Christian Lewis – Central Jersey Sports Radio

The newly-expanded Borden’s Baller of the Year voting has reached its conclusion, and we have a winner after a more than a week of voting, and over 122,000 votes cast!

But, we’re not going to tell you that easily!

This year’s voting added another round. With 59 Big Central Conference teams now represented, we divided the total vote to come up with three finalists: one from Middlesex County, one from Union County, and a third from the “Big Central West” – Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties.

The finalists were:

Middlesex County: Brody Nugent, Old Bridge
Union County: Jordan Walsh, Westfield
Big Central West: Christian Lewis, Franklin

And we’re still not going to tell you who won. Click below to listen to the “2024 Borden’s Ballers Awards Show” to find out!

One more round to go!

With nearly 45,000 votes cast for the 2024 Borden’s Baller of the year, we now have three finalists – one in each of three regions – and now it’s time for them to face off to determine the ultimate Borden’s Baller.

Adding in all the Big Central Conference schools this season, we have one finalist from each of three regions: Middlesex (24 teams), Union (17 teams) and Big Central West, including Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties (20 teams).

Here are the finalists, and the next couple of vote-getters in each region:

Middlesex County

Brody Nugent, Old Bridge (finalist)
Kyle Johnston, Metuchen
Shaun Garland, Edison

Union County

Jordan Walsh, Westfield (finalist)
Andrew Avent, Rahway
Oscar Marx, Summit

Big Central West (Somerset, Hunterdon Warren Counties)

Christian Lewis, Franklin (finalist)
Terrence Hanratty, Bernards
Jett Genovese, Phillipsburg

So, now it’s down to three! Here are the bios for your finalists for the 2024 Borden’s Baller of the Year!

Old Bridge – Brody Nugent: Junior quarterback Brody Nugent might be called the Houdini of the Big Central Football Conference! In just two seasons this Knight has dissected enemy defenses for 2100 yds in the air for 23 touchdowns while traversing the field for 1745 yards and 21 scores on the ground in just 18 games. Just when the defense thinks they have him pinned in or stopped, he spins out of a tackle extending the play while being laser-focused on finding his target or the end zone!
Westfield – Jordan Walsh: The sophomore receiver/quarterback has started the last two games for the Blue Devils with wins over North Brunswick and Bridgewater-Raritan. He has accounted for 182 yards passing for 2 touchdowns, 181 yards rushing for 3 scores and 71 yards as a receiver. On defense he has 20 plus tackles with 2 scores on and interception and fumble returned for six.
Franklin – Christian Lewis: Franklin’s football program has improved steadily each year under Blair Wilson, going winless in his first campaign while giving the Warriors the opportunity to finish 2024 with a winning record for the first time since 2012. The senior Lewis has been an integral part of this transformation. The 6’3 180 WR/DB has the size and speed to play at the next level. He has 13 catches for 173 yards and 1 touchdown. As a defensive back he recorded 21 tackles, 1 interception and a forced fumble and one for a recovery.