Tag: Jason Goerge

by Mike Pavlichko

Jason Goerge to coach alongside his father and brother at Woodbridge after leaving JP Stevens

When Joe Goerge left South Brunswick – the first time, after the 2018 season – it was, in part, because his sons had a long commute to the Vikings’ games.

Jason and Michael were his assistants, and had been for more than a decade at that point. But they both were working elsewhere. Michael was teaching in the Springfield district, and Jason in Elizabeth.

So Goerge took a job on Staten Island – much closer – but eventually came back to South Brunswick, and Jason departed after the 2022 season to take the head job at JP Stevens, which had not won a game at that point since 2018.

Now, the two will be reunited. Jason Goerge left the Hawks in January to go after an open position on his father’s staff, and now he’ll work under his father once again, this time at Woodbridge, though he’ll continue teaching at JP Stevens in North Edison, not a terribly long drive from the home of the Barrons.

The Woodbridge Board of Education approved the hire last week. At the same time, it approved adding Joe Goerge’s son, Michael, as a physical education teacher at the school. Teaching in the same school where a coach works is often seen as a big plus, to be in the same building with their student-athletes.

Goerge says he’ll help with the offensive and defensive lines and be the Offensive Coordinator for his father. Mike will remain as Defensive Coordinator.

“I’m excited about it,” Goerge told Central Jersey Sports Radio. “Thankfully, everyone at JP was understanding and supportive, and I’ll continue teaching there moving forward.”

Goerge says he felt like at JP Stevens, “we did a lot program-wise and things are in stable shape.”

To that end, Defensive Coordinator David Kunyz was elevated to head coach at JP Stevens in late February.

Goerge was 2-18 in two seasons at JP Stevens, but the Hawks’ season-opening win on September 6th was a memorable one, a 22-21 overtime home victory over Bound Brook that snapped a 42-game losing streak, the longest active skid in the state at the time. Andy many observers who had seen them the season before – when they were 0-11 in 2023 – felt that win was just around the corner.

The Hawks would pick up one more win on October 18th, a 20-18 victory over Roselle Park.

Click below to hear Jason Goerge talk about leaving JP Stevens to reunite with his father at Woodbridge:

by Mike Pavlichko

It’s Over! JP Stevens’ 2 point conversion in OT snaps rising Hawks’ mammoth 42-game skid

On October 26, 2018, JP Stevens beat Monroe 29-14.

On September 6, 2024, they beat Bound Brook in overtime, 22-21.

In between were a lot of painful Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. There were 42 losses, and no wins.

But North Edison was all smiles Friday night.

JP Stevens players celebrate their first win in 53 games, a 22-21 OT win over Bound Brook in North Edison on September 6, 2024. (Photo: Marcus Borden)

Down 14-0 to visiting Bound Brook, Stevens scored twice in the second half to tie the game, went to overtime, surrendered a touchdown to the Crusaders, then came back and got the potential equalizer on a TD run by Marquise Webb, his second score of the night.

A two-point conversion sealed the deal.

JP Stevens 22, Bound Brook 21 (OT).

Enjoy it, Hawks!

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Marcus Borden by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

The win means the two longest active losing streaks in New Jersey high school football came to an end in the last game of 2023 and first game of 2024.

Highland Park had lost 51 straight before ending it with a win in their season finale at Point Pleasant Beach last year. Stevens was next on the list, and they ended it in their opening game this year.

Now, the state’s longest active losing skid belongs to Ferris out of Jersey City. They’ve lost 32 straight dating to the start of the 2020 season, and will try to break it Saturday at home against Belleville.

by Mike Pavlichko

JP Stevens taking it one step at a time in first year under head coach Jason Goerge

When it comes to J.P. Stevens, it’s easy to talk about the streak. Five losses to start this season and 36-straight dating back to the last win on October 26, 2018, against Monroe.

But for new head coach Jason Goerge, it’s not something the Hawks let hang over them like a dark cloud.

Sure, it’s out there. It exists. But J.P. doesn’t entertain it. Becoming more competitive, winning games, eventually winning lots of games – those are big picture things, and right now J.P. is focused on just trying to get better with every passing day.

“We’re looking to isolate every single rep,” Goerge says. “We’re believing in the process and that the results will come if we do that every day.”

An example: a 12-play, 60-plus-yard touchdown drive in the first half last week against South Plainfield that brought the Hawks back within striking distance. Goerge wants his guys to chase that feeling.

The Hawks will look to keep taking things step-by-step as they visit red-hot Carteret (4-1, 2-0 Big Central – United Silver) Friday night. Coverage begins at 6:40 on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe on the broadcast. Kickoff is slated for 7:00. Click here to listen.

Click below to listen to Justin Sontupe talk with J.P. Stevens head coach Jason Goerge:

by Mike Pavlichko

Jason Goerge, son of legendary coach Joe, takes the reins at JP Stevens

Hoping to draw on his experiences working with his father in rebuilding the Dayton football program from scratch in 2006, Jason Goerge is now the new football coach at JP Stevens High School.

It’s the first head coaching job for Jason, who will turn 37 this summer, and has learned all about the “right way” to build a program from his father, legendary coach Joe Goerge, who was won numerous championships at Franklin and South Brunswick, where he remains along with his other son, Michael, who will remain as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator.

The Edison Board of Education approved the hire at its meeting Tuesday night.

Jason started calling the offense for his dad at South Brunswick in 2014, returning after Joe Goerge stepped away for a few years, and will have to assemble a staff on his own, bringing no South Brunswick assistants with him.

“I didn’t want to make it weird at Thanksgiving if I started bringing some of those guys with me,” Goerge told Central Jersey Sports Radio Wednesday.

The task is tall at JP Stevens, which currently owns the second longest losing streak in New Jersey at 31 games, behind only Highland Park, which has lost 42 straight. The Hawks’ last win came on October 26, 2018, a 29-14 victory over Monroe under Joe Riggi.

In the last 16 seasons since the departure of Frank Zarro – who was the last coach to have a winning record at JP, going 5-5 in his final season in 2016 – Stevens has gone 29-120 under five different coaches since then, including two separate stints by Riggi.

Goerge will also teach in the district, saying he’s never been a teacher where he’s coached before, and he thinks it’ll be a big plus to be “in the building” when it comes to installing a culture at JP Stevens.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with new JP Stevens head coach Jason George: