Tag: Joe Goerge

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 2 Woodbridge keeps perfect season alive with gutty, come-from-behind, 41-31 win at No. 8 Montgomery, with 3 TDs from Joshua Allen

And Woodbridge keeps rolling along, even when it looked like the wouldn’t.

The No. 2 Barrons – now 7-0 – found themselves down 25-14 to No. 8 Montgomery on the road in Skillman Friday night, but somehow headed home with a 41-31 win in their pocket that could help them solidify a top four finish in the North 2 Group 4 playoffs, guaranteeing them at least one home game.

Senior Joshua Allen ran for 232 yards and three touchdowns on a night when the Barrons gashed the Cougars for 412 yards of rushing.

Woodbridge has two tough tests down the stretch: Summit at home next week, then at St. Joseph-Metuchen, while Montgomery (5-2) closes with two road games, at Sayreville and Rahway.

That last game will decide the Liberty Silver division, with Montgomery 3-0 and Rahway at 2-1 after a 49-20 win at Watchung Hills. A Monty win clinches the division at 4-0, while a Rahway win would make them both 3-1, with the Indians winning it on the head-to-head.

Watch CJSR analyst Marcus Borden’s postgame reaction with Woodbridge head coach Joe Goerge and seniors Joshua Allen and Jhonny Collado, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Sunday Conversation: Woodbridge’s Joe Goerge on 250 (or 251?) career wins, spanning NJ and NY

Sometimes, you can do the math over and over again, and it just doesn’t add up.

Such was the case when Woodbridge football assistant Jason Goerge – who coaches with his father, Joe, the head man for the Barrons – called me to discuss a milestone his dad was close to reaching.

Or, maybe he’d already reached it?

After beginning his career at Port Richmond on Staten Island, Joe Goerge eventually landed in New Jersey at Franklin. He won two championships, then resurrected the program at Dayton before heading to South Brunswick, where he won three more state titles. He left there to go to St. Joseph by the Sea back in New York, then came back to South Brunswick before arriving in Woodbridge in 2024.

The St. Joseph by the Sea website put his record at 221-137-4 heading on a web page introducing the 2021 coaching staff. They went 4-5 that year, putting him at 225-142-4. Back at South Brunswick, the Vikings went 5-5 in back-to-back seasons, for a total of 10-10, putting him at 235-152-4.

With a 10-1 season last year, and a 3-0 season this year, that’s 245-152-4.

But before coming to Woodbridge, a Mike Kinney article on NJ.com gave him a 238-158-4 record “at five schools – South Brunswick (twice), Franklin and Dayton in New Jersey, and Port Richmond (where he began his career) and St. Joseph by-the-Sea.”

That would make him 251-159-4, and that his 250th career win actually came two weeks ago in a 26-23 win at Watchung Hills.

Since school websites are not always up to date, and to be honest, we trust Mike Kinney more (and Athletic Director Joe Ward, who confirmed the same)… we’re going with those numbers.

But really, what are we talking about here? Joe Goerge has reached quite the milestone. He’s won multiple championships at multiple schools, including 1994 and 1996 in Central Jersey Group 3 at Franklin, along with Central Jersey Group 5 titles in 2012, 2015 and 2017 at South Brunswick.

A jubilant football coach holds a championship trophy aloft while surrounded by celebrating players in their uniforms, cheering and raising their hands in triumph.
Joe Goerge celebrates with his players after South Brunswick’s 2015 Central Jersey Group 5 championship over Manalapan at Rutgers University. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Over the years, he’s touched the lives of thousands of boys and turned them into young men with the life lessons football provides. Accountability, respect, hard work, and overcoming adversity.

Certainly, the championships will be remembered.

But the joy, for Goerge, is in the teaching, and then seeing them years later with their families, their kids, using the lessons they learned – whether at Port Richmond way back when he first started in the 1980s, or in 2040 when he sees anyone on his current Barrons squad, either with their wives and kids, coaching, or maybe playing in the NFL.

To see what they’ve become, what they’ve made out of their lives, that’s the real victory.

And you can be pretty sure there are a lot more than 250 of those victories in Joe Goerge’s career.

And at the rate he’s going, there will be many more to come.

Click below to hear Woodbridge football coach Joe Goerge talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about his long and storied career in coaching, and win No. 250 – whenever it came!

by Mike Pavlichko

Woodbridge’s Joe Goerge named 2024 Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year

When it comes to choosing a Coach of the Year, we’ve always felt it had to be someone who did something more than just coach the best team.

Sure, there are many decisions to be made throughout the course of a season, but it’s sometimes those outside the game that warrant attention and recognition. And sometimes, it’s the backstory that goes with it.

For Joe Goerge, the 2024 Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year, it’s both.

Goerge has coached all around New Jersey – locally at Franklin, Dayton, and twice South Brunswick – also spending time on Staten Island. He left his second stint at South Brunswick in the Spring to take over after Joe LaSala stepped down in March.

Goerge is a veteran, but sometimes veterans can get set in their ways. Not so for him.

An option coach for much of his life on the sidelines, taking the Woodbridge job was an interesting proposition. Why? Because they didn’t run it.

And then, there’s the personnel. Quarterback Derek Anderson was coming off a season where he threw for 1,751 yards and 21 touchdowns with just one pick, while his twin brother, Bryan, had 30 catches for 524 yards and four scores.

Who’s gonna mess with that?

To his credit, Goerge didn’t. He sprinkled in a few option plays, which made the Barrons that much better, and they bettered their 6-4 record in 2023 with an undefeated regular season, going 9-0.

Woodbridge eventually lost to Northern Highlands in the North 2, Group 4 semifinals, but the Barrons recorded their third undefeated regular season in the last six years under Goerge, in just his first year at the helm.

What will he do for an encore?

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Woodbridge head coach Joe Goerge, our 2024 Coach of the Year:

by Mike Pavlichko

Current and former players all helping Woodbridge as Barrons seek first sectional final berth since 2019, in rematch with No. Highlands

The parallels were already being made on their own, so it’s somewhat fate that Woodbridge should play Northern Highlands in this Friday night’s North 2, Group 4 semifinal.

Five years ago, later this month, the two met up in Bergen County for the North 1, Group 4 title, with a star player named Ali Lee, Jr., leading the way. The Highlanders dominated that game, winning 37-7, leaving Lee and his teammates promising they’d be back next year, before the COVID pandemic waylaid their state tournament plans. (They went undefeated both years in the regular season; 9-0 in 2019, 5-0 in 2020.)

Well, not only do they play that same school Friday, but Mr. Lee was back over the summer, working out with the team, and no doubt imparting some wisdom from what has been a challenging career, both in high school, and at the next level, where he first committed to Stony Brook, then ended up at Notre Dame College in Ohio, and now is at Lake Erie College in the Buckeye State.

Ali Lee, Jr., of Woodbridge talks to Central Jersey Sports Radio prior to his senior season in 2020. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Meanwhile, this year’s version of the Barrons also is undefeated, 10-0, as they welcome in Northern Highlands (5-4) for Friday’s sectional semifinal. They’ve been challenged this year, for sure, winning several close games. But they’ve also embodied the next man up mentality.

When starting runningback Jahmir Beal was banged up, Shamar Wells filled in more than ably. His first time out, he ran for 167 yards and three touchdowns against Perth Amboy. And when Wells got a little nicked, Zack Guzman fueled the offense, rushing for 100 yards against Montgomery.

Highlands is a balanced team whose record may be deceiving. At 5-4, their losses have come to Washington Twp., Union City, Old Tappan and Ramapo. The first three of those teams are all No. 1 seeds in their respective playoff sections, while Ramapo is a third-seed. Those teams are a combined 30-7.

They have thrown for just over 1,200 yards and rushed for just over 1,000, with four backs that have gone for over a hundred yards on the ground this season, but none of whom have rushed for over 350.

Click below to hear Woodbridge head coach Joe Goerge talk about the Barrons, and their playoff matchup this weekend with Northern Highlands:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 2 Woodbridge rallies to topple No. 8 St. Joseph, 36-35, to clinch perfect regular season

No one can deny the quality coach Joe Goerge is. He’s won championships all over the place, and has a stellar reputation as a mentor.

But one could be forgiven if they wondered when he left South Brunswick to take the Woodbridge job last spring how that would go. After all, the Woodbridge offense had been humming with Derek Anderson behind center, and a great cast of characters around him. Goerge’s reputation included a healthy dose of the option, something Woodbridge generally didn’t use.

Well, question no more.

The Barrons finished a perfect regular season Friday night – their third in six seasons, including 5-1 in the COVID year with a pod loss to Somerville, and 10-1 in 2019 with a loss in the North 1, Group 4 title game at Northern Highlands – with a 36-35 win over St. Joseph-Metuchen.

Trailing for most of the game, the Barrons rallied in the second half. With 2:12 left, Woodbridge pulled within one on a 13-yard TD strike to Izaiah Toliver.

Goerge knew all along the Barrons would go for two if they reached the end zone. They failed on their attempt, but offsetting penalties gave them a Mulligan, and this time they made it.

The Falcons still had a chance, but Josh Allen intercepted Justin Scaramuzzo – just his second pick all year – to seal the win.

At the moment, it appears Woodbridge moves into the third seed in North 4 with the win. St. Joseph falls to 5-3 with the loss, its third straight. The non-public playoffs are seeded next weekend, by committee.

Click below to hear Woodbridge head coach Joe Goerge talk about Friday night’s win over the Falcons:

by Mike Pavlichko

Beal’s four touchdowns power No. 3 Woodbridge past Plainfield, 41-26

In a tight game all the way, third-ranked Woodbridge got four touchdowns and 103 yards rushing from Jahmir Beal – while quarterback Derek Anderson threw for 183 yards and one score, and running for another – to push the Barrons over visiting Plainfield Friday night, 41-26.

It was a tight first half, with both teams trading a pair of punts before they would trade three scores. The Cardinals took a 6-0 lead, then Woodbridge tied it at six midway through the second quarter. Plainfield went ahead again with a pass from Kamai Lowery to Joel Cordoba, but Woodbridge finished the half with 1:46 to go on a seven-yard touchdown by Beal.

That was the Barrons’ first lead of the night, and they wouldn’t relinquish it.

Derek Anderson scored on a 22-yard run with 8:31 left in the third, and a two-point try made it 21-12 Barrons. They scored for a third straight time with :51 left in the third, on Beal’s second TD of the game, a 10-yarder, to make it 27-12; the kick was no good.

Plainfield answered on a four-yard run by EJ Brown, but Beal scored again from two yards out with just under six minutes left.

The Cardinals weren’t done, as Lowery ran in a touchdown from two yards out just 26 seconds later, but Beal’s fourth touchdown of the game with 5:08 left – this time from the four – gave Woodbridge a 41-26 lead, and they came up big on defense on Plainfield’s last possession to keep them out of the end zone.

Woodbridge improves to 3-0 for the first time since 2021 with a road game at in-town rival Colonia next Friday night. Plainfield is 1-2 and will host Perth Amboy next weekend.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel with Woodbridge head coach Joe Goerge, runningback Jahmir Beal and quarterback Derek Anderson, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

NOTES: The honorary captain for the Barrons was Lee Warren, a name well-known to Woodbridge fans. Warren was a longtime assistant coach of football, softball, baseball, basketball and track and field, and the first black principal in Woodbridge, leading Ross Street Elementary. He later was principal at Woodbridge High School from 1996 to 2013.

But the moment was especially poignant, since Warren was a 1965 graduate of Plainfield High School, where he is in the Hall of Fame.

by Alec Crouthamel

No. 3 Woodbridge hosts Plainfield after two close calls to start the season

Woodbridge football head coach Joe Goerge may be in his first year leading the Barrons, but he has decades of experience coaching high school football across the state. Prior to taking over Woodbridge, he led South Brunswick to three sectional titles in 2012, 2015, and 2017, and also won two at Franklin in 1994 and 1996. He boasts a career 238-158-4 record over 35 years and five schools.

He’s needed every minute of that experience to help the Barrons win their first two games, by a combined five points.

Last week against Watchung Hills, it took a late fourth quarter touchdown between twin brothers, with quarterback Derek Anderson finding Bryan for an 11-yard score.

In the season opener at Old Bridge, the Knights scored two straight touchdowns by Brody Nugent in the final six minutes to cut the lead to 36-34. The Barrons held up strong on the conversion attempt, however, as the pass fell harmlessly to the ground and gave Woodbridge the victory.

The Anderson brothers have come up big for the Barrons in both games and will be tasked with doing so once again in Friday’s matchup against Plainfield.

Alongside the duo in the passing game brings a strong rushing attack, led by senior running backs Jahmir Beal and Zackaryus Guzman.

You can hear Friday evening’s “Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving” on Central Jersey Sports Radio with pregame at 5:45, kickoff at 6 pm. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will call all the action; click here to listen.

Goerge noted that while the Cardinals are 1-1, they could just as easily be undefeated as well. In the season-opening Mountaineer Classic, they fell at Newark East Side in an 8-6 slugfest decided in the final minute. Goerge said they will be hungry and ready, and that his team will need to match that energy.

Click below to hear Woodbridge first-year head coach Joe Goerge preview Friday’s matchup with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 4 Woodbridge gets Goerge his first win as Barrons’ coach as Derek Anderson shines in good ol’ fashioned donnybrook at Old Bridge

Call it a barnburner, a see-saw affair, a shootout – anything you like.

In the end, it was a win for Woodbridge, a thriller at that, and the first victory for head coach Joe Goerge, who left South Brunswick to take over the program in the spring,

The final was 36-34, the Barrons over Old Bridge, and the game at Vince Lombardi Stadium off Route Nine was certainly a back-and-forth one with some tense moments, and bursts of offense..

Old Bridge got on the board first with a 75-yard touchdown run by quarterback Brody Nugent late in the first quarter, with 2:24 to go. But Woodbridge would get the next three scores spanning the halves.

A pair of touchdown passes to Izaiah Toliver and Daunte DiFonzo – on which the PAT was blocked – made it 13-7 at the half. Late in the third, a field goal by Toliver from 28-yards out made it 16-13 with 3:33 to go. And that’s when the scoring came fast and furious.

Old Bridge cut it to five on an 83-yard pass by Nugent to Jaden Griffith at the 2:54 mark, and a two-point conversion gave them a short-lived 21-16 lead. But that would be erased with 2:32 to go in the quarter when Anderson hooked up with twin brother Bryan for a 60-yard TD catch that put the Barrons up 23-21.

And they weren’t done. Derek Anderson scored 18-seconds into the fourth quarter from 12 yards out, and a five-yard run by Zackaryus Guzman made it 36-21, with a second PAT blocked by the Knights. It could have been costly.

That’s because Old Bridge got a 25-yard touchdown on a scramble by Nugent with 4:36 to go that cut the score to 36-28. Later, the Knights drove to the Barrons’ eight-yard line with 1:24 to go, and out of a time out, got another run from Nugent to cut it two 36-34.

But the two-point pass failed, and Old Bridge couldn’t recover the onside kick, giving the Barrons the victory.

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden in Old Bridge, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Marcus Borden’s 2024 GMC/BCC Camp Caravan: Goerge gets to work with loaded Woodbridge

Central Jersey Sports Radio analyst Marcus Borden continued made a last-minute detour Thursday morning on his 2024 GMC/Big Central Conference Camp Caravan with a visit to Woodbridge.

Watch Borden’s full coverage below, including clips from camp, and interviews with head coach Joe Goerge along with seniors Derek Anderson (QB), Bryan Anderson (WR/DB), Jahmir Beal (RB/S), Daunte DiFonzo (WR/S) and Tyler Simkovich (RB/LB).

You can now watch all the 2024 Camp Caravan videos on YouTube by clicking this link!

by Mike Pavlichko

Joe Goerge departs South Brunswick, is approved as new Woodbridge football coach

After two seasons in a second stint at South Brunswick, Joe Goerge is heading up the Turnpike to become the next head coach of the Woodbridge football program.

The veteran mentor’s hire was approved by the Woodbridge Board of Education Thursday night.

The 69-year-old Goerge takes over from Joe LaSala, who handed in his resignation on March 26th after six seasons where the Barrons went 37-20, with a trip to the North 1, Group 4 title game in 2019.

Goerge led the Vikings to unprecedented success in his first go-round in Monmouth Junction, a seven-year tenure that ran from 2012 to 2018, including a 63-17 record and the only three state titles in program history. He spent a year as an assistant at Matawan before taking a head coaching job on Staten Island, where he began his career before coming to Franklin, where he won state titles in 1994 and 1996.

South Brunswick put together back-to-back 5-5 seasons under Goerge, who took over for John Viotto, who ironically replaced Goerge after he stepped down following the 2018 season.

Though the hire is late in the calendar – many coaching departures take place closer to the end of the season in December, with hires typically coming soon after – Goerge will hit the ground running with a ton of talent back and great facilities.

The Barrons return starting quarterback Derek Anderson, who last year threw for 1,750 yards and 21 touchdowns. Two of their top three rushers return, in Jamier Beal (593 yrds, 6 TD) and Kyle Anderson (328 yds, 6 TD), while top receiver Bryan Anderson (30 catches, 524 yds, 4 TD) is also back. All are seniors.

On defense, the top three tacklers are all back: Bryan Anderson (65 tackles, 5 TFLs, 3 INT) and Jose Tejierio (64 tackles) – both seniors – and Ian Roberts (68 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), who will be a junior.

All that said, South Brunswick now is in the market for a nearly-immediate hire late in the school year, and has already posted for the job.

Click below to hear Joe Goerge talk about becoming the new Woodbridge football head coach: