Tag: JP Stevens

by Mike Pavlichko

Edison native, JP Stevens alum Dylan Brett gets call of a lifetime with Hofstra basketball’s run to the Big Dance

It all started for Dylan Brett when he was nine years old.

Edison Pop Warner couldn’t find anyone to do the public address during a game. Someone asked him.

He wound up calling every play, like it was on the radio, not just announcing who carried the ball or made the tackle.

It wasn’t quite the assignment, but the parents loved it, and it stuck.

Fast forward more than a decade, and the JP Stevens grad is at Hofstra University’s student radio station WRHU, one of the top college radio stations in the nation.

How it started, and how it’s going, as they say.

Brett was at the microphone just a few weeks ago, as the Flying Dutchmen won the CAA Tourney, on the call as they beat Monmouth in the final to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It was Hofstra’s first trip to March Madness in 25 years.

Now a senior, he recently called his final college basketball game, a loss to Alabama in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

But there could be plenty of college basketball games in his future. His Twitter post of the overtime game winner by Preston Edmead with just tenths of a second left has gone viral, leading to many connections he hopes will bear fruit soon after graduation.

An improbable run for a kid from Edison, remember that name Dylan Brett. Next time you hear him, it might be on ESPN.

Click below to hear Edison native Dylan Brett talk about getting his start behind a microphone, and his wild ride with the Hofstra men’s basketball team on campus radio station WRHU, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

Edison native and JP Stevens grad Dylan Brett of WRHU Radio at Hofstra at the NCAA Tournament, as the team made its first appearance in 25 years. (Source: @DylanBrxtt on Twitter)
by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – GIRLS: South Plainfield 61, JP Stevens 37

South Plainfield got career highs of 24 points from Jiselle Lennon – including four treys – and 18 points from MaKenzie Harris en route to a dominating 61-37 win over visiting JP Stevens in GMC White American Division action.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen call all the play-by-play from South Plainfield High School on January 6, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

South Plainfield girls score in bunches, presses way to 61-37 home win, and sweep of JP Stevens

The first time these two girls’ basketball teams met, South Plainfield came away with a ten-point win in North Edison over JP Stevens, 43-33. They did it on the strength of a 14-2 first quarter.

Tuesday night in the back-end of the series, the Tigers went even further, using a 21-7 first quarter – 12 of those points coming from excellent sophomore Jiselle Lennon – en route to a 61-37 GMC White American Division win heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio

Lennon finished with 24 points, a new career high, while MaKenzie Harris also had a career best, scoring 18. The Tigers (3-4) hit eight triples in the game, all coming in the first half.

For their part, while the South Plainfield offense was clicking, the defense was doing its thing, especially with its backcourt pressure. They forced the Hawks into several turnovers: basketballs smacked away, or thrown right into the hands of a Tiger.

JP Stevens (4-3) got 16 from junior Aliyah Manley, including a first quarter triple, but no one else got into double figures, and only three other players scored.

Click below for postgame reaction from South Plainfield’s Jiselle Lennon and head coach Alex DeVivo with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Battle of two young teams as JP Stevens girls visit South Plainfield in second meeting this year

Young teams can sometimes do unpredictable – or, at least, uncharacteristic – things.

Such are the growing pains the South Plainfield girls’ basketball team is experiencing on a squad with four seniors, but no juniors, having lost three starters to graduation.

Well, JP Stevens can do them one better. The Hawks lost four starters to graduation and have just two seniors on the roster, with two sophomores and a freshman in the starting five.

And while the Hawks may be 4-2, and the Tigers 2-4, it was South Plainfield that won the first meeting between the teams back on December 18th, Game Two of the season for both squads.

Game Two in the season series is Tuesday night in South Plainfield, and you can hear it live on Central Jersey Sports Radio as part of a twinbill, with tipoff at 5:30 pm, followed by the 8th-ranked Tiger boys taking on Colonia at 7:00. Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen will have the call; click here to listen.

The death knell for JP in the first meeting was the first quarter, where Stevens got outscored 14-2. And it was one of those key returnees, senior guard Sam Moench, who helped bury them with three triples in that opening period. While the Hawks cut it to as little as two in the fourth quarter, South Plainfield pulled away late for a 43-33 win; Moench finished with 17.

Of JP’s 33 points, junior Aliyah Manley scored 27 of them, adding eight rebounds. Averaging 26.7 points per game, she’s among the top scorers in the state, and also lead the team in rebounds (6.7), treys (22) and steals, with 25 – and she’s swiped six twice already.

Head coach Tim Weber calls her “an awesome player” and says “if she’s one-on-one in half court, I feel bad for the defender.”

Watching Moench and Manley duke it out should make for a great rematch.

Click below to hear pregame interviews with both head coaches:

South Plainfield head coach Alex DeVivo with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen
JP Stevens head coach Tim Weber with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko
by Mike Pavlichko

2025 Big Central Preview: Patriot Gold Division

With only four teams in the Patriot Gold Division – and one that’s been among the best in the Big Central Conference for most of its existence – the other three will be chasing Bernards again in 2025.

While the Mountaineers lose a significant amount of talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball, they also return a good deal of experience, and will be the team to beat, having won 23 straight games against Big Central competition.

Right behind them last year was Delaware Valley, who went 6-3 in head coach Ben Ibach’s second season, and Voorhees, who for a second straight year had a very solid run game.

The final team in the division last year was JP Stevens, which won two games last year after having lost more than 40 in a row. That was a big step, and with a new coach in David Kunyz – who already was in the program as defensive coordinator – the consistency mixed with some new ideas could help them improve even further.

Click below to hear our preview of the Patriot Gold Division from Big Central Conference Media Day:

by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2025: Bernards looks to keep program rolling as Voorhees, Delaware Valley, JP Stevens look to make strides in Patriot Gold

Forget school size, for a second. The Bernards football program is one of the most solid in the entire Big Central Conference. It doesn’t matter that they’re a Group 2 school; they get a ton of kids in the program and they stick with it. These are kids who mainly could afford to go anywhere they want, but choose to stay at Bernards.

And how have they been rewarded? In the past two seasons, the Mountaineers are 23-2, have won 23 straight games against Big Central opponents dating back to an early 2022 loss to Hillside (second only to St. Thomas Aquinas at 31), 30 regular season games overall dating back to that same loss (longest in the BCC), and have a sectional title and two sectional finals berths to their credit. Whether they can repeat that in 2025 is another question, but that’s why they play the games.

With head coach Jon Simoneau the veteran coach in this division – now going into his 18th season – the rest of the Patriot Gold has some newer coaches who should see their teams improve with another year in the system under their belts. That includes Ben Ibach in his third season at Delaware Valley, John Hack in his second at Voorhees, and David Kunyz being elevated from defensive coordinator to head coach at JP Stevens.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the Patriot Gold Division teams – in alphabetical order – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge. Please note game dates and times may be changed without notice as the season approaches. Division games marked with an asterisk (*).

Bernards Mountaineers (11-1, 3-0, Patriot Gold Division champs in ’24)
Head Coach: Jon Simoneau (121-57, 18th season)

  • Week 0: Cranford
  • Week 1: at Hillside (Sat, 1p)
  • Week 2: Delaware Valley*
  • Week 3: at Voorhees*
  • Week 4: JP Stevens*
  • Week 5: at South Plainfield
  • Week 6: at Summit (Sat, 1p)
  • Week 7: Governor Livingston
  • Week 8: Carteret

Offensively, the Mountaineers saw sophomore Nolan Walsh throw for nearly 2,000 yards last season – he was 49 shy – and 18 touchdowns. The fact he’s got two more seasons running the offense bodes well for Bernards, plus another soph coming back in runningback Patrick Carlisle, who went for 762 yards and ten touchdowns last season, plus rising senior Logan Stevens and his 606 yards and ten touchdowns. Solid receivers Sean Arcelay (17 catches, 266 yards, 2 TDs) returns, while Stevens also caught 21 passes for 315 yards and two scores. Defensively, the team’s top tackler in Terrence Hanratty (132 total, 2 sacks, 6 TFLs) has graduated, but active linebacker Thomas Diemar will be the anchor. Last year, he finished with ten sacks, 18.5 TFLs, and had one force fumble/recovery. Teagun Hartnett had two picks last year as a junior.

Delaware Valley Terriers (6-3, 2-1, 2nd place in ’24)
Head Coach: Ben Ibach (11-7, 3rd season)

  • Week 0: bye
  • Week 1: South Plainfield
  • Week 2: at Bernards*
  • Week 3: at JP Stevens* (6p)
  • Week 4: Voorhees*
  • Week 5: at South River (Sat)
  • Week 6: Johnson
  • Week 7: Roselle
  • Week 8: New Providence

Kelton Ibach returns for the Terriers, after throwing for 1,211 yards and 16 touchdowns a season ago in his junior campaign, but he’ll need some new targets, as all six players to catch passes last year were seniors. The runningback room was also senior heavy, but Del Val didn’t run as much, only going for 704 yards last season. Still, just 137 of that returns, and 72 came from Ibach himself. There will be key guys to replace on defense, too, like senior LB Patrick O’Boyle (2 sacks, 1 forced fumble) and DB Eric Klemmer (2 INT, 2 TFLs). After a 5-4 debut season for head coach Ben Ibach, last year’s squad went 6-4. Some newcomers here could determine if they’ll improve upon that at all.

JP Stevens Hawks (2-7, 0-3, 4th place in ’24)
Head Coach: David Kunyz (1st season)

  • Week 0: Lakewood (Thurs, 6p)
  • Week 1: at Bound Brook
  • Week 2: Voorhees* (6p)
  • Week 3: Delaware Valley* (6p)
  • Week 4: at Bernards*
  • Week 5: Manville (Sat, 4p)
  • Week 6: at Metuchen
  • Week 7: at Roselle Park
  • Week 8: Roselle (6p)

Jason George did a fine job in two seasons as head coach, developing the Hawks in his first season, and delivering them their first win since 2018 in his second, snapping a 31-game skid that was the longest in the state at the time. But he’s left to be an assistant with his father at Woodbridge, and now defensive coordinator David Kunyz takes the reins. So, yes, it’s a coaching change, but there will still be some consistency, a good thing for the program which has struggled mightily with numbers in recent years. He’ll face the challenge of finding a replacement for senior quarterback Marquise Webb (616 yards, 2 TD) and top rusher Quadir Johnson (321 yards, 3 TDs). The defense saw some underclassmen make play, like sophomore Joshua Collins and junior Elijah Hollman (1 sack, 1 TFL each).

Voorhees Vikings (3-6, 1-2, 3rd place in ’24)
Head Coach: John Hack (3-6, 2nd season)

  • Week 0: at Orange (Thurs, 6p)
  • Week 1: at JFK
  • Week 2: at JP Stevens* (6p)
  • Week 3: Bernards*
  • Week 4: at Delaware Valley*
  • Week 5: North Plainfield
  • Week 6: at Governor Livingston (Sat, 1p)
  • Week 7: Hillside
  • Week 8: North Hunterdon

The crossover schedule won’t be an easy one, but there are some key players back that could help the Vikings take a step up in Year Two under head coach John Hack. Among them is rising senior Matteo Tramutola, who rushed for 1,258 yards last year and scored 17 touchdowns, while QB Sam Meekings threw for 1,327 yards and 16 scores as a junior in 2024. Some younger backs will round out that room, while five receivers who went for at least 125 yards each and ten touchdowns overall should be back, led by senior Ryan Benitez, who had nine catches for 182 yards and three scores last season.

by Mike Pavlichko

Red Division champion Woodbridge gets Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament’s top seed; JP Stevens gets top nod in Invitational Tourney

The Woodbridge Barrons – the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division champion – has awarded the top seed in the upcoming GMC Jim Mudowney Championship Tournament at the league’s seeding meeting in East Brunswick Friday morning.

Second-place finisher South Plainfield – which swept the Barrons two games in the regular season, but could not come out ahead of them due to GMC seeding rules – was a unanimous pick for the second seed, just as Woodbridge was at No. 1.

The Tigers were last year’s No. 1 seed, and were runner-up to Old Bridge.

The top four was rounded out by White Division champion St. Thomas Aquinas at No. 3, with East Brunswick getting the four seed.

The rest of the top eight include St. Joseph-Metuchen at No. 5, followed by defending champion Old Bridge, Colonia and Spotswood.

Here’s the complete 2025 GMC Jim Muldowney Championship Tournament bracket:

The Muldowney Championship opens with the play-in round Saturday, with games at higher seeds, with winners moving on to Monday’s first round:

  • (17) South Brunswick at (16) South River, winner at (1) Woodbridge
  • (20) South Amboy at (13) Metuchen, winner at (4) East Brunswick
  • (19) JFK at (14) North Plainfield, winner at (3) St. Thomas Aquinas
  • (18) Carteret at (15) Perth Amboy, winner at (2) South Plainfield

Meanwhile, JP Stevens – the seventh place team in the GMC Blue Division – got the top seed in the Ray Cipperly Invitational. The top five seeds there get byes to the quarterfinals, which include North Brunswick at No. 2, followed by GMC Gold Champion East Brunswick Magnet, Piscataway, and New Brunswick.

Here’s the complete 2025 GMC Ray Cipperly Invitational Tournament bracket:

The Ray Cipperly Invitational opens Tuesday with play-in games at higher seeds:

  • (9) Highland Park at (8) Piscataway Magnet, winner at (1) JP Stevens
  • (11) Timothy Christian at (6) Dunellen, winner at (3) East Brunswick Magnet
  • (10) Perth Amboy Magnet at (7) Somerset Tech, winner at (2) North Brunswick
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

JP Stevens defensive coordinator David Kunyz elevated to head coach of Hawks football

David Kunyz has been promoted from Defensive Coordinator to become the next head coach of the JP Stevens football program.

Kunyz – who was approved Tuesday night by the Edison Board of Education – will take over for Jason Goerge, who spent two years as head coach and stepped down after this past season.

The Hawks program had lost 31 straight games heading into 2023, the longest active streak in New Jersey, heading into Goerge’s first season. And while they lost all eleven games that year, feedback from coaches whose teams played them felt they were getting closer to snapping that skid.

And they did on September 6th, picking up a memorable, 22-21 overtime home victory over Bound Brook. The Hawks would pick up one more win on October 18th, a 20-18 victory over Roselle Park.

Defensively, the Hawks gave up 33.6 points per game before Goerge’s arrival, then 32.8 in his first season, but they dropped their average of 43 from the first six games to 20.6 over their final five. Last season, they gave up just 27.6 points per game the entire season, Kunyz’ first with the Hawks

Kunyz (pronounced: koonz, the “y” is silent) was the defensive line coach at Monmouth from 2019 through 2023, and helped mentor multiple all-conference selections, while the team led the FCS in sacks per game in the spring of 2021 (when their season was moved due to COVID) at 4.5 per game.

He has also spent time at Alderson Broaddus University in West Virginia, Western Connecticut State and Plymouth State in New Hampshire.

Kunyz is a native of Oceanport, New Jersey, played two seasons at FDU, and lived in West Long Branch. He played his high school ball at Shore Regional.

Click below to hear new JP Stevens head coach David Kunyz talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko

by Alec Crouthamel

J.P. Stevens looks to get revenge, build depth in second matchup at No. 8 Middlesex

In the 2023-24 season, J.P. Stevens went 20-6 – including 15-1 and a division crown in the GMC White Division – in head coach Tim Weber’s second season at the helm. But the senior-laden squad – a third-seed in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament – was knocked out in the first round by 14th-seed Middlesex.

This time, Weber and his team are out for revenge.

The Hawks (3-8, 2-7 GMC White Division) will face off against the Blue Jays (10-4, 7-2 GMC White) for the second time this season, in a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Pregame is at 5:15, and you can hear all the action with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel. Click here to listen.

While this iteration of J.P. Stevens has not gotten off to the same success – in large part due to losing the aforementioned senior leaders – Weber and the Hawks are still looking to develop the talent to take over for the losses and reach the same heights as last season.

It starts with Aliyah Manley, the team’s top scoring option as just a sophomore. She has already surpassed her point total from her freshman season in 15 fewer games, and has filled the leadership role on the floor.

Do-it-all senior Chloe Chan fills the box score elsewhere, leading the team in rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks with a strong midrange game. Weber said Chan has also helped out a lot in providing leadership as a four-year player for J.P. Stevens.

Lining up across the court from the Hawks will be Jess Devine and the rest of the Blue Jays. Devine is the engine of Middlesex’s offense and scored 17 points with six rebounds, five assists, and six steals in the previous meeting between the two, a 66-33 win for the Blue Jays on January 2nd. She also scored 26 points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished eight assists in the 48-39 win over the Hawks in the first round of the GMC Tournament last season.

Weber says their strategy will be to continue to slow the game down and keep longer possessions on offense and defense, armed with a 1-3-1 zone that can help stymie opposing offenses. J.P. Stevens will need all hands on deck from their veterans, as the Hawks look to take down the Blue Jays for the first time in over a calendar year, and snap a four-game skid to get back in the win column.

Click below to hear J.P. Stevens head coach Tim Weber talk about the Hawks’ season and the upcoming game with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel: