Tag: HS Football

by Mike Pavlichko

Watchung Hills football coach Rich Seubert steps down after a decade leading the Warriors

After retiring from football with the New York Giants in his mid-30s with a Super Bowl ring on his finger, Wisconsin native Rich Seubert and his family moved to California for a few years, where he coached a little football at the high school level.

But eventually, he came back to the East Coast, returning to New Jersey, and started coaching the offensive line at Watchung Hills. One year later, in the summer of 2016, he was promoted to head coach.

Now, after ten years, Seubert has stepped down as the program’s mentor. Seubert said in a text message to Central Jersey Sports Radio Saturday morning that it was “just time to move on,” but notes he “loved his time coaching” and said he would continue to be around the area, since his daughter is a freshman at Watchung Hills.

Seubert inherited a 4-6 program from 2015, but the Warriors struggled early on, going 2-8, 4-6, and 0-10 in his first three seasons. Then, things turned around, as Watchung Hills got to .500 at 5-5 in 2019, and went 5-2 in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

The Warriors’ best two seasons under his tutelage came in 2022 and 2023. The first of those teams went 7-3, while the ’23 squad went 8-3, with an opening round playoff win over Bridgewater-Raritan, just the program’s second playoff win ever.

In 2023, Seubert was named Somerset County Coach of the Year by the Bill Denny/Rutgers Football Letterwinners Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

Seubert’s squads finished 41-57 over ten seasons, and Athletic Director Dan Root says Seubert’s impact was felt more than just in terms of wins and losses, and Xs and Os on the football field.

“We were very fortunate to have him as our head coach for as long as we did,” Root told CJSR Saturday morning via text message. “He gave so much to the program, the school and the community, and for that I am incredibly grateful. I know that ultimately whatever he decides to do, he will be successful.”

Suebert was a starter on the Giants’ offensive line in their Cinderella Super Bowl XLII run that culminated with a 17-14 win over New England, the David Tyree “Helmet Catch” game. According to the Giants website, he played in 104 games for Big Blue with 88 starts over nine seasons after joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2001.

by Mike Pavlichko

55th annual Bill Denny awards dinner honors local football standouts, coaches, and more

More than three dozen high school football players from Middlesex and Somerset Counties, along with several coaches, administrators, educators and officials were honored Sunday at the 55th annual awards dinner of the Bill Denny/Rutgers Football Letterwinners Chapter of the National Football/College Hall of Fame at the Pines Manor in Edison.

The local chapter also awarded several scholarships, now having given out more than $380,000 in funds to deserving Middlesex and Somerset County Scholar-Athletes, over a span of nearly six decades.

The ceremony was presided over by Fred Roselli, chapter president, with awards presented by Tom Bara and Frank Noppenberger.

Read on to learn more about all the honorees.

Distinguished American: This award went to South River’s Rich Marchesi, the longtime Rams’ skipper and alum who will be heading into his 39th season this fall. Marchesi’s record is 228-154, with four Central Jersey Group 1 titles, in 1991, 1995, 2000 and 2001. He also played with with future Penn State All-American and NFL standout Kenny Jackson on the vaunted 1979 undefeated team as a senior, which went undefeated and was a state champion, ending the season ranked No. 3 in New Jersey. A five-time Bill Denny Coach of the Year, he is the winningest coach in South River football history, eventually surpassing Denny. Marchesi was inducted in the the New Hersey Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001.

Edward “Red” Losiewicz Distinguished Official: Given to the official who has “demonstrated sportsmanship, integrity and character in interscholastic athletics,” Tim McDonald was this year’s recipient. An East Brunswick resident, he started officiating football in 1997, and also has been an official for lacrosse, softball and basketball.

Chester Zdrodowski Distinguished Educator (Middlesex): Old Bridge Athletic Director Dan DiMino was the recipient of this award, A Monroe resident, he was named AD in 2016 and has overseen an athletics program that was won 31 division titles, 26 conference championships, 14 NJSIAA sectional crowns, and nine New Jersey state titles. DiMino also is on the Greater Middlesex Conference Executive Committee, and manages scheduling for the entire league. Among several charitable endeavors, DiMino helps lead the Old Bridge Holiday Knight Toy Drive around the holidays, partnering with the Marisa Tufaro Foundation.

Chester Zdrodowski Distinguished Educator (Somerset): This one goes to Michael Hoppe, the Athletic Director at Bernards. Hoppe is a Mountaineer through and through, an alum who has been at his old stomping grounds since graduating from Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) in 19984. Starting out as a teacher and coaching three sports, he has been the AD for the last 26 years.

Coach of the Year (Middlesex): Matt Donaghue just wrapped up his fourth season as the Old Bridge football coach, promoted to the head job after Anthony Lanzafama stepped down. At 25-17 in that span, this past fall was a breakout year, following a 6-4 campaign in 2024, as the Knights went all the way to the “Central Jersey” Group 5 final, where they fell to Washington Twp. out of South Jersey. Donaghue also is the head coach of the baseball team at Old Bridge, which won the Central Jersey Group 4 title in 2023, and was a finalist a year ago.

Coach of the Year (Somerset): Montgomery’s Sean Carty takes home the award in his first year on the job, after being promoted from Offensive Coordinator under Zoran Milich, who stepped down as the school’s first and only football coach after the 2024 campaign. The Cougars went 8-4 this past fall, with signature wins over Somerville and Sayreville, and went all the way to the North Jersey, Section 2 Group 4 title game – their first ever – where they fell to defending champion Phillipsburg. A Rutgers graduate and four-year letterwinner, he played for his father, Hall of Fame coach Kevin Carty, at Somerville. His brother, Kevin Jr., is the head coach at neighboring Hillsborough, with his other brother, Ryan, is the head coach at the University of Delaware.

Sporstmanship School of the Year: Highland Park, Bridgewater-Raritan

STUDENT-ATHLETE HONOREES:

Rutgers: Jai Patel (South Brunswick)

Middlesex County:

  • Jonathan Hughes, Carteret
  • Dylan Chiera, Colonia
  • Jackson Portik, Dunellen
  • Noah DeJesus, East Brunswick
  • Robert Roma, Jr., Edison
  • Stamatis Hantsoulis, Highland Park
  • Grant Lorentzen, JFK
  • Esteban Reyes, JP Stevens
  • A.J. Crisci, Metuchen
  • Sean Hughes, Middlesex
  • John Lawless, Monroe
  • Jeffren Paulino, New Brunswick
  • Zachary Cipot, North Brunswick
  • Mark Fultz, North Plainfield
  • Brody Nugent, Old Bridge
  • Sebastian Medina Moreno, Perth Amboy
  • Brady Gallogly, Piscataway
  • Joseph Curbelo, Sayreville
  • Jacob Walczyk, South Brunswick
  • Kenneth Young, South Plainfield
  • Filipe Granadiero, South River
  • Gavin Pereira, Spotswood
  • Tom Myers, St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Anthony Perez, Jr., St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Josh Allen, Woodbridge

Somerset County:

  • Justin Simpson, Bernards
  • Moaaz Abdelmonem, Bound Brook
  • Stephen Pikulin, Bridgewater-Raritan
  • Francis Flores, Jr., Franklin
  • Shane Khurana, Hillsborough
  • Bo Almeida, Immaculata
  • Collin Shimp, Manville
  • Michael Bellamy, Montgomery
  • Ryan Moye, Pingry
  • Anthony Valera, Ridge
  • J. Griffin Kaye, Somerville
  • Jake Herring, Watchung Hills

Pop Warner (Middlesex): Daniel Crowley, Edison Jets

Pop Warner (Somerset): Vincent Sandomenico, Watchung Hills Wolverines

by Mike Pavlichko

South Hunterdon Board of Ed approves assistant coach, alum Kyle Hart’s promotion to become Eagles’ next football coach

South Hunterdon assistant football coach Kyle Hart has been promoted to become the next head coach of the Eagles football program, with his hire approved by the local Board of Education Monday night.

Hart is a “hometown” name, growing up playing youth football for the Lambertville Raiders. He played fullback and linebacker for the Eagles in high school in the mid/late-2000s, graduating from South Hunterdon High School in 2009. He went on to play collegiately at William Paterson University, where he played in ten games and rushed 26 times for 85 yards and a touchdown.

He had been serving as defensive coordinator and running backs/linebackers coach for the last several years under Toby Jefferis, who was not retained after the 2025 season following 16 years as the head coach. Jefferis was 73-81 in that span, with the team going 1-7 this past season, but dealing with low participation numbers in the program.

According to MyCentralJersey.com, the Eagles had just 22 players on the roster this fall, and one of Hart’s main jobs will be to increase numbers in the program.

The 35-year-old Hart also is a physical education teacher at South Hunterdon Regional High School, and was named Educator of the Year in 2025, according to a December Facebook post on the school’s page.

by Mike Pavlichko

Woodbridge alum Anthony Nyers leaves Westfield to become new JFK football coach

Former Woodbridge standout Anthony Nyers is the new head coach of the JFK football program, after his hire was approved by the Woodbridge Board of Education last Thursday night.

The Woodbridge Board of Ed oversees all three district high schools, including Kennedy, Colonia, and Woodbridge.

Nyers had spent the past year working as the wide receivers’ coach and Offensive Coordinator at Westfield under Matt Andzel, who just wrapped up his second season as the successor to Jim DeSarno. He held the same positions on the staff of Al Chiola for the 2024 season, and came to Westfield after Chiola stepped down at the end of that year.

This will be Nyers’ first head coaching job.

Nyers, who will turn 32 this May, was a high school standout in the GMC, playing for Woodbridge under Brian Russo. In his senior season of 2011, he had 30 catches for 546 yards and six touchdowns. He was a two-time All-State Group 3 selection, named to the second team as a junior, first-team as a senior.

He went on to play in college at East Stroudbsurg for a year, then spent two at Kean University in Union before suffering a knee injury that effectively ended his playing days. He eventually returned to Woodbridge to coach with his father, Bill Nyers’, in his second stint with the Barrons, while his younger brother, Nick, was also on the team.

Westfield head coach Matt Andzel says he’ll miss having Nyers on his staff. “Anthony came on board with us in the Spring of 2025,” Andzel told Central Jersey Sports Radio Monday.

“I knew him from coaching with his dad (Bill) a while back. Our players immediately gravitated towards him. He is going to put in the work to make his team the most prepared they can be. I can expect JFK to be a competitive program for as long as he’s their coach,” Andzel said.

“Anthony was a tough, talented, hard nosed player who loved his teammates and gave his all always,” said Brian Russo, who coached Nyers at Woodbridge and now is the head coach at Rahway.   “He has put his time in and I am sure he will do great things with the Kennedy football program.”

Nyers takes over for Mike Henderson, who stepped down after four seasons leading the Kennedy program.

Henderson had been an assistant since 2010, but took over as head coach in 2023, having not won more than two games in a season from 2017 through 2021, the COVID-shortened year.

His first season, the Mustangs went 2-8, then 1-8 the following year, but made improvement, jumping up to four wins in 2024, going 4-6. And this year’s squad went 6-4, with a 5-4 mark on Cutoff Weekend, though they missed the playoffs.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with new JFK Football Coach Anthony Nyers:

by Mike Pavlichko

John Hack approved as new football coach at Mendham, after stepping down from Voorhees

When John Hack took the head coaching job at Voorhees two years ago, he told his athletic director the only other job he’d ever take would be in the his own home district, where he and his family live, up at Mendham.

Two years later, that’s where he’s headed.

Hack was approved Monday night by the West Morris-Mendham Board of Education to be the new head football coach at Mendham, replacing Ethan Jeros, who was not brought back following a 4-6 season. He was 26-25 in five years leading the Minutemen, making the playoffs the last four seasons, with no playoffs in 2021 due to the COVID-shortened campaign.

Hack told Central Jersey Sports Radio that he resigned on January 12th at Voorhees, where he guided the Vikings to an 8-2 record this past season and a Central Jersey Group 2 playoff berth behind a stout rushing attack led by senior Matteo Tramutola, who carried for 1,338 yards and 17 touchdowns en route to a Central Jersey Group 2 playoff berth.

The air-game was excellent, too, as senior Sam Meekings threw for 1,560 yards and 19 touchdowns to a talented corps of receivers, including Rylan Benitez (39 catches, 775 yards, 11 TD) and Logan Direny (28 catches, 408 yards, 4 TD), as well as junior Toby Dorr (20 catches, 233 yards, 2 TDs).

Hack says besides the fact he lives in the West Morris-Mendham district, the move also will give him an opportunity – in a few years – to coach his only son, who’s currently in the fifth grade. That means he plans to stay at Mendham a while, as long as they’ll have him.

He also says he was blown away by the administration at Mendham, and as many coaches know, you’re only as good as the people supporting you.

Hack was contacted about the job before Thanksgiving after the departure of Jeros. Prior to his arrival, Mendham had not had a .500 season or better since 2014, but Jeros told the local Observer-Tribune earlier back in January that he felt his coaching and leadership of the program had suffered the past two seasons. He’s a guidance counselor in Manville, which kept him from building the kind of relationships he wanted to at Mendham.

Hack is an Immaculata grad, who returned under the late Pierce Frauenheim in 2004 to coach the defensive line. He succeeded the legendary coach – the school’s original football coach dating back to the 1960s – and spent two seasons there in 2013 and 2014, going 9-12 in that span – before heading to Morris Catholic and coaching there from 2015 through 2023.

He then spent the past two years leading the Vikings up in Glen Gardner.

Click below to listen to John Hack talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Gameday with Marcus Borden: Immaculata’s football hire

It may be January, with the high school football season two months in the rearview mirror already, but there was plenty to talk about this week, and we dive into it on a special “offseason” edition of Gameday with Marcus Borden.

On Thursday, February 5, Immaculata announced it was parting ways with head football coach Mike Columbo, and announced the hiring of alum Dallas Whitaker (IHS ’11), along with Jeff Vanderbeek as football program director. Vanderbeek resurrected the Somerville football program in the mid-2010s and handed the keys to Whitaker a few years later.

Whitaker stepped down in 2021 to spend more time starting a family and on his burgeoning real estate career, but says he “got the itch” again pretty quickly, and now, he’s leading his alma mater as the only the fifth coach in school history.

Mike and Marcus take a look at the hire from multiple angles, including what it’ll mean on the football field and off.

Click below to listen to the “off-season” edition of “Gameday with Marcus Borden”:

by Mike Pavlichko

Whitaker, Vanderbeek and Immaculata AD Gambino talk Spartans’ splash with new football leadership

By the time the Q&A session cleared out, there they were: in their best suits, ready to take Immaculata football by storm.

Dallas Whitaker, a 2011 graduate and two-time state champion playing for Peirce Frauenheim had already talked to the kids. “I chose you,” he told them.

While that’s very likely the case, it’s also a little for him. It’s always been his dream job.

Whitaker caught the coaching bug at Rutgers, where he was a walk-on for Kyle Flood, but self-admittedly was “one of the least talented players on the team.” Sometimes that’s how coaches get into the profession, that moment of realization.

(Sometimes, that’s also how broadcasters get into their profession.)

Jeff Vanderbeek, who hired Whitaker as his offensive coordinator, then handed the reins to him a few years later, was there, too. In a package deal, he was hired along with Whitaker as the Football Program Coordinator Thursday, an organizational role well-suited to his talents.

As for Whitaker? He may not have the college stats, but he has plenty of coaching success.

After serving under Vanderbeek as offensive coordinator, Vanderbeek handed Whitaker the keys and the team went 36-6 under his leadership, finishing with a No. 4 ranking in the state (7-0) in the COVID-shortened 2020 season with one of the highest-octane no-huddle offenses you’ll ever see at the high school level.

Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko got a chance to sit down one-on-one with Whitaker, Vanderbeek and Immaculata Athletic Director Tom Gambino after a meet-and-greet Q&A at the school Thursday afternoon. Click below to listen.

Immaculata Head Coach Dallas Whitaker and Football Program Director Jeff Vanderbeek
Immaculata Athletic Director Tom Gambino

by Mike Pavlichko

Immaculata names alum Dallas Whitaker as Spartans’ new football coach, with former mentor Jeff Vanderbeek in tow

Dallas Whitaker will be coaching football in Somerville again this fall, but this time, he won’t be wearing orange and black.

It’ll be with the team wearing blue and white just a few blocks away, at his alma mater, Immaculata.

And his former mentor, Jeff Vanderbeek, will be with him.

The school announced the move in a press release Thursday morning, then held a meet-and-greet with the two later in the afternoon.

MORE COVERAGE: Whitaker, Vanderbeek and Immaculata AD Gambino talk Spartans’ splash with new football leadership

Whitaker will be the head coach and an “athletics associate,” while Vanderbeek will serve as program director for football. Further details are expected later Thursday.

Whitaker replaces Mike Columbo, who was 43-35 over eight seasons, but had only one sub-.500 campaign following an 0-7 year in the challenging COVID-shortened season. His best seasons were the last two, when the Spartans went 8-2 in 2024 and 9-3 this past season.

Immaculata played in the Mid-State 38 his first two seasons, and had planned to join the Big Central Conference in the merger between the GMC and Skyland Conference, but departed before ever playing a game following a disagreement with the league over scheduling.

Since then, they have been in the Super Football Conference, playing in the National White Division with the likes of Jersey City schools Snyder and Lincoln, and Newark opponents West Side, Shabazz and Weequahic.

Whitaker left Somerville after the 2021 season, his fourth, leading the Pioneers to a 36-6 record in that span and two sectional title games – against Rumson in 2018 and Woodrow Wilson (now Camden Eastside) in 2019. They went 7-0 in the COVID-shortened season, a team that very well would have competed for a sectional title, if the NJSIAA would have had playoffs that year.

At the time, Whitaker was about to get married, and received a promotion at his full-time job, becoming a partner at his real estate firm, and he told Central Jersey Sports Radio at the time that he couldn’t devote the time to coaching that he needed to.

Whitaker originally was brought on by Jeff Vanderbeek, the former New Jersey Devils owner who resurrected the program in 2016, after splitting time as co-head coach with Chris Cassamento in 2015. Somerville had lost 26 straight games – the second longest active streak in the state at the time – before snapping the skid with a win against North Plainfield, and finished the season 2-8.

The next year, Vanderbeek took the reins solo. And with Whitaker as Offensive Coordinator, they went 10-1, falling to Rumson-Fair Haven in the sectional semifinals in 2016, before beating the Bulldogs in 2017 to win the Central Jersey Group 3 title.

Between the two of them, The ‘Ville went 57-7, winning a Central Jersey Group 3 title in 2017 over Rumson-Fair Haven at Rutgers. Then, with Whitaker at the helm, finished the state ranked NO. 4 in the 2020 COVID year.

MORE COVERAGE: Whitaker, Vanderbeek and Immaculata AD Gambino talk Spartans’ splash with new football leadership

The move certainly could shake things up in the Somerset County portion of Big Central football, if a higher profile leads to more success in bringing new ninth graders into the program for Somerville and neighboring towns.

Whitaker was a walk-on at Rutgers under Kyle Flood, and later a student assistant coach, after playing for the late Pierce Frauenheim at Immaculata, a 2011 graduate.

He was a big-time pass rusher for the Spartans at defensive end, and also played tight end. In his junior season of 2009, Whitaker recorded eight sacks, eight QB hurries, and 62 tackles, and was a second-team All-Area pick, as well as second-team Non-Public All-State. He only played seven games his senior season after suffering a broken leg. All in all, he played 31 consecutive varisty games, served as team captain, and won sectional titles in 2008 and 2009 as a sophomore and junior.

by Mike Pavlichko

Big Central’s first off-season hire comes in Spotswood, where Andy Steinfeld is promoted to lead Chargers after one year as an assistant

Andy Steinfeld played at East Brunswick for Marcus Borden, and coached there under him, then led the program now on his own. Last season was the first he spent with another program besides that of the Bears in three decades, working as an assistant under Chris Meagher, and alongside his son, Matt.

Now, he’s his son’s boss.

Andy Steinfeld was appointed as the tenth football coach in Spotswood history Tuesday night, when his hiring was approved by the Board of Education. He’ll take over a program that has had great on field success in the past several years, going 8-1 in each of the last three seasons under Chris Meagher.

Meagher stepped down at the end of the 2025 season, in which the Chargers – inexplicably – finished 8-1 but failed to make the playoffs, losing out on the 16th and final seed on the third tiebreaker, OSI, to Camden Eastside, a 3-5 football program that had lost its last four games by a combined total of 160-20.

Frustration aside, Steinfeld was thrilled to be a part of the program last season, and is excited to be the new head coach, citing what he calls “the it factor” about the Spotswood kids, and falling in love with a true family atmosphere around the program and district.

Steinfeld was 18-29 in five seasons as East Brunswick head coach, going 4-5 his first year in 2019, then 4-4 in the shortened 2020 COVID season, before coming out of it with an 8-2 campaign and a playoff appearance in 2021, losing 28-14 in the opening round of the playoffs to Toms River North.

But he was let go two weeks before camp started in July of 2024, even though he had good performance reviews, after being asked to re-interview for the job. That session, Steinfeld told Central Jersey Sports Radio at the time, included “community members” who were “against our program, bashed our program,” and had complaints about East Brunswick’s middle school football program siphoning players away from their own league.

After a year off, Steinfeld joined Meagher’s staff at Spotswood, and now he’s back where he belongs: as a head coach.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko and Marcus Borden talk with new Spotswood football head coach Andy Steinfeld:

by Mike Pavlichko

JFK football’s Mike Henderson steps down after four seasons leading Mustangs

After three seasons leading the JFK football program, Mike Henderson handed in his resignation on Monday to spend more time with his family.

Henderson confirmed the news to Central Jersey Sports Radio this week, saying it was a “difficult decision to make,” but says he has two young children at home – two years old and nine months – and says he “didn’t want to be absent for either responsibility,” family or coaching.

Henderson had been an assistant since 2010, but took over the program in 2023, having not won more than two games in a season from 2017 through 2021, the COVID-shortened year.

His first season, the Mustangs went 2-8, then 1-8 the following year before jumping up to four wins in 2024, going 4-6. But this year’s squad went 6-4, with a 5-4 mark on Cutoff Weekend, though they missed the playoffs.

Henderson said he enjoyed his time coaching the program, and is “proud of all the things our players have accomplished as a team. I made the decision that was best for my family, and hope for nothing but the best for the Mustangs.”

He will remain a physical education and health teacher at Kennedy.

Henderson is the second coach to step down following the 2025 season. Spotswood’s Chris Meagher (32-17 in five seasons) in left to take a physical education job at Edison, while Toby Jefferis was not brought back at South Hunterdon after going 1-7 this season, although the Eagles were 9-2 just two seasons ago.

This year’s coaching carousel has been a small one so far. There were 14 coaching changes last year in the 59-team Big Central Conference, and more than half the league has coaches who have come on board in just the last three years, with many of the others longtimers like Rich Marchesi at South River, Dan Higgins at Piscataway, Hillsborough’s Kevin Carty Jr., or Kevin Kostibos at Summit, to name a few.