Tag: Don Sofilkanich

by Mike Pavlichko

Mini coaching carousel that sent Riggi to Metuchen elevates Sofilkanich to defensive coordinator at St. Joseph

Very few of the dozen head coaching changes at Big Central Conference football schools this off-season came about because of other departures, unlike a couple of years ago.

After the 2023 season, Joe LaSala left Woodbridge, Joe Goerge left South Brunswick to take the Barrons’ job, and Ibrahim Halsey left Roselle for the Vikings, leaving Tyrone Turner to take over at Hillside. In the past week, he joined the staff of new head coach Steven Brown at North Plainfield.

No, none of that happened this year, but Joe Riggi’s departure as Defensive Coordinator at St. Joseph-Metuchen to take the vacant head coaching position right down the road at public school Metuchen – after alum Jordan Leitner stepped down – did leave a big opening on the staff of Falcons’ head coach Bill Tracy less than two months before the start of camp.

But Tracy has moved quickly, elevating veteran coach Don Sofilkanich to the job, after he joined Tracy’s staff last season, helping out with the offensive line and inside linebackers.

Tracy was well aware of Sofilkanich’s bona fides when while serving as the head coach at Livingston – prior to his very solid run at Ridge – and Sofilkanich was the DC at Roxbury under John Quinn, who he calls “truly one of the best head football coaches in the history of our state.”

“I had the pleasure, or displeasure, of coaching against Coach Sof many years ago. (His) defenses were very tough, so well-prepared, and we had a very tough time against him,” Tracy told Central Jersey Sports Radio this week. “I was fortunate to add him as an assistant coach last season, and when Joe Riggi, my former outstanding DC, got another opportunity, promoting Sof was an easy move.”

“He is great with the kids, very well-prepared, dedicated, and gets the best out of our guys,” Tracy added. “We are lucky to have him.”

And Tracy isn’t the only one to think that way.

“It’s a no-brainer,” says Central Jersey Sports Radio high school football analyst Marcus Borden, who coached Sofilkanich (a 1988 grad) at East Brunswick, later had him on his staff with the Bears, and later worked under him when Soflikanich took a head coaching job at then-Bishop Ahr, now St. Thomas Aquinas.

Sofilkanich came to prominence in Middlesex County as a coordinator under John Quinn at New Brunswick on two state championship teams, the first of which came in 2003 when he led the defense on a squad that featured future New York Giants captain and two-time Super Bowl winner Jonathan Casillas and future NCAA All-American Dwayne Jarrett, who played at Southern Cal. That ’03 championship was the Zebras’ first title since 1926. They won again in 2006 with Soflikanich as the Offensive Coordinator..

He then left to become head coach at Asbury Park, turning around a program that went 1-9 in 2006, going 11-1 in 2007 with a Central Jersey Group 1 title.

After two more 11-1 seasons – and two more CJ1 championships – he moved next door to to Neptune for a year before coming back to the GMC to lead Bishop Ahr from 2011-2013, going 12-18. He spent the next three years at New Brunswick, going 15-16, including an excellent 9-2 in 2015.

Soflikanich coached two years at Plainfield in 2019 and 2020, going 4-11, and Sayreville in 2023, where he was 8-3.

“He will not be out-coached by anyone,” Borden says of Sofilkanich. “Don, as a football player in high school, was one of the hardest workers, and focused-in on technique, which made him successful,” said Borden. He says that carried on to Soflikanich’s play in college. “He used his physicality and ability as a technician to be successful.”

That laid the groundwork for his coaching career. When he later joined Borden’s staff at East Brunswick, “he taught the kids how to be physical.”

Borden recalled a scrimmage between his East Brunswick squad and Soflikanich’s Asbury Park team one year: “We were on the field at Heavenly Farms. It was raining. His kids were tough, physical and hard-nosed just like him.” He said he told the Asbury kids as they left practice in the rain, “Believe in your coach and what he’s teaching you. Because I know you will have success.”

by Mike Pavlichko

Sofilkanich out as Sayreville football coach

After just one season, Don Sofilkanich is out as the head football coach at Sayreville War Memorial High School.

Athletic Director Jen Badami confirmed the news to Central Jersey Sports Radio Tuesday morning in a text message, saying “Coach Sofilkanich will not be returning to Sayreville next year.” 

Badami did not comment further, and a messages for the Sayreville Superintendent, Dr. Richard Labbe, and Soflikanich were not immediately returned.

It appears to be the first coaching change in the Big Central following more than two dozen over the past two seasons, with 14 new mentors heading teams going into 2022, and another ten changing leaders for the 2023 season.

Sofilkanich was a volunteer assistant in 2022 under Chris Beagan – who retired after eight seasons at his alma mater, and resurrected the program after a hazing scandal – then was elevated to head coach last February.

The Bombers went 8-3 this past fall, finishing 8th in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten. The resurgence of runningback Zaimer Wright – who was slowed by injury in 2022 – helped the Sayreville to a 7-2 regular season. They beat Montgomery in the opening round of the playoffs, but lost in the sectional semifinals to Mount Olive, 30-28.

Sofilkanich came to prominence as a coordinator under John Quinn at New Brunswick on two state championship teams, the first of which came in 2003 when he led the defense on a team headlined by future New York Giants captain and two-time Super Bowl winner Jonathan Casillas and future NCAA All-American at USC Dwayne Jarrett. That was the Zebras’ first title since 1926. They won again in 2006 with him as the Offensive Coordinator..

He then left to become head coach at Asbury Park, turning around a program that went 1-9 in 2006, going 11-1 in 2007 with a Central Jersey Group 1 title.

After two more 11-1 seasons, he moved next door to to Neptune for a year before coming back to the GMC to lead then-Bishop Ahr, going 12-8 from 2011-2013. He spent the next three years at New Brunswick, going 15-16, including 9-2 in 2015.

Before working under Beagan at Sayreville, he coached at Plainfield in 2019 and 2020, going 4-11 in those two seasons.

by Mike Pavlichko

Tough, physical play has Sayreville at its best heading into semifinal matchup at Mount Olive

The Sayreville football team may be the lowest seeded team from the Big Central left in the playoffs – the sixth-seed in North 2, Group 4 – but other than who plays at home or who plays on the road, you can throw that out when it comes to this point of the season.

As Bombers’ first-year head coach Don Sofilkanich says, At this point, “everybody’s good. You’re not in the semifinals because you’re not good.”

For Sayreville, physical play has been the key, and Sofilkanich expects that will be the case against second-seed Mount Olive, a team he sees as very similar to his.

The Bombers (8-2) plan a heavy dose of Zaimer Wright, who scored all five touchdowns in a first-round win over Montgomery, and has racked up 1,647 yards on the ground and 20 TDs in this, his senior year, and that’s even accounting for the fact that he sat out two games earlier this year. Otherwise, he might be well over 2,000 by now.

The Marauders (9-1) have a thousand-yard rusher – literally! – in junior Tyler Cumming, with 1,000 yards even and 11 touchdowns, while quarterback Jake Asbury has tossed it for 1,335 yards and 12 TDs.

The winner faces the victor of the other semifinal game in the section between 4th-seed Irvington and top-seed Ramapo, also being played Friday night.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Sayreville head coach Don Sofilkanich about the Bombers:

by Mike Pavlichko

Mitchell’s late pick on 2-pt try helps Sayreville withstand Woodbridge on Homecoming, 22-20

In a tight, back-and-forth game with a lot of big plays, Sayreville made one more than Woodbridge, and the Bombers came away with a 22-20 home win Friday night that will likely improve their playoff standing in North Jersey Group 4.

The Barrons got on the board first with a 55-yard touchdown pass from Derek Anderson to AJ Bosch late in the first quarter, and Sayreville looked like it had the equalizer on the first play of the second quarter on a one-yard run by QB Nick Nunez, but the PAT was blocked.

Sayreville would go into halftime with a 13-7 lead on a two-yard run by Zaimer Wright just 43 seconds before intermission.

After trading punts, the Barrons got the lead back with 2:15 to go in the third on a 72-yard run by Bosch. But Sayreville would answer big.

They got a 56-yard touchdown pass from Nunez to Wright just ten seconds into the final period, then with 2:32 to go Aaron Losada got a much-needed three points on a 41-yard field goal in the rain.

It was needed because the Barrons had one more score left in the tank, a quick toss to Izaiah Toliver to make it 22-20. But when they went for the tie with a two-point try, senior defensive back Ky’Von Mitchell intercepted the pass in the end zone to seal the win.

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

by Mike Pavlichko

Wright’s 3 TDs lead No. 10 Sayreville, Bombers hold off Chiefs at the goal line for 24-16 win

Sayreville senior runningback Zaimer Wright carried the ball 28 times for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Exactly the way head coach Don Sofilkanich would have drawn it up.

Except the first quarter went anything but the way he would have drawn it up.

Quarterback Nick Nunez threw interceptions to end the 10th-ranked Bombers’ first two possessions at rival Piscataway Friday night – in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, and as they were about to get the ball back for a third time, Zaimer Wright fumbled a punt, giving the Chiefs the ball back at the eight yard line.

Yet, after all three turnovers, the Chiefs only led 3-0. They missed a field goal their first time with the ball, punted on the second, and finally converted a 26-yard field goal via the foot of Vincent Novak.

But Sayreville got a 33-yard TD run from Wright with 5:07 to go in the half, and added an Aaron Losada 24 yard field goal with three seconds left to go into the locker room with a 10-3 lead.

The defense bailed out the Bombers in the first half, limiting Piscataway to fewer than ten yards of offense through the first 24 minutes of play, and no first downs.

In the second half, the Chief offense started to wake up. They got a 31-yard touchdown catch from Jahai Johnson to knot the game at ten with the extra point. Wright put the Bombers ahead 17-10 with a two-yard touchdown run, but again Piscataway got what looked to be the equalizer, on a 20-yard pass play to DeShaun Stephens. But on a bad snap, the Chiefs missed the PAT, and trailed by one with exactly four minutes to go.

That’s when Wright scored for the third time on the night, from 66-yards out, capping a five-play, 80-yard drive, to go up by eight.

And it still wasn’t over. The Chiefs marched down the field, spiking the ball on first downs since they were out of time outs. They got a pass interference call on a toss into the end zone – yes, it was on Wright, but it may have saved the game – and were given the ball at the 14, but after a first down play went for a loss of four, an incomplete pass into the end zone as time expired ended the game.

The loss is a hit to the playoff chances of Piscataway (4-4), which was in 15th place in the North Group 5 supersection coming into the night. Sayreville – 12th in South Group 4 – may move up with the win, now 6-2 on the season, with a chance to move up even further if they can win their regular season finale at home against Woodbridge next week.

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

by Dylan Allen

No. 10 Sayreville travels to rival Piscataway with playoff implications on the line

They’re heating up at the right time, but all bets are off in longtime rivalries.

While five of the last six meetings between Sayreville and Piscataway have gone to the Chiefs, they’ve split the last two seasons, with the Bombers winning 34-6 two years ago, and P’way taking a 14-8 decision last year; each was won on their opponents’ home turf.

All bets are off.

Yet, tenth-ranked Sayreville is on a two-game win streak and has outscored its opponents 76-15 in that span, beating Franklin 35-6 a week ago and East Brunswick 41-9 a couple of weeks ago.

This Sayreville team is 5-2 on the year and 3-1 in Big Central play. Their two losses have to come Phillipsburg and North Brunswick who have a combined record of 11-1. Phillipsburg won 42-7, but this isn’t the same Bombers team we saw back in early September. Sayreville lost to North Brunswick, who’s 6-0, 21-20 in the Rumble on the Raritan Showcase at Rutgers University.

A win against Piscataway would be a huge statement win for Don Sofilkanich in his first year as head coach and would put Sayreville in a great spot in the standings with the playoffs looming. They currently sit 12th in North Group 4, and a win could help lock off a playoff spot, which isn’t assured yet for the Bombers.

But if they play their cards right, it could be by the time Friday night is over.

The 37th meeting between the Bombers and Piscataway takes place Friday night at Kenny Armwood Stadium, at 6 pm, and you can hear it on the Big Central Game of the Week on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen will call all the action, with postgame and highlights during the game from Marcus Borden on Twitter. Pregame starts at 5:45. Click here to listen to the live broadcast.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen catch up with Sayreville head coach Don Sofilkanich about the big rivalry game:

by Mike Pavlichko

Wright or not, Sayreville in good shape heading into North Brunswick clash at Rutgers Sunday

Zaimer Wright has played in two of Sayreville’s first four games this season. He’s missed the last two and is likely a game time decision this week, says his head coach Don Sofilkanich.

But as the No. 7 Bombers proved last week in a 24-12 win over Edison, they still have plenty of talent on the field.

Quarterback Nick Nunez got the ball to eight other players on offense in that game: six rushed it, including him, and four caught passes, with senior Xavian Pena doing both. Shaun Jackson rushed for two touchdowns, and Travis Gaston ran for another. The Bombers even kicked a field goal.

Not only that, but the offense used the entire field. They ran it left, right and up the middle. They went for short and long passes.

All that should make for a good matchup Sunday with second-ranked North Brunswick (3-0) when the Raiders and Bombers (3-1) tussle at 3 pm in the second of two all-Big Central Conference games at the Rumble on the Raritan at Rutgers University’s SHI Stadium in Piscataway. We’ll have coverage of that game on Central Jersey Sports Radio, right after the first game between No. 8 Hillsborough and top-ranked Phillipsburg at noon. Click here to listen.

Click below to hear Sayreville head coach Don Sofilkanich talk about the Bombers’ and their game against North Brunswick at Rutgers on Sunday:

by Mike Pavlichko

Sayreville defense stifles Edison as No. 8 Bombers pick up 24-12 road win

Without runningback Zaimer Wright for a second straight week, No. 8 Sayreville diversified its offense, using nearly everyone it had available – and all of the field – in a 24-12 road win over Edison heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Then the defense held Edison in check – and came up with some especially big plays – to do its part.

That included a goal line stand in the first half, and – on a long, wacky drive in the second half where penalties moved the ball back and forth between the Sayreville 25 and 10 yard lines – Edison nearly had a fourth quarter score on fourth and goal at the 20.

Edison already had one touchdown called back on that possession. Quarterback Anthony Calantoni completed a pass to near the goal line, but it came up a foot or so short, and resulted in a turnover in downs.

That’s 12 to 16 points off the board that the Eagles desperately could have used.

Sayreville improved to 3-1 with the win, while Edison dropped to 1-3.

Click below for postgame reaction with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Sayreville linebacker/runningback Xavian Pena
Sayreville head coach Don Sofilkanich
by Alec Crouthamel

No. 8 Sayreville looking for consistency in Thursday night showdown at Edison

In the first third of the season, Sayreville and first-year head coach Don Sofilkanich have been riding a roller coaster of sorts.

Sofilkanich, taking over for Chris Beagan after eight seasons at the helm, has plenty of experience in winning football, grabbing two state titles as a coordinator at New Brunswick and one of his own as the head coach of Asbury Park.

The Bombers sit at 2-1 through three games, all of which ended in lopsided fashion. A 42-7 loss at Phillipsburg sandwiched two wins, a 42-21 victory over Colonia to open the season in Week 0 and a 55-0 victory over New Brunswick.

Sofilkanich is looking for more consistency and execution from his group, especially given the nature of the previous three games.

READ MORE: Sayreville names Don Sofilkanich new Bombers’ football coach to succeed Beagan

The Bombers also want to emphasize their strength in the trenches, as the offensive and defensive lines are veteran-laden groups that anchor a strong run game that has put up big numbers so far.

Up next for Sayreville is a trip to Edison (1-2) on Thursday night to face the Eagles. You can hear the matchup starting with pregame at 6:45 pm and kickoff at 7:00 as Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel have the call. Click here to listen.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel preview the game with Sayreville head coach Don Sofilkanich:

by Mike Pavlichko

All the “Wright” stuff leads No. 4 Sayreville to 42-21 win at No. 8 Colonia in season opener

Zaimer Wright figured in four Sayreville touchdowns in Friday night’s Week Zero game, leading his fourth-ranked Bombers to a 42-21 win on the road at No. 8 Colonia in the season opener for both schools.

He scored two touchdowns on the ground in the first half, and threw for another. He added another in the third, and finished with 17 carries for 195 yards.

Derek Osae also had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown for Sayreville (1-0).

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden with Sayreville senior runningback Zaimer Wright and head coach Don Sofilkanich, sponsored by the Sportsplex at Metuchen: