Tag: Joe LaSala

by Mike Pavlichko

Joe LaSala talks his exit from Woodbridge, building lifelong connections with Barrons

The news began circulating less than a week ago, making the rounds privately at first, then publicly on social media as current and former players chipped in their praise, plaudits, sadness and disappointment.

By Wednesday morning, it was out: Joe LaSala had resigned at Woodbridge after six seasons. It was news that came as a shock to many.

The 34-year-old was 37-20 during his tenure, taking Woodbridge all the way to the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 title game in 2019. Their run ended there, losing to Northern Highlands, which won its first of three straight sectional titles.

And even when the Barrons weren’t making a championship game, LaSala’s teams were always competitive. In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Woodbridge faced off against Somerville in a battle of undefeated teams in the first week of post-season pods, and it was a “must attend” event, even if crowds were still limited to 1,500 fans at that point in the pandemic.

Still, to read the comments from players – present and past – on social media, clearly LaSala valued more than wins and losses during his time in red and black, at a rival to his alma mater, Colonia.

Rumors swirled about how and why it could all happen, but LaSala – in a one-on-one interview with Central Jersey Sports Radio – says ultimately, it was all his decision, and it was the right time.

And he’s looking forward to spending more time with his 15-month-old daughter Olivia and his wife Olivia. Now, who could blame him for that?

LaSala says he takes away a lot of memories, and a lot of friendships, whether with former or current players, still keeping in touch with many. He’ll surely surface somewhere else, at some point. Any program would be lucky to have someone as dedicated.

But for now, he says, he’ll surely enjoy time with his family.

Click below to listen to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Joe LaSala:

by Mike Pavlichko

Woodbridge coach Joe LaSala steps down

After six seasons at the helm of the Woodbridge football program, head coach Joe LaSala resigned last night, confirming the news this morning to Central Jersey Sports Radio.

LaSala says he plans to meet with with his team on Friday to talk about his decision.

“I’ve worked every single day for the last six years, and just recently had my first daughter,” LaSala said.

LaSala was 37-20 in his time as the Barrons’ head coach. Debuting with a 5-5 season in 2018, Woodbridge followed that up with a 10-1 campaign in 2019 – its best season under LaSala – which featured a trip to the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 finals. The Barrons lost in the title game at Northern Highlands.

LaSala played high school ball at Colonia – one of three high schools in the Woodbridge school district – for his father, Ben LaSala, who is retiring at the end of the school year.

Next year’s team will bring back 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.

by Dylan Allen

Woodbridge seeks revenge win vs. Ridge in rematch of ’21 North 1, Group 4 opener

Woodbridge has been here before.

Last year, the Barrons fell in the opening round of the state playoffs, 49-19 to Ramapo. The year before, they fell 38-0 to Ridge in 2021.

This year’s edition finished the regular season with an overall record of 6-3, Big Central Liberty Division champs having swept its four divisional games, and closed having won four of their last five games. But none of that matters, the playoffs are here and now for the seventh-seeded Barrons.

Woodbridge’s defense will be the key against a high-octane Ridge offense that has scored 25-plus points in seven of their eight games. No. 2 seed Ridge finished the year 7-1 with its one loss coming to Phillipsburg, who’s also 7-1 this season, 21-14 back on Sept. 8. Ridge finished a perfect 4-0 at home, while Woodbridge is just 1-3 on the road. Those three road losses are by a combined 13 points.

Beating Ridge may be a steep hill to climb, but with quarterback Derek Anderson, who has 25 total touchdowns and only one interception, anything is possible. Woodbridge will need him to be on his A-game. A win would put the Barrons in the sectional semifinals next week visiting either 6th-seed Randolph or 3rd-seed Northern Highlands.

A win for Woodbridge would be the first in the postseason since 2019, when they went to the North 1 Group 4 title game but lost at Northern Highlands, 37-7.

You can hear Friday night’s game on Central Jersey Sports Radio with pregame starting at 6:45 and kickoff at 7. Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen will call all the action; click here to listen.

Click below to hear Dylan Allen talk with Woodbridge head coach Joe LaSala ahead of the North 1 Group 4 Quarterfinal matchup vs. Ridge.

by Mike Pavlichko

Woodbridge seniors looking to close out careers with a bounce-back year

Pre-COVID and post-COVID, Joe LaSala really had the Woodbridge football program humming along. They went to the North 1, Group 4 final in 2019, with a 10-0 record until falling in the title game at Northern Highlands.

They had a perfect 5-0 regular season before their first pod game against also-unbeaten Somerville in 2020, but dropped that one to end 5-1.

The 2021 year was also solid: 7-3, sweeping in-town rivals Colonia and JFK.

So last year was a bit of an anomaly at 4-6, but they finished strong, winning three of their final five games after starting 1-4.

This year, the Barrons are hoping to build off that momentum with a good number of pieces back. That includes their top wideout, senior A.J. Bosch, who had 8 touchdown catches and 655 yards receiving, plus two other juniors who had over 100 yards receiving last year in Bryan Anderson and Sincere Barner.

Quarterback Derek Anderson is back, also a junior. That means all those players were sophomores last year, and sometimes it shows. With an extra year under their belts, LaSala hopes that experience shows in 2023.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko at Big Central Media Days with Woodbridge head coach Joe LaSala, seniors A.J. Bosch and Dean Fiore, and junior Derek Anderson:

by Mike Pavlichko

Woodbridge looking to regroup as state playoffs begin against potential sleeper in Ridge

Weeks 7 and 8 didn’t go exactly as planned for Woodbridge, falling by ten to Cranford at home, then by one at Scotch Plains-Fanwood.

That said, head coach Joe LaSala likes where his team is at right now.

That’s because despite the adversity, they go into the second season – the playoffs – on a winning note, off a 27-6 win over a Linden team whose talent belies its 3-5 record.

Friday night, though, in the opening round of the North 4, Group 1 playoffs, third-seed Woodbridge (7-2) will face a Ridge (6-2) team that’s the 6th seed, but a bit of a sleeper to many Big Central observers and scribes.

Click below to hear Woodbridge head coach Joe LaSala talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino about the Barrons’ season, and their opening round matchup with the Red Devils:

by Mike Pavlichko

Barrons have great success on the field and off, exceeding their fundraising goals with Fundraising University

The following is paid content from Central Jersey Sports Radio founding sponsor Fundraising University New Jersey.

The Woodbridge Barrons have only lost two regular season games in the last three seasons under head coach Joe LaSala.

Even when the coronavirus pandemic threatened the high school football season in 2020, they were still able to have a successful season.

There have been great players, and there has been sound coaching. Behind it all has been top-notch fundraising, but LaSala has had very little to do with it.

With COVID keeping fans from games and restricting contact, a traditional door-to-door or other in-person fundraiser just wouldn’t be feasible. And that’s when he remembered seeing several posts on social media about Fundraising University’ “Fund-U-Now” program.

READ MORE: In 2020, Fundraising University supported the Big Central Conference with a $500 “Unsung Hero Scholarship Award”

In the first year, Woodbridge exceeded its goals with a quick “Fund-U-Now” fundraiser that required very little work from the coach, and minimal amount of time from the players. They even got to compete against each other for bonuses, and the money was in LaSala’s hands before the ink was dry on the check.

The fundraiser done in a flash, they could get back to doing what Woodbridge does so well: winning football games.

Click below to hear Joe LaSala explain how Fundraising University works, and why the Barrons are now working on their third fundraiser with the company:

For more information on Fundraising University, visit their website by clicking here. You can find New Jersey franchisee John Tuohy on Twitter, and follow him at @NJFundU. Or call John at 732-772-3354.

Tell John Tuohy you heard about Fundraising University through Central Jersey Sports Radio and receive extra incentives for your players who win fundraising competitions among their teammates!

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 4 Woodbridge looks to keep the ball rolling when No. 7 Cranford comes to town in the Autoland Game of the Week

Woodbridge and Cranford don’t have a long history, but this is one game many people had circled on their calendars at the beginning of the year.

And when the No. 4 Barrons meet the No. 7 Cougars tomorrow night on Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Big Central Game of the Week driven by Autoland, they will meet with both being undefeated, and looking for a boost in the playoff race.

With three weeks before the cutoff, Woodbridge is third in the North 4 supersection, and looking to pull into the top two to gain home-field advantage throughout the sectional playoffs. Cranford, meanwhile, sits atop their North 3 section, the only Big Central team to lead the pack at the moment, although several teams are in play for one of the top two seeds in other sections.

The similarities don’t end there, however.

Cranford has an experienced quarterback who is in his first year as a starter; Shane Van Dam split time with Dennis DeMarino last season. Woodbridge has Matt Stanton, who has turned his game around after moving with his family and transferring from St. Joseph-Metuchen to Woodbridge, where he’s cut down dramatically on the turnovers, and helped Barron Country believe there’s life after Anthony Santino and Ali Lee, Jr.

You can hear tomorrow night’s game on Central Jersey Sports Radio with kickoff at 7:00. Pregame begins at 6:45. Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino will call all the action from Priscoe Field; you can listen live and FREE by clicking here.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino talk with both head coaches about Friday night’s big matchup:

Mike Pavlichko with Woodbridge head coach Joe LaSala

Dom Savino with Cranford head coach Erik Rosenmeier
by Mike Pavlichko

This Week in the Big Central – Episode 8: The Big Trio

Episode 8 of “This Week in the Big Central,” driven by Mark Montenero and his team at the world-famous Autoland, is highlighted by a trio of top ten games, as the regular season enters its final three weeks.

Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino talk about two breaking stories out Wednesday: the NJSIAA warning teams not to “mutually cancel” games that would benefit a team’s playoff standings, and the Shore Conference killing its plan for “playoff pods” in the final two weeks of the regular season, assigning set matchups instead. They debate whether one is just like the other, and if anything is really wrong with scheduling a better opponent to help a team’s playoff push, while letting a lesser team find a more competitive game, which would seem to benefit both schools.

We debut a new feature with founding sponsor Elite QB, the “Elite Performers of the Week” with quarterbacks coach Matt Bastardi.

Then, it’s a look at the Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week, Rahway’s Zaon Laney, who contirbuted in all three phases in the Indians’ win over 4-1 Warren Hills.

Mike and Dom Savino wrap it up with a look at the Week 7 slate.

by Mike Pavlichko

Gutsy Woodbridge edges out North Hunterdon on late TD, 2-point conversion

Woodbridge and North Hunterdon were locked in a tussle, and the Barrons had yet to break through.

The Lions – coming into Priscoe Field with a 1-2 mark, but off a win against Scotch Plains – had led the Barrons 7-0 at the half, and brought that lead into the fourth quarter, where they held it past the midway point of the stanza.

But Woodbridge finally broke through with a 27-yard touchdown run by transfer quarterback Matt Stanton. Decision time and head coach Joe LaSala went for the win.

The decision paid off, as Stanton ran in the two-point conversion, and Woodbridge held on for an 8-7 win that kept them undefeated, and the only Big Central team to be 5-0.

Click below to hear Woodbridge head coach Joe LaSala talk about the win with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Dom Savino

LaSala prepares No. 1 Woodbridge to defend unbeaten record against St. Joe’s

by Dom Savino

Since the start of the season, No. 1 Woodbridge has stood atop the Central Jersey Sports Radio Top 10, thanks to a massive group of returners from a 2019 squad that reached the North 1, Group 4 sectional final.

Those familiar faces — headlined by seniors like RB/CB Ali Lee Jr., QB Anthony Santino, and WR/S Justin Magera — have guided the Barrons to a 4-0 record, highlighted last week by a 41-0 win at state-ranked Parsippany Hills. Lee Jr., one of New Jersey’s premier running backs, led the way with a career-high 264 rushing yards and four rushing TDs.

Woodbridge will face another road test this Saturday at 1 p.m. as the Barrons battle St. Joseph of Metuchen, which fell out of the Top 10 this week after back-to-back losses to No. 9 Union and No. 5 Ridge. With the Falcons eager to end the skid, it makes for a powerhouse Middlesex County showdown in the Big Central Game of Week powered by Bellamy & Son Paving.

Central Jersey Sports Radio caught up with Woodbridge head coach Joe LaSala to preview Saturday’s meeting with St. Joe’s on the “Big Central Game of the Week powered by Bellamy & Son Paving.” The third-year head coach spoke first about his team’s win over Parsipanny Hills, a game that materialized quickly last week after both teams had opponents drop out due to COVID-19 protocols.