoreboard.

But in the end, a three-touchdown third quarter for Carteret was the difference in a 28-2 win over Perth Amboy heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, in the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving.

Perth Amboy had the only score of the first half. It came with 1:55 left in the opening quarter when Carteret went to punt from their own 20. The snap was high, and then bobbled by both teams in the end zone before it went out the back for a safety, giving the Panthers a 2-0 lead.

Logo for Bellamy & Son Paving promoting the Big Central Game of the Week.

Amboy did a good job in the first half of squelching the Rambler offense, which also hurt itself with some penalties and other miscues. They got a pick, and even stopped them in the red zone to end the half.

But Carteret made some adjustments in the locker room. They came out on the opening possession in the wildcat and got a 10-yard touchdown run from Ronelle Nimneh-Gilbert to go up 7-2. Derrick Boakye then punched in a three-yard score to make it 14-2 after the Ramblers got the ball first-and-goal from the seven following a pick. And an 80-yard pick-six by Thomas Battle made it 21-2 with 4:15 to go in the third.

That was all they would need to swing the momentum. A third-quarter snowball for the Ramblers slowly built into an avalanche, to beat their arch-rivals. The Carteret defense held the rest of the way, holding Amboy to well under 100 yards of total offense, and no offensive points.

They added some insurance with six minutes to go in the game, a three-yard run by quarterback Danyun McKill, then blocked a punt with just under five to go.

The win was the fourth straight in the series for Carteret (1-0), but Perth Amboy (0-2) still lead the all-time series, 50-46 with two ties.

Click below for postgame reaction from Alec Crouthamel with Carteret head coach Kevin Freeman, Ronelle Nimneh-Gilbert, and Derrick Boakye presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!

MVPs: After the game, MVP trophies were awarded to both teams. Anthony Mejia-Puntel was named MVP from Perth Amboy, while Carteret’s Nimneh-Gilbert was named MVP from the Ramblers.

by Alec Crouthamel

Carteret seeking fourth straight win over rival Perth Amboy to kick off Ramblers’ 2025 season

Since Carteret head coach Kevin Freeman took over in 2021, the Ramblers have built themselves into a steady program, essentially from scratch, after a COVID-canceled 2020 season, including back-to-back seven-win seasons in 2022 and 2023.

Most importantly, however, Carteret has beaten its longtime rival Perth Amboy three consecutive times.

The Ramblers and Panthers face off for the latest edition of Middlesex County’s longest Thanksgiving rivalry – now played in September for the sixth straight year – with Carteret kicking off its season with the big-time matchup, while Perth Amboy looks to get back on track after a Week 0 loss to JFK.

The two teams will battle for the 98th time, with Perth Amboy leading the series 50-45-2. This year’s version serves as the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving.

You can hear Friday’s game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with kickoff time set for 6 pm at Perth Amboy’s Waters Stadium, with pregame set for 5:45. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will call all the action; click here to listen.

The Ramblers do bring back four starters each on offense and defense, but they have a multitude of big shoes to fill. Carteret’s leading passer (Eric Thompson), rusher (Jakir Thomas), and receiver (Darius Armstrong) all graduated, leaving behind returning depth, but limited proven production.

Junior Danyun McKill – who did not play as a sophomore but was a part of the program as a freshman – takes over the reins at quarterback, while upperclassmen Al-Naiquan Boseman and Derrick Boakye return at running back. The former finished second on the team with 607 rushing yards and five touchdowns in 2024.

McKill will have his fair share of targets, led by senior Jeremiah Arrington – who also starred on the hardwood averaging a double-double – after a junior season that saw him finish second on the team with 134 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Thomas and Armstrong also graduated as two of the Rambler’s best players in the defensive backfield, grabbing all five of Carteret’s interceptions in 2024. Linebacker Chris Prosser and defensive lineman Jacob Bess also departed, taking their combined 113 tackles – 24 for loss – with them.

But in 2025, it’s a new season, with new standouts surely to come.

Senior Ronelle Nimneh-Gilbert returns after a strong season at linebacker, flanked by returning tackle leader Nick Gomm. Add in plenty of depth and experience along the defensive line – led by seniors Jonathan Hughes and Masihah Long – and the defense has all the makings of a unit built on principles Freeman preaches: be physical, disciplined, and stop the run.

Though Perth Amboy heads into this matchup at 0-1, as the old adage in sports goes, when it comes to heated rivalry games, throw all the records and stats out the window.

There is only one stat Freeman and the Ramblers will be looking for on Friday: Going 1-0 against the Panthers.

Click below to hear Carteret head coach Kevin Freeman talk about his team and the season-opening rivalry showdown with Perth Amboy:

by Mike Pavlichko

Perth Amboy looks to rebound from season-opening loss with win over rival Carteret Friday

Perth Amboy football hasn’t put together a season with more than three wins in some time, but when it’s a big rivalry game, you can throw all that out.

Now in his seventh season, William Clark has coached against the Ramblers six times. And though the wins, overall, haven’t come, the Panthers are 3-3 against Carteret under Clark’s tenure, and they’re one of the teams Amboy has had success against.

Throw in the fact that Friday night’s matchup – the the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving – is a big rivalry game, once played on Thanksgiving and considered “the granddaddy of ’em all” dating back to 1927, and the fact Amboy has a game under its belt, you never know what can happen.

This will be the 98th meeting all-time in the series, with Perth Amboy leading 50-45, with two ties, in 1937 and 1970.

You can hear Friday’s game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with kickoff time set for 6 pm at Perth Amboy’s Waters Stadium, with pregame set for 5:45. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will call all the action; click here to listen.

While Carteret has yet to play a game, Amboy is 0-1, after a 36-0 loss to JFK in it season opener. The biggest issue for the Panthers is replacing the talent that graduated. That includes senior quarterback Laivon Balthazar, who threw for 1,447 yards and 12 touchdowns last year, while also leading the team in rushing, with 415 yards and four scores. Top receiver Brandon Bradsher also graduated, along with his 55 catches, 1,055 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

The only offensive player – starter or backup – who recorded any varsity stats last year was Ricky Henriquez, who rushed 45 times for 290 yards last season.

And it’s much of the same on defense, as only Henriquez (20 tackles, 12 solo) and defensive lineman Cesar Marquez (40 tackles, 20 solo, 1 TFL) recorded any varsity stats last year from a group that had 9 1/2 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and six interceptions, three of which came from Bradsher.

Click below to hear Perth Amboy head coach William Clark talk about the Panthers as they get set to take on Carteret in an old Thanksgiving Day rivalry: