Tag: Jon Simoneau

by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards’ Jon Simoneau takes home 2023 CJSR Coach of the Year honors

In his first year as head coach, Bernards went 5-5. In Jon Simoneau’s second year, the Mountaineers finished 1-8.

And you wouldn’t be wrong to wonder if he was the right man for job. He was new. Could he be in over his head?

Just give the man some time.

Simoneau coached one more sub-.500 team in 2010 before running off a string of 13 seasons with at least seven wins in all but one year.

And now? This year, he brought Bernards its first ever state sectional championship, to go along with its two pre-playoff era titles in 1969 and 1970.

The team also shattered the record books, scoring more points than any other team in program history, and winning more games (12) than they ever did before.

For all that, Bernards coach Jon Simoneau is the Central Jersey Sports Radio Coach of the Year for 2023.

Click below to hear CJSR’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Bernards’ head coach Jon Simoneau:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards looking to keep the ball rolling in North Group 2 semifinal matchup at Westwood

The Bernards football team already has set a program record for wins with 12, and the Mountaineers are keen to keep it going.

They could have as many as two more opportunities, and become the first-ever Big Central team to win 14 games in a season. But to have that chance, they’ll have to win Friday night.

That’s when North 2, Group 2 champion Bernards takes on North 1, Group 2 champion Westwood (11-0) out of Bergen County and the Super Football Conference, in a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio Friday night at 7 pm, with pregame at 6:45. Click here to listen.

Bernards players practice at Olcott Field in Bernardsville on November 14, 2023, in advance of the Group 2 semis against Westwood Friday night. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

The Mountaineers have been tremendous all season long. Besides being undefeated, second-seed Bernards won its first playoff era sectional title last Friday night, beating 5th-seed Lakeland 23-17 in overtime, rallying twice. Connor Laverty’s pass to Jake Caldwell on fourth-and-goal from the 11 with one minute to go gave Bernards a two-point lead, with the PAT making it three.

Though Lakeland tied the game on a field goal as time expired, sending the contest to overtime, Bernards held on defense, as the Lancers missed a field goal on their chance in OT, before Laverty ran a touchdown in virtually unscathed to win it.

Now, it’s a battle of unbeatens for the championship, and the similarities go beyond that. Each team has scored a ton of points, and allows very few.

Bernards is averaging 38.4 points per game, allowing 7.4, for a differential of +31, while Westwood is scoring 32.2, but only allowing 5, for a differential of +27.2 points per game. The teams have combined for seven shutouts; Bernards has recorded three, Westwood four.

Simoneau says he expects a very athletic, hard-hitting, well-coached team Friday night.

Just like his.

Click below to hear Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau preview Friday night’s Group 2 North semifinal:

by Mike Pavlichko

“I didn’t want to stop playing football with these guys.” Simoneau says he knew his “calm, cool, collected” Mountaineers would win

The Bernards football program had only played in two state sectional championship games before this year.

One ended in dramatic fashion after a mysterious take-a-knee call led to an overtime loss, and the other was a blowout.

So, it stood to reason, maybe by odds, or by the football gods, or some other force of nature that Bernards might finally come through and win that elusive title.

That, they did. Second-seed Bernards beat fifth-seed Lakeland 23-17 in overtime Friday night at Olcott Field, the final game on their own turf this season, and the last as Mountaineers for all the team’s seniors.

They shouldn’t have been here, had Caldwell not had its 37-game win streak snapped by Lakeland last week. But they got the game at home, and made it pay off.

It wasn’t easy, but no championship ever is. There were mistakes, to be sure, but as Simoneau says about this bunch, they were “cool, calm and collected.”

Click below to hear Dylan Allen’s postgame with Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Bernards WR Jack Morra (left) and OL Logan Ritchie (with trophy) celebrate with their North 2, Group 2 title hardware after beating Lakeland 23-17 in OT for the school’s first-ever state sectional title on November 10, 2023 in Bernardsville. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards more familiar with its sectional title game opponent than most

In the new playoff format the NJSIAA instituted in 2018, going away from four geographically pre-determined playoff sections in each group, many teams would be familiar with each other, even when they got to the state finals.

See the epic battles between Piscataway and Hunterdon Central of the late ’90s and early 2000s, or any GMC team against the Shore Conference in Central Jersey Group 1, the South Rivers and Highland Parks versus the Keansburgs, Keyports and Asbury Parks of the world.

Those days are gone, but Bernards has some familiarity with its North 2, Group 2 finals opponent, the Lakeland Lancers. (You can hear that game on Central Jersey Sports Radio with pregame at 6:30 and kickoff at 7; click here to listen)

Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau is neighbors with Lakeland defensive coordinator Jared Luciani, and the two teams scrimmaged this year in the preseason. So each is intimately familiar with the other as they come full circle Friday night at Olcott Field.

Not a traditional powerhouse, you’d be forgiven if you never heard of Lakeland, or don’t know where they’re from. (They’re in Wanaque, which most New Jerseyans probably don’t know how to pronounce, let alone find on a map.)

That said, Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau knows what his team is up against, adding to that the fact that in the semifinals, the fifth-seeded Lancers knocked off the top-seed Caldwell, owner of the state’s longest active winning streak at 37 games.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau about his team, and their matchup with Lakeland in the finals:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards crushes Sussex Tech to win 11th straight, reach North 2 Group 2 final, and will host after Caldwell upset

The stars aligned for the Bernards football team Friday night.

Not only did the second-seeded Mountaineers top 6th-seed Sussex Tech 48-0 at in the North 2, Group 2 semifinals at Olcott Field Friday night, but soon after they learned that top-seed Caldwell – with a state-best active winning streak of 37 games – got upset by 5th-seed Lakeland, 33-28, meaning Bernards will host the Lancers next Friday night for the title.

Sussex Tech had several key players go down to injury early, and the floodgates quickly opened.

Logan Stevens’ three-yard run just 1:15 in gave Bernards a 7-0 lead. QB Connor Laverty hit Jake Caldwell for a 21-yard touchdown pass just under four game minutes later to make it 14-0. Then Caldwell picked off a pass from the Sussex Tech quarterback to make it 21-0 late in the first quarter.

And so on. And so on.

Laverty hit max Austin for a 29-yard touchdown 2:15 before the half to make it 28-0 at the break.

In the second half, the beat went on. Logan Stevens ran in another score – this one from six yards out with 5:22 left in the third to kickstart the running clock.

And the backups added two more scores.

The win adds to Bernard’s historic season, with the undefeated Mountaineers picking up a program record eleventh win.

Next Friday night, they’ll host 5th-seed Lakeland (8-3) in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2 title game. It’s just the third finals berth for Bernards, and second under head coach Jon Simoneau, whose team last made the finals in 2016, falling to Manasquan, 42-6, at Kean University in Union.

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden at Olcott Field, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards, in midst of historic season, faces sectional semi opponent also re-writing its own record books

Jon Simoneau sees a lot of similarities between his team and Sussex Tech, Bernards’ opponent Friday night in the North 2, Group 2 semifinals at Olcott Field.

Chief among them is this: just like the Mountaineers, they’re having a historic season, too.

Second-seed Bernards is 10-0 for the first time ever, looking for its first appearance in a sectional final since 2016, when they lost to Manasquan up at Kean. Sixth-seed Sussex Tech (7-3) is having its best season since an 8-2 year in 2019.

But while Bernards has won eight games a year exactly for six straight seasons now, the better part of the past decade has been sub-.500 years for the Fighting Mustangs.

Still, Simoneau, the Bernards head coach, knows they will not be an easy task, or go quietly into the Bernardsville night.

Tech won’t throw the ball much – they’ve only attempted 45 passes all season (fewer than five a game) – but they do have two thousand-yard rushers: junior quarterback Brian Gruber has 1,083 and 14 touchdowns, while senior Andrew Baker leads the team with 1,221 yards and 17 scores on the ground.

Simoneau believes his team’s physical play, with an extra dose of “‘Nards Ball” attitude, as they call it in those parts, will be the difference.

The winner will face off next weekend against the winner of the other semifinal between 5th-seed Lakeland (7-3) and top-seed Caldwell (9-0), which currently is on the state’s longest active winning streak, now at 37 games.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Bernards’ head coach Jon Simoneau:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards erases first half deficit, pulls away from Hillside for 28-12 road win

Until Jonas Gonzalez got Bernards on the board late in the first quarter at Conant Street Park Saturday afternoon, things weren’t going well for the Mountaineers.

But in the end, Bernards took control of the game, picking up a 28-12 victory to start the season 2-0.

Hillside (0-1) opened the scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run by Talibi Kaba, then Bernards fumbled in the red zone on the ensuing possession. Talk about inauspicious starts.

But they hung in there, and after another TD by the Comets – a five-yard run by Chibugo Chigoze-Nwosu early in the second quarter – slowly, but surely, climbed back into the game and eventually took the lead.

There was a four-yard touchdown run by QB Connor Laverty to cut it to 12-9, then a 24-yard field goal by Gonzalez to know the game at 12 heading into the locker room.

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden with Bernards senior quarterback Connor Laverty and head coach Jon Simoneau, sponsored by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

And Bernards continued in the third quarter. Laverty hit Jack Morra with a ten-yard TD strike to make it 18-12, with the PAT blocked – their second of the day, while Hillside also had one blocked in the first half. Another field goal and touchdown – while holding the Comets scoreless in the second half – made the final 28-12.

by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards rallies twice to hand Del Val first defeat, take back Mountain Valley trophy, with 17-14 win

It was a tale of two halves for Bernards at Tapp Webb Memorial Field out in Hunterdon County Friday night, in a game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The offense just couldn’t put points on the board in the first 24 minutes, managing just a 31-yard field goal by Jonas Gonzalez that left Bernards down 7-3 going into the locker room after Delaware Valley had opened the game with an eleven-play scoring drive to take an early lead.

Typical was a 14-play drive by the Mountaineers that ended the first half without a score.

But with the first possession of the second half, Bernards got a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Connor Laverty to Enzo Britez to take a 10-7 lead, their first TD of the game. The Terriers defense had been settling in to that point, but all of a sudden in looked like Bernards might hold.

Patrick Garlinghouse came out of a pile – almost going down to a knee – and sprinted the remaining 45 yards of a 50-yard touchdown run to give the Terriers a 14-10 advantage with 6:10 to play, but the awakened Mountaineer offense wasn’t done yet.

They put together a seven-play, 71-yard drive, in just 2:40, scoring with 3:24 to go on a two-yard leap into the end zone by Laverty, and after getting the ball back on a four-and-out turnover on downs, picked up a critical first down on fourth down on their next possession to allow Laverty to take a couple of knees to run out the clock.

The defeat was the first of the year for Del Val, which fell to 3-1, while Bernards improved to 4-1, all but giving them the Patriot Gold Division title. They are 3-0 in the division with one game left against winless Bound Brook (0-4), which scored its first points of the year Friday night in a 41-6 loss at Voorhees. The Crusaders have been outscored 110-6 in their first four games.

Click below for postgame reaction with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Bernards junior quarterback Connor Laverty
Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau

by justinsontupe

Bernards clicking ahead of “Mountain Valley” rivalry game at Delaware Valley

Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau is well aware of what lies ahead Friday night as his Mountaineers visit division rival Delaware Valley: the 30-mile trip, an elite home field advantage, and an explosive Terriers’ offense. But make no mistake, Bernards is embracing the challenge.

“We kind of like that,” Simoneau said. “It’s fun to be the bad guy sometimes.”

The Mountaineers (3-1, 2-0 Big Central Patriot Gold) are clicking ahead of Friday’s Big Central Game of the Week against Del Val (3-0, 1-0 Big Central Patriot Gold). In back-to-back weeks, Bernards captured 35-0 road wins over South River and Voorhees.

Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action, with pregame at 6:45 and kickoff at 7:00. Click here to listen.

Junior quarterback Connor Laverty tossed three touchdown passes at South River, and then bested it with four at Voorhees. The defense hasn’t allowed a score since the fourth quarter against Hillside — three weeks ago.

But undefeated Delaware Valley will provide a stiff challenge. Bernards has beaten Del Val just four times in 15 tries, and all four wins came between 2018 and 2020, the latter of which is their only “W” in Alexandria. Last season, Bernards turned the ball over six times in a two-score loss off Senator Stout Road.

For the Mountaineers, it’s going to take a complete performance. Laverty is off to an outstanding start to the season under center, and he has numerous weapons at his disposal. Running back Nick Kouflie (5 touchdowns) and wide receiver Enzo Britez (3 touchdowns) are threats to score any time they touch the ball.

On defense, linebackers Charlie Gonnella and Kai Dallimore lead a unit that has allowed more than 6 points just once this season.

Click below to hear Justin Sontupe talk with Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards finally takes down a South Jersey team, stifles Overbrook 21-6

It’s not often Bernards plays a team from South Jersey, but it’s been a trend in recent years with the new playoff format since 2018.

In 2019, they lost in the opening round 50-10 at Cedar Creek. Last year, the Mountaineers dropped their opener in the Battle of the Beach in Ocean City to Penns Grove 40-20, then got knocked out at home in the second round of the the playoffs, 24-14, by Haddonfield.

So head coach Jon Simoneau challenged his team by bringing in Overbrook, a team that went 8-2 last year and brought back a junior quarterback in DeAngello Conquest who threw for over 1,400 yards last season as a tenth-grader.

Challenge accepted. Mission accomplished.

Bernards topped Overbrook 21-6 with stifling defense – including a couple of interceptions by Daniel Ferguson, and another each from Nicholas Kouflie and Max Austin – and got enough offense for the win. Three different players scored, including a two-yard keeper by Connor Laverty and a three-yard score by Terrance Hanratty – both in the first quarter to stake the Mountaineers to a 14-0 lead – and a five-yard run by Jake Caldwell to give Bernards breathing room at 21-6 after the Rams got it to within eight points.

Click below for postgame reaction from Bernards’ 21-6 season-opening defeat of Overbrook:

Juniors Connor Laverty and Jake Caldwell
Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau