Tag: Chris Meagher

by Mike Pavlichko

As Spotswood wraps third straight 8-2 season, head coach Chris Meagher steps down

Less than 24 hours after the Spotswood football team finished off an 8-2 season – snubbed by the NJSIAA’s UPR playoff formula in favor of 3-5 Camden Eastside on a strength of schedule tiebreaker – head coach Chris Meagher has stepped down.

Meagher coached the Chargers for four seasons, and after a 1-8 campaign in his first, a rebuilding year, Spotswood never won fewer than seven games his next four seasons, going 7-3 in 2022, then 8-2 in 2023, last season, and this year.

And the 2025 team was something special. They started the year 6-0 and never allowed more than eight points in a game until a 20-19 loss to Dayton, where they scored a late touchdown, decided to go for two after a penalty on the PAT try, but got stopped just short of the goal line.

They rebounded with a 41-8 win at South Hunterdon, and a 26-16 win over Roselle Park. While the finished the regular season with three victories over five-win clubs, it was no match for the state’s playoff formula.

While Spotswood will lose talented seniors like QB/DE Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage, RB/LB Sebby Saracino, and excellent kicker Gavin Pereira, they’ll return sophomore wideout and defensive back Ryan Foster, as well as backup QB Jon Regan and sophomore defensive lineman Tyrus Lazar in 2026.

As far the the head coaching job, one potential candidate – if he wants it – could be Andy Steinfeld, the former East Brunswick coach who joined his son, Matt, on Meagher’s staff this season. Meagher called the hire “a home run” back in the preseason.

Andy (lt.) and Matt (rt.) Seinfeld
Former East Brunswick football head coach Andy Steinfeld (left) has joined his son, Matt, on Chris Meagher’s staff at Spotswood. (Photo: Marcus Borden)

Steinfeld spent five years coaching at East Brunswick, going 18-28, but going 4-4 during the COVID year.

Meagher – a health and physical education teacher – had been coaching at North Brunswick under Mike Cipot prior to Spotswood, leaving a teaching job there to lead the Chargers. But in the time since, he was unable to get a job in the high school, instead working at Schoenly, an elementary school in the district.

The small high school has only five phys ed/health teachers, and it’s a district that typically has very little turnover. But coaches often prefer to work in the same building where they coach, otherwise it leads to them getting to practice on a daily basis later than the rest of the staff.

Two coaches standing and talking on a football field, surrounded by green turf and yellow markings.
Spotswood head coach Chris Meagher (right) and Middlesex mentor Bobby Swercheck before the 2025 season opener in Spotswood on August 28, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Meagher is leaving to take a teaching job at Edison High School, his alma mater, where he graduated in 2007. And he says he wanted to let Spotswood know as soon as possible so the administration could get a head start on the hiring process.

Click below to hear Chris Meagher talk about stepping down as Spotswood head coach with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood controls all three phases in solid Opening Night win over Middlesex

Week Zero games can be a crap shoot. Sometimes it all goes right, sometimes the play is real sloppy.

For the Spotswood football team, it was about 98 percent the first option.

In their first meeting since the COVID season, 2020, the Chargers scored three first half touchdowns and shut out visiting Middlesex, 38-0, powering through a long delay for an injured Blue Jays’ player in the third quarter, then rain for much of the second half to hang on to the shutout in the 2025 season opener for both schools, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Senior quarterback Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage capped off three first half scoring drives – all of which started on the Middlesex side of the field – with touchdown runs of six, three and 23 yards, to give Spotswood a 21-0 lead at the break. He opened the second-half scoring with a 26-yard TD strike to sophomore Ryan Foster.

Others got into the scoring after that. Senior kicker Gavin Pereira booted a 45-yard field goal with 1:34 to go in the third, hitting from the right hash mark into a left-to-right crosswind, just getting it over the crossbar inside the left post. Then, with 10:26 to go in the game, Foster scored on the defensive side, with a 54-yard scoop and score.

Tolbert-Brimage finished 4-of-7 passing for 48 yards, with one unfortunate interception, a screen pass that went off the receiver’s fingertips, and bounced five yards away to a Blue Jay. He rushed for 119 yards on 12 carries to lead the team, while senior Sebby Saracino carried 12 times for 68 yards. Six different players logged at least two carries in the game.

Spotswood senior QB Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage celebrates his third touchdown of the game in a 38-0 home win over Middlesex on August 28, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Middlesex quarterback Matthew Petti, Jr. – a sophomore making his first varsity start – was 11-of-14 for 68 yards, with no TDs but also no turnovers. Most of that yardage came in the second half.

Sophomore Jo Jo Pham was the injured player in the second half. A long stoppage resulted, and word from the field was he had an elbow injury. Pham was taken off the field on a stretcher as a precaution.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!

Spotswood senior QB/DE Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage and sophomore WR/CB Ryan Foster
Spotswood head coach Chris Meagher
by Mike Pavlichko

With a ton of skill players back, veteran-heavy Spotswood looks to get off on the right foot when Chargers host Middlesex in ’25 opener

Quarterback Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage has evolved in his role as a leader. Sebastian “Seb” Saracino will run the rock and act as one-man tackle machine on defense. And Gavin Pereira is virtually automatic on PATs, with good length on field goals.

Yes, Spotswood football – even after back-to-back division championships and 8-2 seasons – could be poised for even greater heights in 2025.

That all starts Thursday night, when the Chargers host Middlesex for the first time since the COVID season of 2020, and in their first game under their brand-new set of lights. You can hear the Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Game of the Week on Central Jersey Sports Radio at 7 pm, with pregame set for 6:45. Mike Pavlichko will call all the action with guest color commentator Ben LaSala, the former AD and football coach at Colonia who has been the Vice President of the League since its beginning. Click here to listen.

Spotswood and Middlesex were frequent opponents in the days of Greater Middlesex Conference football. That changed with the advent of the Big Central Conference in 2020, and this Week Zero meeting will be their first since.

Chargers’ head coach Chris Meagher and Middlesex skipper Bobby Swercheck are good friends, having both coached together as assistants at North Brunswick. Not at the same time, but they were both teachers in the district for several years, and came to know each other that way.

Both were looking for a competitive game to open the season with, and it seemed like a perfect fit.

The Blue Jays have some question marks at some skill positions, but still should be competitive this season with a scrappy group of kids, some of whom also happen to play on the Middlesex baseball team, which won a state title in Group 1 this past Spring.

Click below to hear Spotswood head coach Chris Meagher talk about the Chargers’ season opener Thursday against Middlesex with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Andy (lt.) and Matt (rt.) Seinfeld
by Marcus Borden

Spotswood keeps it in the family, as ex-EB coach Andy Steinfeld joins his son, Matt, as assistant with the Chargers

Chris Meagher believes “he hit a home run” by adding former East Brunswick head football coach Andy Steinfeld to the Chargers coaching staff. 

With 31 years of coaching football, five as a head coach, Steinfeld joins his son Matt, affectionately called “Coach Stein” by the Chargers’ players and staff.

Matt Steinfeld enters his fourth season with Spotswood and is a guidance counselor at the high school. He did not play football in high school, but he was a member of the baseball team at East Brunswick.

His first year at Spotswood he was offered a position with the football program and made a smooth transition learning the subtleties of the game while possessing a genuine care for the student athletes he would be coaching or advising for the Chargers.

Now, with the addition of his father to the coaching staff, Matt’s quarterbacks will spend plenty of time meshing with the running backs as Meagher intends to use “Coach Steinfeld” as his running backs coach, while Andy has plenty of experience with the zone read offense.

With returning quarterback Senior Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage orchestrating the offense and Senior Sebastian Saracino, a three-year starter at running back, the Steinfelds will play an integral role in the team’s offensive development and success.

Furthermore, Spotswood’s mentor intends to utilize his most experienced assistant coach in the press box on game day as he will be “my eyes in the sky,” since Andy brings a wealth of knowledge, which includes playing for championships in December.

Watch CJSR analyst Marcus Borden talk with Spotswood assistant Andy Steinfeld.

As for Matt, he will be on the sidelines as the Special Teams Coordinator, with the responsibility of getting the correct personnel on the field when needed in a timely fashion.  He will also have time to personally talk to his quarterbacks as they come off the field about any reads or adjustments needed for the offense.

When asked about how unique this opportunity was to coach with his father, Coach Stein said “I may not have the words right now, but one day we are going to look back on this and it’s going to be cool.  I get to coach with the man I idolized growing up.”

Watch CJSR analyst Marcus Borden talk with Spotswood assistant coach Matt Steinfeld.

For Andy, it was a no-brainer to accept the offer to coach at Spotswood for several reasons. They are a talented team with plenty of experience and the desire to take the program to new heights, but more importantly, it was the chance to coach with his son.

“There is nothing better than working every day with my son. To see him coach a sport he didn’t play, I can be a proud dad and if I can end my career as a coach doing it with Matt, there is not a better situation for me personally.”

As the season gets underway in earnest on August 11, the Chargers will have a practice run with the experienced eyes of Coach Steinfeld in the press box as they take on South Plainfield in a final tune-up before their season opener at home on Thursday August 28 at 7 p.m.

Steinfelds
Former East Brunswick football head coach Andy Steinfeld (left) has joined his son, Matt, on Chris Meagher’s staff at Spotswood. (Photo: Marcus Borden)
by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood gets everyone into the act in 17-0 home win over South Hunterdon on Senior Night

The goal coming into Friday night’s game against South Hunterdon was simple: slow down Ed Cooper.

The South Hunterdon senior has been responsible for the vast majority of his team’s yards this year, and Friday night was no exception. But two Eagle miscues in the first half proved costly, and the Chargers made them pay.

The first came on a carry by Kellan Healy on the opening possession of the game. He fumbled at the Spotswood 39.

The Chargers marched down field, and junior QB Se’mir Tolbert Brimage capped off a seven-play drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

In the second quarter, Stephen Henits blocked a South Hunterdon punt, and gave his Chargers primo field position. While they didn’t reach the end zone, Gavin Pereira put one through the uprights from 27 yards away to make it 10-0 with 3:51 to go before the half.

On Spotswood’s second possession of the third quarter, they scored again. Sebastian “Seb” Saracino scored on the Chargers’ longest drive of the night – 12 plays – running it in from one-yard out, giving his team a 17-0 lead with the PAT.

South Hunterdon tried mixing in a change of pace to open things up for Cooper, but Healy and McCade Cummings couldn’t get it open enough.

Spotswood improves to 7-1 and has won seven straight since a season-opening non-league loss at Wood-Ridge. It was their fourth shutout of the season, the others coming against Brearly, Bound Brook and arch-rival South River.

The Eagles fall to 3-4.

Click below for postgame reaction from Alec Crouthamel, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Stephen Henits, Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage, Sebastian Saracino
Head Coach Chris Meagher
by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood capitalizes on Dayton miscues as Chargers continue playoff push with 34-7 victory in first game on brand-new turf

The sun was shining on a gorgeous fall day, glistening off the field just in time for the Chargers’ first game on their brand-new turf.

Saturday afternoon didn’t start well for Spotswood, which went all the way down the field on its opening drive of the game, only to fumble on the one-yard line.

But most of the rest of the way? It all went their way in a 34-7 home victory in their first game on their brand-new turf field.

Dayton took the lead briefly in the game. After Gavin Periera booted a 34-yard field goal to put the Chargers up 3-0 with 30 seconds to go in the first quarter, J.J. DeSarno found Adrian Bernknopf for an eight-yard touchdown pass, putting the Bulldogs up 7-3 in the second quarter.

And that’s when the Charger offense came alive. First, quarterback Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage ran in a 12-yard score at 6:14 of the second to give Spotswood the lead back at 10-7 with the PAT.

On the next possession, the Chargers forced Dayton into a punt, then blocked it, with Jayson Tejada returning it for six, making it 17-7.

Another Dayton turnover on their next possession boosted Spotswood yet again, as Julian Sanchez recovered a fumble, and Seb Saracino capitalized with a three-yard TD run to make it 24-7 with 47 seconds to go before the half.

And they still weren’t done. Spostwood recovered a pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff, and with timeouts in hand, got down to the ten before Tolbert-Brimage hit Vinny Young for a touchdown pass 12 seconds before halftime to make it 31-7 going into the break.

Periera added a 35-yard field goal late in the third quarter.

Spotswood improves to 6-1 as it continues to push toward the playoffs. Despite one loss, they entered the week at No. 17 in the South Group 2 supersection, but unofficially pulled into 15th before the Dayton game based on results from Thursday and Friday night.

Gridiron New Jersey typically releases updated official NJSIAA UPR standings as early as Sunday during the season.

The Chargers will face South Hunterdon (3-3) Friday night at home. Dayton will host Dunellen (0-7) Friday night.

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden with the Spotswood Chargers, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Marcus Borden’s 2024 GMC/BCC Camp Caravan: Manville, Metuchen, Spotswood hit the Shore for quad scrimmage at Point Pleasant Beach

Central Jersey Sports Radio high school football analyst Marcus Borden took advantage of the beautiful weather Tuesday morning to catch Manville, Metuchen and Spotswood in a quad scrimmage down at Point Pleasant Beach, as he continues his Camp Caravan tour in the 2024 preseason.

You can find videos – including video highlights and interviews – from all three teams below.

Manville: Head Coach Dave Markowitch, senior Armondo Lazzeri (G/DE), and juniors Josh D’Ambrosio (QB/S) and Isaiah Bennett (RB/LB)

Metuchen: Head Coach Jordan Leitner, senior Evan Toth (RB/LB and juniors Kyle McPartlan (QB), Cam Hayes-Durina (WR/S) and Justus Leitner (WR/CB)

Spotswood: Head Coach Chris Meagher, seniors John Wallace (OT/DT), Sebastian “Seb” Saracino (RB/LB), Stephen Henits (WR/OLB) and junior Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage (QB/DE)

You can now watch all the 2024 Camp Caravan videos on YouTube by clicking this link!

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood keeps growing program, aims for continued success after 8-2 playoff season and Big Central Freedom Gold title

By most measures, the 2023 Spotswood football team had a wonderful season.

With an 8-2 record, the Chargers won the Freedom Gold Division and made the playoffs – albeit narrowly, although that may have been more of a function of their schedule and the NJSIAA playoff formula – but there’s still room for improvement.

They’ve done that over the past two seasons, going from 1-8 in head coach Chris Meagher’s debut season, but then went 7-3 in 2022 – missing the playoffs somehow – and 8-2 a year ago.

They may be untested at quarterback, but for a small school they will have a big kid there in Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage. He”s a transfer from North Brunswick, where he mainly played at defensive end.

He’s a hulk at 6’4″ 220 pounds, and enjoys contact, so you can expect him to embrace running the ball as much as throwing it, or hitting quarterbacks on the opposing team. And it’s probably a good thing he plays both, and doesn’t have to hit his own QB in practice.

Click below to hear from Spotswood fourth-year head coach Chris Meagher and Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage at Big Central Media Day:

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood squeaks by JP Stevens to clinch first playoff berth since 2015

It was a close one, yet again, but the one thing the NJSIAA playoff formula doesn’t factor in are style points.

If that were the case, it could be a different story in Spotswood Saturday afternoon. Then again, the Chargers have never been about style, and more about toughness, grit and embracing an underdog mentality.

They may not have been the underdogs either in their game against JP Stevens, even though the Hawks are a Group 5 school; after all, they had lost 38 straight games coming into Chargers Stadium.

But the two played each other tight last year – Spotswood won 18-7 a year ago – and this Saturday was no different, a 22-18 win, but with one major difference: this one got them in the playoffs.

The Chargers had six wins at last year’s cutoff, but a weak schedule kept them out. It almost did this year, but they made it – at 8-1, and needing a win on the final weekend – but they made it, and entirely on merit.

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood wins rare lightning-shortened football game, as Chargers drop Brearley 31-14

Spotswood had some chances to put the game out of reach for Brearley. Ultimately, Mother Nature did it for them.

The Chargers are now 3-0 after beating the Bears (0-2) Saturday afternoon in a 41 minute, 51 second game. With 6:09 remaining – right after a one-yard touchdown run by Mike Kollarik, and as Brearley was setting up to kick off – Spotswood Athletic Director Mike DelAversano walked out onto the field to talk to the officials.

Lightning had been seen in the area, so the teams left the field, the stands were emptied, and everyone went into a holding pattern.

It hadn’t started raining yet, but once the skies opened – and a monsoon complete with huge lightning bolts and hail got underway – it was a foregone conclusion the game would be cancelled.

About a half-hour later, at 3:15, DelAversano called and spoke to Brearley AD and Big Central Conference President Scott Miller, and the two mutually agreed to end the game, with Spotswood the winner.

NJSIAA rules state a suspended game must be completed no later than Monday, but with Spotswood playing on Thursday next week due to Rosh Hoshanah, that was an impossibility.

Spotswood did all its scoring in the first half, with Stephen Henits and Colin Pfeiffer nabbing a touchdown catch apiece. Quin Esser and Trey Lazar each ran one in, and Noah Rodriguez kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it 31-0 at the break.

A touchdown late in the first half would have instituted a running clock in the second, and maybe ended the game before the weather did.

Instead, Brearley got a touchdown catch by Paul Santoro, and the TD run by Kollarik with 6:09 left to make it 31-14, and that was as far as they would get.

Click below to hear postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen, as Mike Pavlichko talked to Spotswood head coach Chris Meagher after the game: