Tag: HS Football

by Mike Pavlichko

Bound Brook looks to get in the win column in ’26 with Friday visit to arch-rival Manville

In rivalry games, anything can happen, and it often does when Bound Brook and Manville get together regardless of the sport.

That said, while the Crusader football team went 5-5 last season and made the Central Jersey Group 1 playoffs, they have had struggled against the Mustangs – who have had some of their best years of late – in their last couple of meetings.

Last year, it was a 49-7 defeat on Cutoff Weekend, and 42-3 Manville the year before. But the Crusaders took their 2023 meeting, winning 25-15.

In 2026, it’s been tough sledding out of the gates for Bound Brook in more ways than one. The defense has given up 75 points in the first couple weeks while only scoring a pair of touchdowns adding up to 12 points overall on offense.

But Manville had some issues last week, too, after a season-opening blowout at Keansburg. They missed two extra points and a two-point conversion on their three touchdowns, and wound up losing 21-18 at Brearley last Friday night.

So maybe Friday night’s meeting between the two arch-rivals is anyone’s guess. Either way, you can hear it on Central Jersey Sports Radio on our Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving. Kickoff is at 7 pm with Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau calling all the action. Pregame is at 6:45; click here to listen.

Moving forward, seventh-year head coach Dave LePoidevin says Bound Brook also needs to clean up the penalties on offense.

“We have to eliminate them and we have to do a much better job with that, something we try to work on everyday at practice,” LePoidevin said. 

On the positive side, their running game led by senior Amero Diaz is something to keep an eye on moving forward.

“We thought we’d rely more heavily on the pass but we’re seeing that we’ve been doing a much better job with the run, so we’re looking to really build on that and watch it grow,” LePoidevin said.

Click below to hear Bound Brook head coach Dave LePoidevin talk about the Manville game with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Vin Ebenau:

by Alec Crouthamel

No. 4 Old Bridge travels to South Brunswick looking to limit mistakes, continue growth

Even with similar scores, it’s been a tale of two games for Old Bridge football in 2026, particularly on one side of the ball.

The No. 4 Knights (1-1) have two high-scoring games under their belt, both flipped by special teams.

In a 43-35 loss to Shawnee in the Battle at the Beach in Ocean City, two kick return touchdowns propelled the Renegades to the opening-week victory, even after a fierce fourth-quarter comeback attempt by Old Bridge.

In Week One’s 49-21 victory over Montgomery, Old Bridge made the big special teams play, a blocked punt taken back for a score in the third quarter, breaking a 21-21 halftime tie and giving the Knights a lead it would not relinquish.

Sixth-year head coach Matt Donaghue has preached eliminating the mistakes, especially considering how explosive Old Bridge’s offense is on a weekly basis.

The Knights will take that growth away from home for the third straight week, heading to South Brunswick on Thursday for a 6 pm game that’s the BCC National Gold Division opener for both teams. You can hear it live as one of two Bellamy & Son Paving Games of the Week this week, with pregame at 5:45. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel are on the call; click here to listen.

Gone is star quarterback Brody Nugent — the 2025 Central Jersey Sports Radio Offensive Player of the Year — along with his 3,538 yards and 39 touchdowns of offense. He’s now a first-year wide receiver at Monmouth at the FCS level.

But much of the core that led Old Bridge to its first sectional final appearance in a decade last year is back and off to a fast start.

Junior Aiden Rios made the move to quarterback after starting at wide receiver for his first two years, going from one of Nugent’s top targets to his replacement. He’s started well, throwing for over 200 yards and multiple scores in both games, while completing 70 percent of his passes through two games.

Senior Chase Rizzo also returns for his senior season at running back for his fourth year on varsity, rushing for 101 yards in each of the first two games. Junior Amari Alsbrook remains the top receiver in the passing game, after recording 923 yards and ten scores in 2025. He’s also started fast, with 91 yards in the season opener, and 109 yards with a touchdown against Montgomery last week.

All in all, the Knights’ high-powered offensive attack hasn’t missed much of a beat through two games, despite losing one of the Big Central’s top players. It’s a tip of the cap to the development and returning production already in place, with a mix of returning veterans and exciting youngsters getting some of their first taste of varsity action.

On the defensive side, a similar mix of youth and experience comes into the fold, with some timely playmaking involved as well.

They’ll have another tough task at hand facing off against a spread-out, receiver-heavy offensive attack, similar to Old Bridge’s own.

First-year coach Mike Gerst, coming from Fort Lee, also has his team at 1-1, coming off a rivalry win over North Brunswick in Week One.

But as any coach will say — Donoghue included — it’s all about shoring up everything within

Click below to hear Old Bridge football head coach Matt Donaghue talk about the Knights’ season so far and upcoming matchup against South Brunswck, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

by Mike Pavlichko

Gameday with Marcus Borden: Week 2

The high school football season is now in full swing as we enter Week Two, and it’s time to talk about it all with Central Jersey Sports Radio high school football analyst with Marcus Borden!

We open the show looking back at last week’s games, including Coach Borden’s trips to see Bound Brook at Dayton, Governor Livingston at Monroe, and Saturday’s huge clash between St. Joseph-Metuchen and Bridgewater-Raritan, while also delving into Piscataway’s solid defensive effort – and Zaire Young’s big rushing performance – in a Top Ten win over Somerville Thursday heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Then we look at this week’s destinations for Coach Borden. That includes an intriguing matchup Thursday night between JP Stevens and Highland Park – both 2-0 for the first time in the same season since 2002 – as well as Friday’s Belvidere-Dunellen tussle.

Click below to listen to the Week One edition of “Gameday with Marcus Borden”:

by Mike Pavlichko

South Brunswick still has a lot of work to do heading into home clash with No. 4 OId Bridge

Having been the head coach of a Fort Lee team that had won 11 straight games before he came to South Brunswick – including going 9-0 last season in one the Super Football Conference’s “Ivy” Divisions – certainly helped get the attention of his new team right from the get-go.

But that doesn’t mean everything will be perfect for the Vikings, either. It just means the coach has their ear.

That was a good thing, Gerst says, as he got to know all his new charges in getting ready for the 2026 football season.

So far, so good. It hasn’t been perfect. They are 1-1 after a season-opening 14-0 loss to Watchung Hills and a 27-19 win over rival North Brunswick this past weekend. And they’ll take it.

But there are still mistakes, things they will need to clear up in a hurry when No. 4 Old Bridge comes to town Thursday for a 6 pm game that’s the BCC National Gold Division opener for both teams. You can hear it live as one of two Bellamy & Son Paving Games of the Week this week, with pregame at 5:45. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel are on the call; click here to listen.

The Knights also are 1-1, but have been putting up a ton of points. They went to-to-toe with Shawnee in the Battle at the Beach down in Ocean City in Week Zero, nearly erasing a 22-point deficit to fall by eight, 43-35, before putting a hurtin’ on Montgomery last week, on the road, 49-21. The simple math says – even after graduating prolific running QB Brody Nugent – Old Bridge has scored 84 points in its first two games, an average of 42 per.

South Brunswick, meanwhile, will spread it out on offense, often going with four receiver sets, with Jaylen Brundidge the top target of starting QB Brendan Shearstone. Not only does Brundidge have nine catches for 92 yards, he’s also run it 16 times for 118 yards and two scores.

Defensively, senior Terry Bynes already is the most disruptive player on the team. The linebacker leads the team with 28 tackles, 19 solo, and four TFLs in just the first two games. Fellow senior linebacker Jayden Williams has 21 tackles, 13 solo and three TFLs. And Brundidge can catch the ball on defense as well as he can on offense; he already has two interceptions, while Bynes has another.

But as much as Gerst may want to game plan for Old Bridge, much of the attention will need to be on South Brunswick, and getting the little things right. Once they do, they’ll have a chance to improve upon last year’s 4-6 campaign.

Click below to hear first-year South Brunswick head coach Mike Gerst talk about Thursday’s matchup against Old Bridge with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Unofficial SI values for out-of-state NJ football opponents in Week Two

Typically, out-of-state opponents make up many early-season games in New Jersey high school football, and then the number of games starts to dwindle as league and division seasons take a stranglehold on the schedule.

And that’s the case this week as we enter Week Two of the season in the Garden State.

There were 13 New Jersey teams playing out-of-state opponents last week, but only seven this week, including one in the Big Central. That’s Phillipsburg, which in addition to playing traditional rival Easton on Thanksgiving, added Pennsylvania schools Parkland, Emmaus, and Freedom this week to their schedule, playing them in the first three games of the year.

Next week, there will be just two: Pingry hosting John Carroll (MD) and Montclair-Kimberley at King School (CT).

The out-of-state SI is calculates by finding the opponent’s rating on MaxPreps. In the case of Freedom, their rating is a 40. We then go to the New Jersey rankings and find the two NJSIAA member schools closest to them, above and below: Nutley (40.24) and Oakcrest (39.98). Then we take the two Strength Index values of the schools (63.33 for Nutley, 61.87 for Oakcrest) and average them to get 62.60 as the SI value for Freedom.

That number won’t be used in the standings for OSI, nor will their new SI value after the game. Rather, Freedom’s SI using the same lookup procedure will be determined officially after MaxPreps updates its ratings this week, and that will be used in the UPR standings without change through Week 6. By NJSIAA rule, another update will be made for Week 7, then the SI locked in for Week 8 (Cutoff Weekend), when all NJ schools are locked in for qualification only. (All games through the end of the playoffs are calculated in the background in order to get an accurate starting number for 2027).

But for now, here are the SI numbers for this week’s out-of-state opponents, which will be used to determine the new SI numbers for next week. Phillipsburg, for example, is rated a 79.8 in the Strength Index, so they would be considered about 17 points better than Freedom.

  • Bergen Catholic: St. Joseph’s Prep (PA), 87.04
  • DePaul: Msgr. Farrell (NY), 79.77
  • Immaculata: Archbishop Stepinac (NY), 73.57
  • Paramus Catholic: Iona Prep (NY), 80.22
  • Phillipsburg: Freedom (PA), 62.60
  • Seton Hall Prep: Chaminade (NY), 75.51
  • St. Peter’s Prep: St. Anthony-Melville (NY), 70.71
by Mike Pavlichko

“The Big Central in 2 Minutes” – Week 2

With Week One of play in the books in high school football, everyone has now gotten into the game, and Mike Pavlichko takes a closer look in this year’s debut of of “The Big Central in 2 Minutes!”

On this week’s episode, a look at big Week One wins for Carteret and Summit, we talk about Piscataway’s Zaire Young having a second-half shoe emergency in a win over Somerville, Thursday’s intriguing matchup between a pair of 2-0 teams in Highland Park and JP Stevens., and the upcoming release of the season’s first UPR standings after Week Two of play.

All on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes!

Click below to listen to the 2026 Week 2 edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”:

by Mike Pavlichko

Sophomore Xavier Wilson comes up big in big spot for Monroe, earns Week Two Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week honors

“A sophomore is nothing but a jayvee player, and don’t you ever forget it.”

It was a Monroe coach who said that. Specifically, Milt Theodosatos, who was speaking to a reporter from WCTC radio after a mammoth upset of Spotswood in the fall of 2000, and talking about the mistakes his team would often make because they were so young.

Were he the coach today, instead of Nick Isola, he probably would not have said that about Xavier Wilson.

Wilson is a sophomore, let there be no doubt about that. But he may also be one of the brightest spots this year – and beyond – for a Monroe program that could use some wins, after going just 1-8 last year but seeking their first better-than-.500 season since 2020, when they went 5-1 under Dan Lee.

On Thursday night, in a 28-7 win over Governor Livingston, Wilson carried 16 times for 261 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The first was 85, and opened the scoring. The second came with his team hanging on to a 21-7 lead late after a Highlander touchdown with about four minutes to go.

He dodged two defenders wide to the left on the line of scrimmage, “made a cut to stay in bounds and keep the lock running, and then he was off to the races,” said Isola.

That 80-yard sprint made it 28-7, a score that held to give the Falcons their first win of the season.

For his efforts, Xavier Wilson is the Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Player of the Week for Week Two.

Logo of Bellamy & Son Paving highlighting the Big Central Player of the Week.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko with Week Zero Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week Xavier Wilson of Monroe:

The Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week is chosen from nominees by Big Central coaches. At the end of the season, one player will be chosen to receive a $500 scholarship courtesy of Bellamy & Son Paving. As always, we will recognize selected “Honorable Mentions,” and recognize all other all nominees in our weekly story.

Honorable Mentions:

  • Elijah White, Belvidere: The senior wide receiver had four catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns, including one for 49 yards in a 28-27 win at Roselle Park that might not have happened otherwise. He’s a kicker, too, and was perfect in booting four PATs, while also logging eleven tackles on defense in the secondary, where he made a game-ending interception as Roselle Park was threatening to take the lead on the final play of the game.
  • Al-Naiquan Boseman, Carteret: The senior runningback went for 211 yards on Friday in a 26-20 wi Thursday over arch-rival Perth Amboy. He scored on touchdown runs of 31 and seven yards, including the eventual winning score. The win also got the Ramblers to within three of the Panthers, who lead the all-time series 50-47-2 since it began in 1927. But Carteret now has won five straight, matching their longest win streak in the series, five games from 2003 through 2007.
  • Zaire Young, Piscataway: The senior runningback notched the fifth-best rushing performance in Cheifs’ history Friday in a convincing 28-14 win over visiting Somerville. He carried 37 times for 268 yards and scored three touchdowns – all while wearing two different pairs of sneakers! Seems the sole on his left cleat separated in the second half, and he had to borrow a teammate’s shoes to finish the game.
  • Vinny Young, Spotswood: The senior did it in all three phases for the Chargers, who evened up their record at 1-1 with a 51-13 win at JFK on Friday. In his first game at runningback, he had eight carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a 76-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on special teams, and on defense – at outside linebacker, had three solo tackles, a TFL and a pass breakup.
  • Dante Jennings, St. Thomas Aquinas: The senior was instrumental in a 24-20 home win over Westfield Friday night. The linebacker had four tackles, a TFL, and an interception. On offense, the tight end – battling cramps the entire second half – caught a touchdown pass to get them back in the lead with about a minute to go. Cramping up, he came out of the game, and on his first play back in, with about 50 seconds to go, picked off a Westfield pass to seal the deal.
  • Elijah Greene, Union: While Jamir Hall scored two touchdowns in a 15-12 win at Watchung Hills, Greene had three interceptions and blocked two extra points, helping give the Farmers their first 2-0 start since 2019, the final year of the Mid-State Conference, a year they finished 12-1 under Lou Grasso, and won the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 title over Clifton.

Other Notable Performances:

  • Chase Kraucheunas, Delaware Valley: In a 34-33 win over Johnson Thursday, the senior QB threw for 194 yards and two scores, while also running for 157 yards on ten carries with another two touchdowns. At linebacker, he was also active, registering 13 tackles.
  • Erick Cespedes, Elizabeth: The senior wide-receiver was key in a 43-20 win at Plainfield Friday. He had six catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns of five, 24 and 53 yards. At cornerback, he had five tackles (two solo) and a pass breakup.
  • Braylon Diaz, JFK: In a 51-13 loss to Spotswood, the senior was responsible for both Mustang touchdowns. The wide receiver had five catches for 51 yards as well as four rushes for 72 yards, including a 28-yard TD. On special teams, he finished the night with 105 kick return yards, including a 77-yard return for a score.
  • Kevin Reilly, New Providence: The senior quarterback threw for 210 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 40 and another score, as the Pioneers opened their season with a 27-7 win over Voorhees on Thursday night. That’s now 15 straight Big Central wins for New Providence, the longest active streak in the league after Bernards had its 32-game streak snapped by Cranford Friday night.
  • Cayle Prince, North Plainfield: In a 20-10 loss to South Plainfield, the junior runningback carried seven times for 25 yards, with a catch for a seven-yard touchdown. Just back from an ankle injury, and nowhere near 100 percent, he had four solo tackles, a TFL and an interception, he aggravated the injury again in the third quarter and sat out the rest of the game.
  • Chase Rizzo, Old Bridge: In a 49-21 win over Montgomery, the senior runningback went for 101 yards and two touchdowns, while also logging 70 yards receiving and another score. He also blocked a punt return for a touchdown.
  • Amauris Peguero, Perth Amboy: In a tough loss to arch-rival Carteret, the senior quarterback helped keep his team in the game with a 10-for-19 effort for 226 yards and three touchdowns, while also running the ball 23 times for another 97 yards.
  • Jyvon Cooper, Rahway: In a huge 21-10 win against Summit on Friday that vaulted the Indians into the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten for the first time this season, the senior running back carried 17 times for 92 yards and a touchdown. Twelve of those – and his score – came on two second-half possessions that helped ice the game. At outside linebacker, he had four solo tackles, four asissts, a TFL, one half sack, and a QB hurry.
  • Tristan Frank, Ridge: The senior was involved in all three Red Devil scores in a 21-7 win over Sayreville. That included two rushing and one passing touchdown for the quarterback, while at free safety he also had one interception.
  • Jaylen Brundidge, South Brunswick: A wildcat QB for the Vikings, he carried 14 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns while also catching six passes for 62 yards in a 27-19 win at rival North Brunswick. As a defensive back, he also had three tackles and an interception.
  • Kellen Healy, South Hunterdon: The junior runningback had three rushing touchdowns – of 57, 45, and 14 yards – carrying 23 times for 186 yards in a 35-8 win over South River, including two late scores that helped bury the Rams. On defense, he had six tackles and two TFLs.

by Mike Pavlichko

Who’s at the top after Bernards, Manville see Big Central win streaks snapped? Plus, a look at state winning, losing streaks

St. Thomas Aquinas holds the Big Central Conference record for most consecutive league wins with 35, a streak that was snapped last season. That put Bernards in the catbird’s seat, and they entered 2026 just three wins away from tying that mark.

But the Mountaineers’ streak came to an end Friday, as Bernards dropped to 0-2 on the season, dropping their league opener at home, 31-24 to Cranford.

Of the top four active league win streaks, two came to and end this past weekend. Besides Bernards, Manville had a 12-game league stretch going, but the Mustangs lost their 2026 BCC opener as well, falling by a field goal at Brearley on Friday night, 21-18.

So who does that leave next?

New Providence now owns the league’s best current streak with 15 straight wins. They’re 1-0 this year, opening the season in fine form Thursday night, with a 27-7 home win over Voorhees, the first win for new head coach Anthony Conzentino. He took over for Chet Parelvecchio, Jr., who’s now the Defensive Coordinator at Delbarton. New Providence will look to extend that streak Thursday when they visit Johnson at 7 pm.

Next up is St. Joseph-Metuchen. The second-ranked Falcons have won nine-in-a-row, dating back to the start of last season, when they won all eight of their league contests. St. Joe’s will put that streak on the line Friday afternoon at 4 pm when they visit Gary Kehler Stadium in Westfield to take on the Blue Devils.

State leaders all from down South…

Around the state, Glassboro and Washington Township have the top two overall winning streaks, with no one else even close; that’s because they were thew only two non-Ivy teams (Super Football Conference squads with a “relief” schedule who are ineligible for the playoffs) to finish last year entirely undefeated.

Glassboro has won 29 straight; the Bulldogs are the two-time defending state Group 1 champions, and finished 13-0 in 2024, then 14-0 last year. They are off to a 2-0 start this season, their most recent win coming Friday at Mainland, 38-6. This week, they host Winslow at 6 pm Friday. The Eagles have won two straight state Group 4 titles, and 15 straight games, including their last 13 last season, and their first two this year, over Neptune and defending South Jersey Group 5 champion Kingsway.

In the regular season, Glassboro has won 21 straight – the best streak in the state – while Washington Township has won 13 regular season contests in a row.

As for losses…

The state’s longest active skid currently belongs to Dunellen, which will try and break it Friday when the Destroyers host Belvidere. Longtime mentor Dave DeNapoli stepped down after the 2024 season, and Phlip McGuane came in to take over, while also becoming the new AD in the middle of the school year. That turned out to be a transition year for football, with Kyle Baach becoming the head coach this off-season.

Dunellen dropped its opener at JP Stevens, 12-7, and they will have some opportunities to get off the schneid this season if they can develop what has always been a small group. Their last win came on October 19, 2023, a 34-28 win at Columbia Park over Brearley.

After that, it’s Orange and West Windsor-Plainsboro at 16, but the next two teams both snapped their skids last week. Long Branch had lost 14 straight, but is 1-1 now after a 51-0 win at Keansburg last Thursday. And Paterson Kennedy (an Ivy team) snapped its 13-game losing streak with a season-opening win at Ferris Saturday, 32-6.

by Marcus Borden

Piscataway moves up; Rahway, Union join Marcus Borden’s Week 2 Top Ten… plus rankings for BCC West, Middlesex and Union Counties

We are fully underway in the Big Central, with every team playing in Week One, as ten teams who did not start the season in Week Zero made their debut.

This past Thursday, I was in Springfield for Jonathan Dayton’s home opener versus Bound Brook on their newly refurbished stadium turf field.

The Bulldogs scored early and often as Senior quarterback Adrian Bernknopf’s dominant first half passing performance of 11 completions in 14 attempts for 160 yards and five touchdowns to four different receivers made it an early night for the starters on offense and defense as Dayton’s 43-6 halftime lead meant the Junior Varsity would play the second half with a running clock.

Senior RB/LB Tyler Fuscaldo was a physically dominant performer on both sides of the ball as well as WR/DB Jackson Babiarz who had 2 receiving touchdowns while Junior Dominic Pintado who returned an interception 61 yards, led the defense with eight tackles.

Friday night I made my way to Hugh P. Walsh Field in Monroe as the Falcons hosted Governor Livingston in their new blackout uniforms before a raucous student section which was entirely blacked out as well.

Sophomore Xavier Wilson would break off an 85-yard touchdown run showing his shiftiness and speed late in the first quarter putting the home team up 7-0.

The Highlanders and Falcons traded punches with Monroe containing GL’s running game and and putting plenty of pressure on their sophomore quarterback. Neither team would score in the second quarter.

Monroe would punt on its first possession of the third quarter and then stop the visitors on 4th down. On their very next possession Senior Ghayoor Abbas finds fellow classmate Logan Richter on a 35-yard fourth down pass for a 14-0 lead heading into the final stanza.

“Mr. 4th down” would strike again as Richter would take the handoff from Abbas on a jet sweep barreling through defenders for a 3-yard TD and a 21-0 lead with 7:28 remaining in the game

The Highlanders would get to within 21-7 when Colin Hughes hit Parker Chatfield for a 6-yard TD at 3:44 remaining in the game.

Monroe’s Wilson would go 80-yards bouncing off would-be-tacklers down the home sideline making the final score 28-7 giving the Falcons their first win of the young season.

On Saturday, St. Joseph faced visiting Bridgewater in a much anticipated heavy-weight battle between two highly successful programs.

Both teams would shake off the jitters turning the ball over in their early possessions as two sophomore signal callers found out what it was like to be in a “playoff atmosphere” in just the 2nd week of the season!

The Falcons would strike first as Cole Seyler would find paydirt first late in the first quarter on a 13-yard run. Bridgewater end up punting with 15 seconds to end the quarter down 7-0.

Seyler would waste little time giving Joes a 14-0 at the 9:31 mark in the second quarter with a 39-yard pass to Maddox Mingucci down the middle of the field.

The Panthers would rely on the power of their 210 lb. feature back Jahmier Black who would score on a 1-yard plunge followed by a 2-point swinging gate conversion making it 14-8.

Joes would methodically march down the field and score on a 9-yard Seyler to Noonan corner route making it 21-8 as the first half came to a close.

Both teams would trade punts and turn the ball over before Dominic Rodriguez busted a 59-yard run down the home sideline for a 28-8 lead at 6:26 in the third quarter.

Bridgwater would follow that with their own drive as Jonathan Okolo would score on a 2-yard at 3:46 while drawing to within 28-15.

In the 4th quarter Bridgewater would put the ball into the hands of their powerful back as Black would score from 9-yards and 26-yards bringing the Panthers into the lead 29-28 with 9:59 remaining in the game.

Nick Trust would score on a 7-yard pass from Seyler at 8:05 in the 4th quarter regaining the lead at 35-29.

Both teams would turn the ball over before Seyler finds Dillon Diaz for a 28-yard score and a 43-29 lead with 5:39 remaining in the game.

Bridgewater would close the gap to 43-36 on a 1-yard Black touchdown with 2:47 remaining in the contest. The ensuing insides was recovered by the visitors, however the Falcons defense was able to put the finishing touches on a hard-fought battle between two teams that laid it all on the line in this early season matchup!

Here are my Week 2 Top Tens for the entire Big Central Conference, plus the BCC West, Middlesex County and Union County:

scientific calculator on wooden surface
by Mike Pavlichko

Exclusive: Here’s a look at unofficial updated Strength Index numbers for all NJ Football teams following Week One play

With the shutdown of Gridiron New Jersey over the summer – and the job of calculating the NJSIAA’s complication playoff formula moving to NJ.com, Central Jersey Sports Radio will continue to run its own unofficial numbers all year, and that includes the Strength Index calculations, which are critical to figuring out a team’s OSI (Opponent Strength Index), which is 60 percent of the playoff formula.

NJ.com is expected to debut it’s playoff standings after Week 2 action this weekend, just like Gridiron New Jersey did, but it’s unclear whether it will be publishing the Strength Index numbers on a weekly basis, something Gridiron did not do. However, Gridiron would update each team’s page with their current SI value. We would run our own numbers to compare with Gridiron the first few weeks, but no such mechanism currently exists.

So, we’ve run our own calculations once again this week, and are publishing today the unofficial updated Strength Index values after Week one of play.

Each week, SI values change based on the final score and the rating of the two teams that played. Here’s an example. SI goes up or down depending on how a team did compared to the difference between the two teams. If Team A (80 SI) plays Team B (60 SI) and Team A wins by 20, there’s no change. If Team A wins by 10, they underperformed by 10 points, and Team B overperformed by 10 points. Team B increases by 2 points to become a 62, and Team A drops to a 78. Team A then gets the full value of Team B for its OSI (62) while Team B gets half the value of Team A (39).

Here are Central Jersey Sports Radio’s UNOFFICIAL Strength Index values after Week One play:

2026 Strength Index (Unofficial) after Week 1 (v3)Download