Tag: Dan Higgins

by Mike Pavlichko

Late mistakes cost Piscataway shot at North 2, Group 5 finals appearance; Chiefs fall 27-13 to Bayonne in sectional semis

Points left on the board, late game mistakes.

Those spelled doom for the Piscataway football team Saturday afternoon, which was eliminated from the North Jersey, Section 2 Group 5 playoffs with a 27-13 loss to sixth-seed Bayonne, in the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The second-seeded Chiefs had the ball down by a touchdown, 20-13, but with 4:08 to go, and all their skill players involved in the offense. But deep in their own end, a toss from Landon Pernell to Zaire Young ended up on the ground, and Jerome Hayes, Jr. – the son of the Bayonne head coach – scooped it up and took it into the end zone to put the Bees up two touchdowns.

Piscataway still wasn’t finished though. They got the ball back with just over two minutes left. Maybe a quick score and an onside kick recovery could do the trick?

The Chiefs moved the ball, got to the Bayonne 30, then on a bad snap took another big loss, but eventually got back to the original line of scrimmage on third down. But on fourth-and-ten, Pernell throw to Sean Love streaking toward the left corner of the end zone, and the pass fell short.

Bayonne then was able to run out the clock for the win.

The Bees (8-3) will move on to Friday night’s North 2, Group 5 title game at Basilone Field in Bridgewater where they will meet top-seed Bridgewater-Raritan (8-3) at 6 pm. Piscataway’s season ends at 8-3.

The Chiefs had two field goals in the game, one by Victor Nogueira of 31 yards in the first half – after having a 38-yarded blocked earlier – and another of 31 by Patrick Novak in the fourth quarter. Sean Love had a 28-yard touchdown catch for the Chiefs, their only other score.

Click below for postgame reaction from Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Is Piscataway “back?” Chiefs host Bayonne in North 2, Group 5 semifinals, seeking first title game berth since 2018

Wins and losses are important, program development is important.

But success in some high school football programs is also measured by championships. And that’s the way it is in Piscataway.

Saturday afternoon at Kenny Armwood Stadium, the Chiefs will look to reach their first title game since 2018, when they won North 2, Group 5, then beat Ridgewood in the first North Group 5 bowl game to finish 13-0, setting a Middlesex County single-season win record that remains unmatched to this day.

It’ll be our “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, as second-seed Piscataway (8-2) takes on sixth-seed Bayonne (7-3) in the North 2, Group 5 semifinals live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Pregame is at 12:45 pm, with kickoff at 1. Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas are on the call; click here to listen. The game is sponsored in part by Piscataway Township and Mayor Brian Wahler.

Official seal of the Township of Piscataway, featuring a historic design with the year founded, 1666, and an emblematic representation of the township.

The Chiefs and Bees are familiar with each other. They met last year in the opening round, a 42-13 win for Piscataway, which bowed out in the semifinals, with a 35-0 loss to West Orange, which then lost to East Orange in the finals. The Chiefs also had playoff wins in 2017 and 2014 against Bayonne.

The winner will face off against either top-seed Bridgewater-Raritan (7-3) or fourth-seed Union City (6-3). That semifinal game will be Friday night at Basilone Field in Bridgewater. The Panthers beat the Chiefs at home back on September 5th, 34-27.

If Piscataway and Bridgewater win, the Panthers would host the finals next Friday night. Should the Chiefs get the Soaring Eagles, they would host the North 2, Group 5 title game next Saturday, their first title game at home since beating Union City for that 2018 title.

Piscataway and Bayonne are also very similar teams, with a lot of talent on the field, in need of superior line play to get the ball to their skill guys, and with some pretty good defenses as well. The Chiefs have held opponents to under ten points in five of their last seven games, and are 1-1 in the games where they’ve allowed more. The Bees haven’t allowed more than 15 points in their last six games, all wins.

While both teams are more experienced a year later, perhaps the biggest difference from 2024 to 2025 – for either team – is the addition of two key transfers for Piscataway who both began their scholastic careers in the program: Josiah Zayas and Mickye Simmons.

Zayas – a wide receiver – was in the Chiefs’ program for a year before transferring to St. Thomas Aquinas. Simmons – a runningback – was at P’way for two years before joining Zayas in North Edison. But both came back to their home district for their seniors years, although they had to sit out the first several weeks due to NJSIAA transfer rules, since it was their second switcheroo.

The two have been a big part of what Piscataway does offensively, and are playing big roles on defense, too, with Zayas at middle linebacker, and Simmons in the secondary.

If they and everyone else keeps doing their thing, and the Chiefs keep playing the way they have since a loss to Sayreville at home on October third, they’ll be partying like its 2018, with a chance at a ring for the first time in seven years.

Bayonne, meanwhile – for those unfamiliar – have a very balanced offense, running about 150 pass plays, and 196 on the ground. Senior QB Nico Sampson, Jr., has thrown for 1,362 yards and isn’t turnover prone in the least, with 21 TDs to just two picks. But Piscataway is a plus-10 in that regard this season.

Defensively, the bees have logged 24 sacks, almost two-and-a-half per game. And Jerome Hayes, Jr., the coach’s son, has two pick sixes on the season.

Click below to listen to pregame interviews with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins
Bayonne head coach Jerome Hayes

by Mike Pavlichko

Neighbors Piscataway, Plainfield to do battle in opening round North 2, Group 5 matchup Saturday afternoon

Sometimes, playoff games can be a contrast in styles, ever the more challenging when you have an unfamiliar opponent. Sometimes one system wins over another.

But when seventh-seed Plainfield (4-5) and second-seed Piscataway (7-2) meet Saturday afternoon in a North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 first-round playoff game, that will hardly be the case.

The two are neighboring towns, even though they have generally played in different leagues over the years, at least until the merger of the Mid-State and GMC Conferences to form the Big Central in 2020. They have only met once – in a 2008 playoff game the Chiefs won – and yet, they are intimately acquainted.

READ MORE: Our Group 4 and 5 playoff preview is here!

Sharing a border – which also divides Middlesex and Union County – the kids on both of these teams know each other well, practicing, working out and even socializing throughout the year, when they’re not on the football field.

And that should make for a great opening round matchup, filled with excitement, energy, and plenty of playoff tension, but with a healthy dose of respect between opponents as well.

“We know Piscataway, and they know us,” Plainfield head coach Donald Jones said this week. “It’s going to be fun.”

You can hear the game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio as our “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, with pregame at 12:45, and kickoff at 1 pm. Mike Pavlichko and Max Scheiner will be on the call; click here to listen.

Both teams have a ton of talent all over the field. Plainfield has had a more up-and-down season, but they have skill players that could fit on the Piscataway side of the field, they’re just looking for a little more consistency. When it goes right for the Cardinals, they play a smart, focused game.

We saw Plainfield earlier this season in a loss to Somerville, but that raw talent was on display. And quarterback Devin Thomas is dynamic. He leads the team in rushing with 466 yards, but also has thrown for over 2,000 yards and 27 touchdowns. More notably, he’s only thrown two interceptions all season, while the Piscataway defense has surged of late in the takeaway department, making that a fun matchup to watch.

On the other side, Piscataway also has playmakers, and got two former Chiefs back in the program when Josiah Zayas and Mickeye Simmons returned from St. Thomas Aquinas to play their senior seasons in their hometown. After they sat the requisite 30 days due to NJSIAA transfer rules, it took a little while to get them acclimated into the game plan, but head coach Dan Higgins believes that’s all worked itself out, and his team is playing its best football at the right time of year.

Click below to hear preview interviews with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins
Plainfield head coach Donald Jones

by Mike Pavlichko

Piscataway’s Kyle Wilson honored by Chiefs; standout star was key in peak of dynasty

He played on three state championship teams. His senior year, they were 12-0, with seven shutouts, and played with two other future first round NFL draft picks, besides himself.

And no, he didn’t play for Don Bosco Prep or Bergen Catholic.

He stayed home. He played for Piscataway. And 21 years later, he was honored Friday night by the Chiefs at halftime of their game with Sayreville. As PA man Kevin Donahue would say: “Please applaud him for his efforts!!”

After Pisctaway, of course, Wilson did leave home. He went to Boise State to play football, never getting the attention (he deserved) from bigger schools. That was right as the Broncos’ program was becoming a household name.

And soon, he was as well. All four years he was an all-Western Athletic Conference all four years, starring in 50 games, with 11 interceptions at cornerback, while also leading the nations with three punt returns for touchdowns in 2008, and two pick-sixes in 2009. He was a Sporting News All-American.

Then, the NFL came calling. After playing his whole career Fridays and Saturdays, he spent seven years playing on Sundays – five with the Jets and two more with the New Orleans Saints.

But back in Piscataway – where he donated money to help build an auxiliary gym at Quibbletown Middle School in the district – that’s where it all started. Not just athletically, but academically. He was a National honor Society member, and was also a All-Academic WAC honoree all four years at Boise State.

But, oh, on the field? In his senior season of 2004, he had just 106 touches. He scored on 23 of them, logging 138 points, which – at the time – set school records in both categories. His last was a 31-yard TD catch from QB Robert Rose to beat Phillipsburg at Rutgers Stadium for the North 2 Group 4 title, the Chiefs’ third straight.

In his high school career, Piscataway was 33-3 over that span, the best they’ve ever had.

And Kyle Wilson is one of the best the Chiefs have ever had.

Friday night, at halftime of the Sayreville-Piscataway game at Kenny Armwood Stadium, the Chiefs honored Wilson with a ceremony, the first of what head coach Dan Higgins says will be more, honoring the rich legacy of Piscataway football.

Click below to watch the video:

Video by Alec Crouthamel

Those other two first-round draft picks – Malcolm Jenkins and Anthony Davis – were amazing, too, and they’ll both likely be back for a halftime ceremony of their own, probably sooner than later.

Click below to hear former Piscataway, Boise State and NFL standout Kyle Wilson talk about his career – and what he’s up to now, and what’s next – with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 7 Piscataway, with improved defense, faces rival No. 8 Sayreville with solid finish in mind

Gerry Wilson, the volunteer Piscataway football assistant coach and resident “whisperer,” often sends the Chief players motivational messages aimed at getting the team in the right mindset. For him, there’s an unshakable belief that so much of football – nay, sports in general – is mental.

Yogi Berra may have had a quote about that.

“To quote Thomas Carlyle: “A Thought Once Awakened Does Not Again Slumber.” Simply Meaning: We cannot Afford to Take Time Off Any Plays. Once The Whitsle Blows We Must Go. Playing Fast, Physical and Smarter TO THE WHISTLE with HUSTLE and MUSCLE. MUST BE A MINDSET.”

That’s part of a typical message from Wilson, whose son (Piscataway ’05) Kyle won three state championships with the Chiefs and will be honored at halftime of their Week Five game. No doubt the younger Wilson lived it during those title runs in 2002, 20023 and 2004.

As for the 2025 team, a solid finish to a season currently sitting at 4-1 starts with finishing Friday night when No. 8 Sayreville (5-0), their old rivals from the GMC Red Division, come to Kenny Armwood Stadium of the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving.

You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, starting with pregame at 5:45 pm and kickoff at 6. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel have the call; click here to listen.

A big bonus for Piscataway has been the eligibility of two players who will be instrumental to the rest of the regular season, and any playoff run that might ensue. Both are transfers from St. Thomas Aquinas who call Piscataway their hometown.

Wide receiver /defensive back Josiah Zayas and runningback/linebacker Mickye Simmons had to sit out 30 days after coming back from North Edison, and both played their first game last week in a 28-0 win at South Brunswick. Zayas spent his freshman year in the Piscataway program before becoming a Trojan, and Simmons spent two years home before going there last year, playing sparingly on defense only.

For head coach Dan Higgins, both will figure into the remainder of the season significantly, on both sides of the ball, and especially Friday night against a Sayreville club that is off to its best start since a 6-0 beginning to 2018. They finished 11-1 that year and won the Central Jersey Group 5 title over North Brunswick, and beat Willilamstown on a fumble recovery int he end zone at MetLife Stadium to take the first-ever South Group 5 regional bowl championship.

Their only loss that season? 27-6 at home to Piscataway, which won the North 2, Group 5 championship, and beat Ridgewood in the North 5 Bowl Game the next day at MetLife, finishing 13-0, becoming the first – and still only – Middlesex County school to win 13 games.

Click here to listen to Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins talk about the Chiefs with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 8 Piscataway’s defense solves Wing-T, gets big red zone stand for 16-8 win over Ridgewood

The Piscataway offense has been up and down this year, but sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Special teams, too.

Up 14-8 early in the fourth Saturday afternoon at home against Ridgewood – after a close 4th-and-1 play gave the Maroons a first down in the red zone – the defense came up with a fourth down stop with 9:33 to play.

The offense played defense by running the ball, running it more, and then running it some more. They marched a good portion down the field, punted, and downed the ball inside the one with just 2:07 to go, taking over seven minutes off the clock.

That was the offense and special teams.

Then, the defense finished it off, getting a safety on the first play from scrimmage with 1:58 to go. With Ridgewood out of time outs – having called all three on the Chiefs’ long drive – P’way got a first down, and took a couple of knees to end it.

Piscataway junior Zaire Young scored the opening touchdown at 2:52 left in the first to make it 7-0, but Ridgewood answered just 51 seconds into the second quarter with a five-yard run and two-point conversion by sophomore Marcus Flusche to make it 8-7 Maroons.

The Chiefs would score after another long drive, this one nearly eight minutes, with junior QB Landon Pernell finding senior receiver Bryce Payne to make it 14-8.

Then came the long Ridgewood drive the Chiefs would stop in the red zone, their own long drive to eat the clock, the solid punt coverage, the safety, and – finally – the final horn.

Young finished with 158 yards and the one touchdown on 27 carries.

Click below for postgame reaction from Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!

by Mike Pavlichko

Piscataway’s Dan Higgins inducted into NJFCA Hall of Fame; Montgomery’s Milich receives Lifetime Achievement Award at Phil Simms North/South All-Star Classic

When Dan Higgins – the longtime head football coach at Piscataway High School – was inducted into the New Jersey Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame this weekend, the honor may have given Piscataway a quite distinct one.

It’s unknown (though we’ll try and dig to find out) whether anyone else has had three consecutive Hall of Fame coaches spanning 55 years in any other program in New Jersey, but that’s what Piscataway now has.

Higgins was inducted along with three others – while Montgomery’s Zoran Milich, who stepped down as coach earlier this year, was given the Dr. John Bateman Lifetime Achievement Award – Sunday afternoon at the Phil Simms North/South All-Star Classic at Kean University in Union.

Higgins’ late father, Tom, was Piscataway’s coach from 1970 through 1989, and Dan was a waterboy for him before he was even a teenager. The senior Higgins was inducted in 2001. Joe Kuronyi succeeded him, coaching from 1990 through 2002, and was enshrined in 2010. Now Higgins, who has been coach since 2003, is in the Hall of Fame with them.

Longtime Piscataway football coach Dan Higgins was inducted into the NJFCA Hall of Fame Saturday at the Phil Simms North/South All-Star Classic at Kean University in Union. (Graphic by John Thompson)

That means that for all but eleven years of Piscataway football’s 66-year history on the gridiron, they were led by a Hall of Fame coach.

How many schools can claim that?

Higgins is 173-58 in 21 seasons (Piscataway sat out fall sports in 2020 due to COVID) and has won seven state titles, with ten championship games berths. (New Jersey didn’t start playing to group champions until 2022.) Koronyi won a title in 2002, and Tom Higgins won championships in 1974 – the first year of the playoff era – and 1981. Dan Higgins’ 2018 team won the inaugural North Group 5 NJSIAA “regional bowl” championship, beating Ridgewood at MetLife Stadium.

Zoran Milich – who founded the Montgomery program more than two decades ago, and just stepped down in the off-season – was given the John Bateman Lifetime Achievement Award. Milich won his 100th game this past season, and finishes his tenure at the helm of the Cougar program with a record of 104-121-1. His longtime offensive coordinator, Sean Carty, now is leading the program.

Former longtime Montgomery football coach Zoran Milich was honored with the Dr. John Bateman Lifetime Achievement Award by the NJFCA at the Phil Simms North/South All-Star Classic on Sunday at Kean University in Union. (Source: @FootballMonty on Twitter)

Click here to read out story on Milich from late-January, including a one-on-one interview.

Also inducted into the NJFCA Hall of Fame along with Higgins were:

  • Longtime Morris County coach Cosmo LoRusso, who coached at Roxbury, Sussex Tech and Pequannock
  • Nine-time state champion Joe Rotondo, who was head coach at Union City and has been a part of nine state champions, now an offensive line coach at St. Peter’s Prep
  • Longtime Cranford and AL Johnson coordinator Joe Hubert

Click below to hear Dan Higgins talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about his induction into the NJFCA Hall of Fame, and his long career with the Chiefs’ program:

What about the game?

The South beat the North 19-18, with the event now split 21-21 with two ties. And two Big Central standouts were critical in the win. Derek Anderson of Woodbridge won the Offensive MVP award, while his twin brother Brian was the Defensive MVP. Both will be playing at West Chester in the fall.

by Mike Pavlichko

Bodley runs past Bayonne, Chiefs return to “Piscataway football” in 42-13 win over Bees in North 1, Group 5 first round

In the first half of Piscataway’s North 1, Group 5 first round playoff game Saturday afternoon at Kenny Armwood Stadium, the Chiefs threw the ball a little. They had a lead, but the offense wasn’t going as they’d like.

So, in the second half, they pounded the rock, running it, running it, and running it some more out of the I-formation.

The result? A 42-13 home win for the third-seeded Chiefs over visiting sixth-seed Bayonne.

That win – Piscataway’s first in the playoffs since 2018, when they finished 13-0 and won the North 5 regional bowl game – makes them 7-3, and puts them in the sectional semifinals Friday night at second-seed West Orange, a 28-21 winner Friday night over 7th-seed Linden.

Piscataway led 7-0 at halftime on a 40-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. After halftime, he blew up.

Bayonne fumbled the kick return to start the second half, and Bodley took it to the house to make it 14-0. After Bayonne scored to cut the lead in half, Bodley answered with a seven-yard run at 6:44 of the third to make it 21-7. Later in the fourth, with 1:19 to go, he capped his busy day with a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

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

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 6 Piscataway looks to keep things rolling against battle-tested Bridgewater-Raritan

The Piscataway football program is one defined by champions. It’s been a while since they’ve won one, but they’ve come a long way since not playing the entire 2020 season – while nearly everyone else did – during he COVID-19 pandemic.

But with little change otherwise around the program – including Dan Higgins as head coach, a position he’s held since 2003 – and stability on the rest of the coaching staff – the Chiefs have their eye on a championship again.

One game at a time, mind you, but there’s always that goal. And it seems more realistic this year than it has since their last title, which came back in 2018.

As always, the Chiefs have much talent at the skill positions, but as Higgins often says, it all comes down to line play. And that line play is what has gotten his juices flowing here in 2024, early as it may be.

Friday night, No. 6 Piscataway – coming off a 21-11 season-opening win against Manalapan – will be back at Kenny Armwood Stadium taking on Bridgewater-Raritan, which lost its opener to Notre Dame down inn Lawrenceville last week, 40-38.

You can hear the game on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame at 5:45 pm, and kickoff at 6:00, as Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the action. Click here to listen.

Higgins knows Bridgewater will be a challenge. Though just 3-7 last year, the Panthers made the playoffs, and their American Silver Division in the Big Central – one of the toughest in the state, with Ridge, Hunterdon Central, Phillipsburg and Hillsborough rounding out the group – is the only one in the league to have all five teams make the playoffs each of the last two seasons.

Click below to hear Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins talk about the Chiefs, and Friday night’s matchup against Bridgewater-Raritan, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Dan Higgins has Piscataway right where he wants it: ready to compete for a championship

The last time the Piscataway football team won a state sectional title was in a tremendous, undefeated, 13-0 season in 2018, when they beat Union City for the North 2, Group 5 title, then took out Ridgewood at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands in the North Group 5 “regional championship.”

Since then, Piscataway – as a school – sat out the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has slowly built itself back into championship form.

It may have been the most difficult task since Dan Higgins took over the program from Joe Kuronyi – under whom he worked as an assistant – in 2003, a year in which the Chiefs also won a state championship.

This year may be the closest they’ve been, and they haven’t played a game yet.

As they say, Piscataway is loaded. They return Landon Pernell and Elan McCrorey at quarterback – the two combined for 1,353 yards, 17 touchdowns and just three interceptions last year – along with top receiver Jahai Johnson, now a senior, who caught 22 passes for just under 400 yards last year, and top back James Bodley, also now a senior, who scampered for 460 yards last season.

And most of their young defense is back, too, including guys like linebacker Riley Wingate, lineman Horace Thompson and linebacker Joshua Stephens, who were all juniors last year.

Yes, this may be the Piscataway football team we have come to know and love over the years. And no one could be more excited than Higgins.

Click below to hear from Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins and senior receiver Jahai Johnson at Big Central Media Day: