Tag: Chase Rizzo

by Mike Pavlichko

Rizzo saves the day for No. 3 Old Bridge with late pick to down No. 8 Sayreville, 14-12

Even the rain that burst from the clouds at halftime at Lombardi Field in Old Bridge couldn’t spoil the Knights’ evening.

The PA speakers blared Neil Diamond and Miley Cyrus singalongs, and everyone enjoyed themselves, even as No. 8 Sayreville got as close as within two with under four minutes to go in the third, and as they threatened to go ahead of No. 3 Old Bridge in the closing minutes.

But on a 4th-and-11 from their own 48, sophomore quarterback Marcus Butka threw a bomb down the right sideline that was picked off in stride by junior Chase Rizzo, who smartly slid to the turf at the ten knowing the Bombers had just one time out, and that his team could close out the victory with a knee.

Which they did – in the Big Central Game of the Week on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by Bellamy & Son Paving – to improve to 5-1, win their second straight over their neighbors, and keep them in the hunt for a top-seed in the playoffs in the South Group 5 supersection.

Senior quarterback Aiden Rios threw a six-yard TD pass to Amari Alsbrook to open the scoring on the game’s first possession, and ran for a 36-yard score of his own in the third quarter, enough to give the Knights the win. He finished with 80 yards rushing on ten carries, and was 6-of-7 passing with an interception for 114 yards, while Rizzo – the only other player to run the ball – finished with 120 yards on 20 carries.

For Sayreville, Philip Sayouwoh kicked two first-half field goals, a 20-yarder, then a 42-yarder – a career best – while Sherwin Appiah had a 52-yard touchdown run in the third; he finished with 117 yards on 17 carries.

Sayreville drops to 4-2 with the loss, and has a visit to Somerville looming next week, while Old Bridge will head down to Monroe.

Click below for postgame reaction from Alec Crouthamel with Old Bridge QB Aiden Rios, RB/LB Chase Rizzo, and head coach Matt Donaghue, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 4 Old Bridge builds early lead, hangs on to edge out No. 8 St. Thomas Aquinas, 26-24

They might not be the powerhouse they were when they won a Big Central Conference record 35 straight league games from 2020 through 2025, but St. Thomas Aquinas is a very, very talented football team – playing more of the big boys every year – and creates a lot of headaches for a lot of opponents.

But it was No. 4 Old Bridge that likely gave the eight-ranked Trojans and their coaching staff headaches Friday night at Vince Lombardi Field, as the Knights built up a 23-0 lead before STA could get on the board, and it was enough to power a 26024 victory for Old Bridge.

The Knights opened the scoring at 6:38 of the first quarter on a three-yard touchdown run by Chase Rizzo to make it 7-0.

Then, just past the midway point of the second quarter, the Knights’ scored again, as QB Aiden Rios hit Amari Alsbrook for an eleven-yard touchdown strike. to make it 14-0 with 5:12 to go before the half.

Old Bridge called a time out with 3:30 to in the second anticipating an STA punt, and it helped the Knights punch in a one-yard run from Rizzo with 41.6 to go to make it 23-0. But that was enough time for Aquinas, which got on the board with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Zymere Weaver to Tristan Bester as time expired, and a good two-point try made it 23-8 at the break.

In the second half, the Trojans were not done. They got a touchdown closer at the 6:31 mark of the third, when Weaver hit Aaron Crooms for a 69-yard touchdown pass, with a two-point run making it 23-16.

But with 1:34 to go in the third, Old Bridge got perhaps its most important score of the game: a 34-yard field goal by Arain Mezera to put them up by ten, and they would need almost all of it.

That’s because with 8:23 to play, Tristan Bester picked off a pass from Rios, and the ensuing drive resulted in a Zymere Weaver one-yard touchdown run at 7:46 left to make it 26-24 with their third two-point conversion of the game.

Old Bridge, though, would chew up clock the rest of the way, and win the game to improve to 3-1, with all three wins in BCC play. St. Thomas fell to 3-1 on the year.

Click below for postgame reaction with Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue, senior RB/DB Chase Rizzo and junior QB Aiden Rios, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rizzo, big plays key No. 4 Old Bridge past South Brunswick, 21-0, in BCC National Gold opener

After averaging 42 points a game in their first two contests, the Old Bridge offense was held in check save for a couple of big plays Friday night in Monmouth Junction.

But those big plays were enough to power the fourth-ranked Knights to a 21-0 win at South Brunswick in the Big Central National Gold Division opener for both schools, on the Bellamy & Son Paving Game of the Week heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The first big play came on the second play from scrimmage. After a six-yard run by Chase Rizzo, he hauled in a touchdown pass going 57 yards to open the scoring and give the Knights a 7-0 lead just 12 seconds in.

South Brunswick put together a five minute drive and moved the ball, but had a field goal blocked to end it, a microcosm of what their night would be like.

But their defense held firm for a while. They held Old Bridge to a turnover on downs, then had a nearly six-minute drive, but also turned it over on downs, and Old Bridge did the same on their end.

In the closing minutes of the first half, with a fourth-and-20 at the South Brunswick 39, Griffin Nugent came on to punt, but it was a fake, and a completed pass set up the Knights near the goal line, where Rizzo ran it in for his second score of the game with 1:05 left before the break, to make it 14-0 at halftime.

In the second half, it was much of the same: long drives by the Vikings, and an inability to score, but on defense, they again held firm, keeping Old Bridge to a pair of three-and-outs by early in the fourth quarter.

More late chances led to missed opportunities, including two more interceptions by South Brunswick QB Brendan Shearstone, and Old Bridge punched in one more score – on another big play, a 59-yard touchdown run by Rizzo – to provide the final margin.

For Old Bridge, they were also without the services of starting QB Aiden Rios for a bit of the first half and the entire second. The coaching staff told Central Jersey Sports Radio after the game that he banged up his non-throwing shoulder. And his status for a home game next Friday against No. 8 St. Thomas Aquinas is unknown.

Click below for postgame reaction from Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue, junior Chase Rizzo and senior Griffin Nugent, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: