Tag: Jeff Sutherland

by Mike Pavlichko

Dre Garcia’s pick, handoff to Greg Brown, earns Ridge Red Devils the win for the 2025 Highlight Reel Play of the Year

Seven nominees, seven really good highlights.

But in the end, the fans must pick one.

With nearly six thousand votes cast, the Ridge Red Devils nearly had a plurality, earning almost 29-hundred votes – and almost 48 percent of the total – in our fan balloting for the 2025 Highlight Reel Play of the Year.

And like many nominees – and some past champions – it wasn’t a play that was drawn up or routinely worked on at the end of practice.

Junior nose tackle Dre Garcia read the screen pass from the North Brunswick quarterback perfectly. It came right to him, and he made his push forward.

But he quickly saw linebacker Greg Brown running right next to him. Brown says his plan was to block downfield for him, figuring he was faster and could get in front of him to stifle the Raiders’ offense, now trying to stop the ball carrier.

But Garcia said, “here, you take it” – if not in so many words – and he shoved the ball into Brown’s chest.

Brown took it the rest of the wat for a score in a 57-20 home win over North Brunswick on October 17th at Lee Field in Basking Ridge.

Click below to see Ridge’s winning Highlight Reel play, then scroll further down to hear Dre Garcia, Greg Brown and head coach Jeff Sutherland talk about the play with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sport Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Ridge NT Dre Garcia, LB Greg Brown and head coach Jeff Sutherland:

Honorable Mentions:

  • Third Place: Andre Pereira, Cranford, October 3rd: After a successful onside kick, Pereira’s number was called again with his team down 41-40 at home against Rahway late in the game. The attempt would be from the left hash mark, a 37-yard try. Not only did he nail it to set off a wild celebration over the win, but he just got it around a Rahway defender who charged across the line of scrimmage from his left.
  • Second Place: John Archer and Dorian Roundtree, Bound Brook, September 26: On a fourth-and-ten from their own ten yard line, Archer hits Roundtree on the right sideline, right at the sticks. Then, he turns and gets upfield for the remaining 80-yards, and it’s a 90-yard touchdown to put the Crusaders over Belvidere, 28-27.

Click here to watch all seven nominees for the Highlight Reel Play of the Year!

by Mike Pavlichko

Team effort, new QB spark Ridge to 33-14 win over No. 6, previously unbeaten Bridgewater

After three games and a 2-1 start – highly respectable considering the gauntlet that is the Big Central Conference American Silver Division – first-year Ridge head coach Jeff Sutherland was looking for a spark.

So, he changed quarterbacks for Friday night’s big home game with Bridgewater-Raritan, which came in 4-0 but without starting QB Declan Kurdyla, who’s out at least three weeks with a knee sprain.

Sawyer Paul got the nod against the Panthers, and he sure made Sutherland proud, considering he knew how difficult it would be after not getting the starting job for Game One. The kid stuck with it, and now, he has his team 2-2, sending one of the ten BCC teams without a loss heading into Week Four to their first defeat of the season, a 33-14 win for the Red Devils.

Paul was 10-of-17 for 174 yards and two touchdown passes, while six different Ridge players had multiple rushes in the game, with C.J. Griffith going 12 times for 101 yards and a score, and Nick Phenning caryring 13 times for 56 yards.

A tie game at 7-7 after one, the second quarter was the decisive one, as Ridge outscored the Panthers 20-7 in the period, to take a 27-14 lead into the locker room.

The only second-half score was a Greg Brown 39-yard touchdown reception. Lenny Paolillo scored twice in the second quarter, on a 25-yard run and an 18-yard pass from Paul. Griffith had an eleven-yard run in the period, while Stephen Coffey’s 11-yard run for Ridge came in the opening 12 minutes.

Ridge is now 2-2 heading into a Saturday game at Union (0-5) next week, while the Panthers drop to 4-1 with a home game next Friday night against Elizabeth (2-3).

Click below for postgame reaction from Ridge head coach Jeff Sutherland with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Sutherland looks to seniors, returning staff in first years leading Ridge football

Even though he’s been on the staff, Jeff Sutherland says it’s different.

There’s a new dynamic when you move up from coordinator to head coach, but Sutherland is having a blast as he readies the Ridge football team for 2025.

Sutherland took over after fellow alum Andy West stepped down in the Spring after five seasons as head coach following the departure of Bill Tracy, who’s now at St. Joseph-Metuchen. West’s teams were 36-12, made the playoffs all four seasons they were held (none in 2020 due to COVID), and won the Big Central American Silver Division title outright in last season, after a three-way tie they shared in 2023.

On the field, the loss of senior QB Connor McLachlan (981 passing yards, 10 TDs) and RB Aidan Stieglitz (1,311 rush yards, 22 touchdowns) won’t be easy to overcome, but there will be an emphasis on line play on both sides of the ball. And even the most talented runningback in the world can’t do anything if he’s not blocked for.

Defensively, a couple of two-way linemen – who Sutherland brought to Big Central Media Day on August 7th – will also be key: Nate Engdahl (2 sacks, 4 TFLs) and Anthony Valera (1 sack, 4 TFLs, 1 forced fumble/recovery), among others.

Ridge has a bye Week Zero and will open the season on September 5th when St. Joe’s visits Lee Field.

Click below to hear from Sutherland, Engdahl and Valera with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko at Big Central Media Day: