Tag: Chet Parlavecchio Jr.

by Mike Pavlichko

New Providence, Cedar Grove to rematch in North 2, Group 1 title game, but this time on Pioneers’ home turf

This one is the same, but different.

It’ll be quasi deja vu in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 title game Friday night in New Providence, when the third-seeded Pioneers (10-0) host fourth-seed Cedar Grove (8-3).

This was the matchup last year, after New Providence went on a solid late-season and playoff run, making it to the finals for the first time since they won it all in 2010.

But this season, the Pioneers look a little different. Gone is quarterback T.J. Munn, who graduated after rushing for 1,000-plus yards last year. They returned another thousand-yard rushed in A.J. Whitehead, but he suffered a season-ending broken leg against Verona on October 10th. And don’t forget about center Joe Ping, a starter last year, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury the first week of camp.

Yet, with senior Jack Fitzgerald moving over from wide receiver to runningback, New Providence hasn’t missed a beat. The only undefeated team remaining in the Big Central – and one of just seven playoff-eligible (Non-Ivy) perfect teams left in the state – the Pioneers have outscored their opponents 147-31 since that Verona game, with Fitzgerald rushing for 476 yards and four touchdowns.

Last week, he had the game winner in the semifinals against Hasbrouck Heights, also a rematch of last year’s semis. He scored from the 25 on the first play from scrimmage in overtime, and after the defense held, they came back home to Union County with a 28-21 victory.

And they figured they might be on the road again this year in the finals, until they saw Cedar Grove knock off top-seed Mountain Lakes. So the Panthers, while they may be the four-seed, aren’t to be taken lightly.

Meanwhile, junior QB Kevin Reilly has run the show well on offense, passing for exactly 1,000 yards on the season, with 14 TDs to just two picks.

Defensively, the Pioneers have logged 23 sacks – 5 1/2 from Jack Keneally and 4 1/2 from Drew Gullo, both senior linemen who can be disruptive.

Cedar Grove, on the other hand, while 8-3, has a couple of good losses in Wayne Valley and Caldwell, as well as a defeat at the hands of Group 4 Newark Central. And while they may be a bigger school, that’s the same team that was blown out 55-14 by Phillipsburg in the opening round of the North 2, Group 4 playoffs, in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated.

The Panthers not only are the defending champions, but went all the way to the Group 1 final, eventually losing to Glassboro, finishing the season 13-1.

Click below to hear New Providence head coach Chet Parlavecchio, Jr., talk about this year’s trails and tribulations – all through a 10-0 season – and their finals matchup against Cedar Grove:

by Mike Pavlichko

New Providence earns second straight finals trip with 28-21 OT win at Hasbrouck Heights

No one led by more than a touchdown, and they needed more than 48 minutes to decide the game.

That’s playoff football, folks.

In Hasbrouck Heights Friday night, third-seed New Providence got three touchdowns from Jack Fitzgerald – including what turned out to be the game winner in overtime – to come out with a 28-21 win over the second-seeded Aviators, clinching a berth in next week’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 final.

Add in the fact that top-seed Mountain Lakes was upset at home by fourth-seed Cedar Grove, 22-15, in the other semifinal, and it all adds up to the Pioneers hosting that title game, next Friday night at 6:30.

After a scoreless first quarter, New Providence took a 14-0 lead on consecutive touchdowns, a 45-yard run by Kevin Reilly, and a 13-yard run by Fitzgerald, a wide receiver converted to running back when A.J. Whitehead suffered a season-ending leg injury a few weeks ago.

But Heights got the next three scores. Brady Shine caught a 16-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7 at the break, then Michael Napolitano scored on a ten-yard run in the third to tie it at 14-all, and Shine caught another touchdown pass in the fourth – from Nico Nipitella for 63-yards, to take a 21-14 lead.

And that’s where Fitzgerald took over. He scored from 33-yards out to tie the game at 21 in the fourth.

Then, getting the ball first in overtime, Fitzgerald scored from 25 yards out on the very first play to give the Pioneers a 28-21 lead. On the Aviators’ turn, they got a first down, then took a loss of a yard before throwing three straight incomplete passes to end the game.

So now, it’s New Providence – the last unbeaten team in the Big Central at 10-0 after Manville’s loss at Burlington City Friday night – going up against Cedar Grove (8-3) for the North 1, Group 1 title, a rematch of last year’s final, which the Panthers won 35-14 en route to the state Group 1 final, which they lost to Glassboro.

But that one was on the road. This time, the Pioneers will be at home, looking for a better outcome – and their seventh overall sectional title.

Click below to hear head coach Chet Parlavecchio, Jr., talk about the win with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

7th Heaven! New Providence continues streak against Governor Livingston, as Whitehead scores 4 TDs in 42-7 win to take Mayors’ Trophy

Breaking up the duo of quarterback T.J. Munn and runningback A.J. Whitehead left New Providence with some question marks for this year. Sure, Whitehead was back, but with Munn graduating, could they replicate the magic of last year’s run to the North 2, Group 1 sectional title game?

They’re off to a good start. And junior QB Kevin Reilly, in his first start, looked the part, going 9-of-14 for 171 yards and a 65-yard touchdown pass to Dan Porretti in a 42-7 win at Governor Livingston Saturday in the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Oh, and Whitehead still did his thing. He got the scoring started with a three-yard touchdown run on the Pioneers’ first possession, then – after a second three-and-out – returned a Highlander Punt 57 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0 just over six minutes into the game.

Jack Fitzgerald made it 21-0 just 81 seconds before halftime with a four-yard touchdown run.

And after the scoring strike to Porretti less than two minutes into the third quarter, Whitehead would score twice more, the first of which was a 67-yard pick-six to make it 35-0 with 3:27 left in the third, to kick start the running clock.

Governor Livingston got one back on a big play of their own, a 76-yard run by Elijah Garcia to cut it to 35-7. But then Whitehead added one more three-yard push for his fourth touchdown of the day with 8:47 to play, providing the final score.

New Providence (1-0) amassed 247 yards of total offense in the game in winning its seventh straight over GL, now leading the series 32-8-2. They’re back in action next Friday, hosting A.L. Johnson (1-0) in their home opener. The Crusaders beat them 28-24 in Week 2 last season.

The Highlanders (0-2) will make their first road trip of the season next Friday when they head to JFK (1-1).

Click below to listen to postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko with New Providence senior A.J. Whitehead, junior Kevin Reilly, and head coach Chet Parlavecchio, Jr., presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!

A football game in progress with players from two teams on the field, the crowd visible in the background. One player carries the ball while others pursue.
New Providence senior A.J. Whitehead has nothing but green ahead of him on this 68-yard pick six in a 42-7 win at rival Governor Livingston on September 6, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
by Dom Savino

New Providence hangs tough, but run ends in North 2, Group 1 final at Cedar Grove

It was a fun run, but in the end, not to be.

Second-seed New Providence managed to rally from a two-score deficit in the first half, but couldn’t do the same in the second, falling at top-seed and undefeated Cedar Grove, 35-14, in the North 2, Group 1 sectional championship game Friday night.

The contest marked the Pioneers’ 20th sectional final appearance – a Union County record – and their first in 14 years since they won it all in 2010.

New Providence (9-3) struggled to contain Cedar Grove (12-0) wide receiver Jackson Morrice, who racked up 272 combined yards and three touchdowns.

Morrice contributed two scores in a five-minute span during the third quarter, sending Cedar Grove into the lead for good. The senior’s final touchdown came on the craftiest play of the game, a direct snap to Morrice as quarterback Stephen Paradiso walked toward the sideline pretending to strain to hear a play call.

Cedar Grove’s Paradiso-Morrice connection proved fruitful again, as the two linked up for 246 of Paradiso’s 301 passing yards.

New Providence had trouble slowing Cedar Grove’s passing attack early. Paradiso — the school’s all-time passing yards and touchdowns leader — found the end zone on each of the Panthers’ first two drives. Cedar Grove took a 14-0 lead with 2:42 left in the first quarter on a deep ball that Morrice ran under for an 80-yard score.

But, in a hole and playing in the team’s biggest game in more than a decade, New Providence looked unfazed. The Pioneers’ defense forced turnovers on the following two Cedar Grove possessions, thanks to a Quinton Moore interception and a strip sack recovered by James Keneally.

New Providence’s two-headed monster of quarterback T.J. Munn and running back A.J. Whitehead jumpstarted the offense from there. Whitehead capped a grinding, 12-play, 55-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge. And, soon after Keneally’s fumble recovery gave the Pioneers the ball inside Cedar Grove’s 30, Munn picked out Jack Fitzgerald in the back of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown throw with 45 seconds left in the half.

Munn finished with a game-high 132 rushing yards on 16 carries. Whitehead provided yeoman’s work, too, earning 22 carries for 89 rushing yards.

But after churning up 164 yards in the first half, New Providence’s vaunted run game was slowed to just 63 yards after halftime as Cedar Grove found greater success carving into the backfield.

Cedar Grove earns its second North 2, Group 1 sectional championship in the last four years. The undefeated Panthers advance to play Butler in a matchup of sectional No. 1 seeds in the Group 1 state semifinals.

New Providence finishes the season with nine wins, matching the program’s most since 2010. In Munn and Whitehead, the Pioneers had two 1,000-yard rushers for the first time since at least 2010, as well.

Click below to hear New Providence head coach Chet Parlavecchio Jr. talk postgame with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino:

by Dom Savino

New Providence looks to pen latest championship chapter in North 2, Group 1 title bout Friday at Cedar Grove

New Providence football is a storied program with an awards case that features a trophy from the inaugural year of New Jersey’s sectional championships in 1974.

It’s been a while since the Pioneers played for a state title. But this year’s team is writing the latest chapter in a rich postseason history.

Two-seed New Providence (9-2) will make its first sectional final appearance in 14 years when it travels to top-seed Cedar Grove (11-0) for the North 2, Group 1 title game Friday night at 7.

The game will mark the Pioneers’ 20th trip to a sectional final and occurs during their 40th postseason run, both Union County records. New Providence last raised a sectional trophy in 2010, the final season that the program’s founder Frank Bottone served as head coach.

New Providence has been carried by a two-headed rushing attack of senior quarterback T.J. Munn and junior tailback A.J. Whitehead, each 1,000-yard runners with a combined 28 rushing touchdowns.

The duo has provided the spark for a turnaround season after last year’s 4-6 record, launching New Providence to its best postseason run under head coach Chet Parlavecchio.

Click below to hear New Providence head coach Chet Parlavecchio talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino:

by Mike Pavlichko

New Providence seeks first finals berth since 2010 when Hasbrouck Heights visits Friday

It’s been a minute since New Providence has played for a state title, but they’re a win away from getting that opportunity.

And if this week’s North 2, Group 1 semifinal game for the second-seeded Pioneers (8-2) against third-seed Hasbrouck Heights (7-2) goes anything like last week’s opening round playoff game, they will get that chance.

New Providence scored seven touchdowns last week, three off turnovers, never punted, and reached the end zone every single possession except for the two that ended each half. They won the turnover battle (+3) and their quarterback T.J. Munn and starting runningback A.J. Whitehead chewed up yard after yard in a 49-24 win over Boonton Saturday afternoon.

You can hear that game as our “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, with kickoff at 6:00 Friday night and pregame at 5:45 pm. Mike Pavlichko will be on the call with analyst Max Scheiner; click here to listen.

Munn has thrown for just 528 yards this year as the Pioneers focus on the ground game, where he’s second on the team in rushing with 925 yards to Whitehead, who leads the team with 971 yards on the ground, along with 12 touchdowns. Munn has rushed for a team-best 13 TDs.

The Avaiators, meanwhile, are even more focused on the run game, throwing for barely 800 yards as a team while rolling off almost 2,400 yards on the ground. Defensively, they have a beast defensive end in Joseph Russo, who’s tallied an eye-popping 13 sacks and 17 tackles for loss. Eoin Maloney (pronounced “Owen”) and Nico Nipitella each have three interceptions on the year.

New Providence last made the finals in 2010, finishing 11-1 and winning the North 2, Group 1 title with a 21-8 win over Lincoln under the legendary Frank Bottone. The program’s founder, Bottone retired after that game; he passed away in 2017.

Click below to hear previews of Friday’s game from both coaches:

New Providence head coach Chet Parlavecchio, Jr.
Hasbrouck Heights head coach Eddie Suri
by Mike Pavlichko

Munn runs it! New Providence takes out Boonton, 49-24, in North 2, Group 1 first round

Senior quarterback T.J. Munn ran for 231 yards on 12 carries, scoring three touchdowns, threw for another and hand an interception that helped salt away their 49-24 playoff win over Boonton Saturday in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 opening round.

The performance has the second-seeded Pioneers (8-2) a win away from their first berth in a sectional final in 14 years, as they’ll take on third-seed Hasbrouck Heights (6-2) out of the NJIC next Friday night in the semifinals, with game time to be determined.

Boonton won the toss and deferred, and New Providence took the ball, a move that paid off, as the Pioneers scored first and had the Bombers playing catch up all afternoon.

New Providence kicked off the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown from A.J. Whitehead on the game’s opening drive.  Boonton answered with a nearly ten-minute drive that spanned into the second quarter, settling for a 26-yard field goal.

The Pioneers added another score on their next drive, a 24-yard TD run by TJ Munn.  The Bombers then answered with another long drive, this time finding the end zone, with Josiah Chapman hitting paydirt from six yards out.

With a 14-10 halftime lead, Boonton got the ball first, but fumbled at their own 29 on a pitch play, and just three plays later, Whitehead scored his second touchdown of the game – from six yards out – to make it 21-10. Boonton answered on a one-yard run by Metin Ahmedi, but the Pioneers came right back with a four-play drive that ended with Munn’s 45-yard run to the end zone, making it 28-17.

The Bombers came back again in the early fourth quarter, and scored on a 29-yard TD pass from Ahmedi to Sylas White, but New Providence would get the next three scores to finish off Boonton.

Mike Petses of New Providence scores in the fourth quarter of a 49-24 playoff win over Boonton on November 2, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Munn hit Mike Petses for a 29-yard score with 8:20 to go, then off another fumble, Munn went 66-yards for his third TD of the day, and on the next Boonton possession, he picked off Ahmedi and set up an 11-yard Petses run to make the final 49-24.

Click below for postgame reaction from Mike Pavlichko in New Providence, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

New Providence runs Barth, runs him again, then runs him some more, en route to 35-13 playoff win over Del Val

Charlie Barth rushed 43 times for a career-high 326 yards en route to a playoff-opening win over Delaware Valley, 35-13 in Alexandria Township, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio

In the Big Central Game of the Week driven by Autoland, Barth also scored three touchdowns as the fifth-seed in the South Group 2 section advanced.

The win improves the Pioneers to 8-1, while the Terriers drop to 7-3.

Barth was impressive from the get-go, but not just on offense.

In fact, when Del Val got the ball to start the game and was marching downfield, Barth picked off a Jack Bill pass in the red zone to give his team the ball for the first time, leading to his first score of the game.

And Barth feeds Barth, who was named the Autoland Player of the Game, and will receive a custom football at the end of the year.

Barth accounted for 326 of his team’s 343 rushing yards and 355 yards of total offense.

His three TDs also gave him 70 for his career.

The 35 points also marked the first points New Providence has ever scored against Del Val, which had won the only two prior meetings by virtue of shutouts.

The Pioneers will move on to play top seed Pt. Pleasant Boro on the road next Friday night at 7. The Panthers beat 8th-seed Monmouth 34-14 Friday night at home.

Click below to hear postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko on the field with the Pioneers:

Senior runningback/linebacker Charlie Barth
Head coach Chet Parlevecchio, Jr.
by Mike Pavlichko

Pioneers spread it around in 40-8 defeat of Bound Brook

Bound Brook had the reputation of a spread offense, but New Providence spread the wealth in a 40-8 home defeat of the Crusaders Friday night.

Four different players scored for the Pioneers in the “Big Central Game of the Week” driven by Autoland, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Charlie Barth had two scores for New Providence, while Ben Gullo and Dean Licari each had TDs on the ground, and Licari threw another to Jack Verbaro on second and goal.

Barth was the Autoland “Big Central Player of the Game,” amassing 163 yards on just 12 carries, with touchdown runs of seven and 29 yards. He had nearly half his team’s total rushing yards, as New Providence accumulated 328 yards on the ground.

The Pioneers scored on each of their first five possessions of the game, and held Bound Brook scoreless until Patrick LePoidevin’s one-yard TD run with 4:40 left in the third quarter, cutting it to 32-8, though the Pioneers answered right back.

The win moves New Providence to 2-1 ahead of next week’s big rivalry game against Brearley, which also won Friday night to improve to 4-0.

Click below to hear postgame reaction down on the field from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino:

Runningback Charlie Barth

Head Coach Chet Parlavecchio, Jr.