Tag: Leadership Award

by Mike Pavlichko

“Mature beyond his age,” A’Arrow Andrewz of Woodbridge earns CJSR 2025 Leadership Award

Joe Goerge has only been the head coach at Woodbridge for two seasons, but he’s already seen enough to know the kind of young man A’Arrow Andrewz is.

He’s an “exceptional leader” and “mature beyond his age,” Goerge says.

And that’s why he’s the winner of Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Leadership Award for 2025.

It all begins with commitment to the Barron program. Andrewz made 68 of 70 workout sessions, but they’re not in the afternoon after school; they’re at 6 am. And in 2025, he didn’t miss a single practice, from preseason camp right on through to the end of the season.

And for the youngsters, he’s there, too. “There have been numerous times where I see him pull a ninth or tenth grader to the side to support and encourage him when he sees they are struggling on or off the field,” Goerge says.

Goerge also is a man of faith, and he’s additionally impressed by the fact that Andrewz is the team’s student leader at Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings, taking the lead at functions like their youth clinic, visits to elementary and middle schools, and the Operation: Christmas child toy collection.

He says Andrewz is among the best, and we agree.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel talk to Woodbridge senior A’Arrow Andrewz:

Honorable Mentions:

  • Jeffren Paulino, New Brunswick: The senior defensive tackle had just 14 tackles this season, along with ten TFLs, 2 1/2 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. That’s because he got hurt early on in the season, but rehabbed and pushed to get back in time for the season finale, a 36-0 home win over West Windsor-Plainsboro to snap the team’s 32-game winning streak. Says first-year head coach Geoff Chrisman: “He’s the reason our program still exists.”
  • Dylan Chiera, Colonia: A two-year A two-year captain, Chiera threw for 2,436 yards – the most among Big Central quarterbacks – and 23 touchdowns. He’s a two-year captain, and like Andrewz, leads Colonia’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes Association
  • Mike Petses, New Providence: This recognition is more for his on-the-field efforts, but also off it, just closer to it than anything else. Head coach Chet Parlavecchio, Jr., says he really helped hold things together when A.J. Whitehead and others went down to injury, carrying the team to a win, and being a steadying force for the Pioneers, who reached a state sectional final for the second straight year.
by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards’ David Silva not only plays football, but coaches the 8th graders, and takes home CJSR Leadership Award

Playing football in high school is a time-consuming affair. There’s weight room, film study, practices, travel to games, and all of that is on top of the typical school work there is to be done.

But playing and coaching? For Bernards’ David Silva, it’s no problem.

So in addition to being a solid lineman on a very good defensive squad for the Mountaineers – with 67 tackles, drawing double teams so his teammates could make plays – Silva helped coach the school district’s eighth grade team this year.

Couple that with the fact he played soccer in the fall up until his sophomore year, the senior College of New Jersey commit – and native of Brazil – did more than enough to earn Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Leadership Award for 2024.

He also happens to be a heavyweight wrestler, and a thrower for Bernards’ state championship track team.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas talk to Bernards senior David Silva:

Honorable Mentions:

  • Nahjae Smith, Elizabeth: Thee sophomore caught 32 passes for 640 yards and a touchdown, ran for 47 more and a score, while recording 84 tackles from the defensive backfield, with two pass breakups and a pick-six for 53 yards. What’s more impressive is his 4.45 GPA, and six major scholarship offers. Head coach Eugene Kline says he’s an “excellent teammate, who genuinely cares about the program, his teammates and coaches.”
  • Max Nuzzi, Somerville: At tight end, he recorded 18 catches for 218 yards and five touchdowns, while logging 108 tackles (60 solo), 3 1/2 sacks, eight TFLs and a pick six from his linebacker position. Head coach Matt Bloom says he’s “not afraid to tell his teammates the truth” and calls him “the beast leader I have ever coached.”
  • Max Austin, Bernards: While Silva won the award, his teammate certainly was in the running. Austin, a senior D-back/wide receiver, had six picks on defense, as well as 22 catches on offense, along with four touchdowns. Coach Jon Simoneau says he drew the top cover assignment every week and didn’t allow a passing touchdown all season.
by Mike Pavlichko

Metuchen’s Cody Cardillo honored with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Leadership Award for 2023

Leading is not just words, it’s actions. But it’s not just what you do, it’s also what you do when no one is looking.

That might include things like, oh, say participating in your school’s “Self-Contained” program for students with autism. Of being part of the Unified Phys Ed program for the last two years. Or going with your coach to the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics.

In addition to being a solid two-way football player, those are all things Cody Cardillo has done in his time at Metuchen. It’s why the senior was nominated by his coach – Metuchen alum Jordan Leitner – for Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Leadership Award, and why we decided he should, indeed, be so honored.

Leitner calls Cardillo a “natural born leader.” He’s a team captain, and has a 4.0 GPA, while taking AP classes.

And then, of course, there’s the effort on the football field. Stat-wise, Cardillo rushed for 113 times at H-back for 727 yards and seven touchdowns, while hauling in seven passes for another 118 yards. At linebacker, the senior recorded 60 tackles, two forced fumbles, one recovery, a pick, and a TD.

And his leadership showed there, too, especially after Metuchen lost five straight following a win in its opener. He helped keep his teammates on an even keel as the Bulldogs won their last four games to finish at 5-5.

Scroll further down for Honorable Mentions.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Metuchen senior Cody Cardillo:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Tyler Anderson, North Hunterdon: A big part of 2022’s sectional title team, especially on defense, and one of the few returning starters, new head coach Ben Ibach says he “consistently tried to make those around him better,” a good bit of selflessness from a senior who already has his championship ring, but wanted to help lay the groundwork for future Lions. Even for a winless team – they went 0-9 this season – the senior QB threw for almost 1,200 yards and seven touchdowns, also running for another three scores and 403 yards.
  • Connor Laverty, Bernards: A three-year starter and four-year letterwinner, he led the school to its first-ever sectional title this fall, and finished third in the Bernards history books for career passing and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. Laverty left it all on the field in what will go down as Bernards’ greatest football season ever.
  • Quinn Carran, Somerville: Matt Bloom took over full head coaching duties this season, after previously coaching the O-line, but taking over as skipper with two games remaining in last year’s regular season. He calls Carran “a coach’s dream” and says he has been an “incredible leader these last three years.” He carries a 4.0 GPA and is in the National Honor Society. On the field, he caught 23 passes at wide receiver for 533 yards and four touchdowns, while logging 68 tackles at safety along with a pair of pick sixes.
  • Justin Reid, Edison: His coach Matt Yascko says he led by example all year long on a team – similar to north Hunterdon – that struggled after after losing a ton of talent to graduation following a state sectional title, its first in more than three decades. While the two-way lineman had 54 tackles and two fumble recoveries, Yascko says he is “a leader on and off the field for his team and community,” and gets his teammates together for off-season workouts.
by Mike Pavlichko

Manville’s Angelo Drake took on informal “coaching role,” wins Leadership Award

by Mike Pavlichko

Manville finished 2017 with a 7-2 record, and things were looking good for the Mustangs.

Angelo Drake was all ready for his sophomore season, and the opener against rival Bound Brook in 2018. And then the unthinkable happened: He broke his forearm making a tackle on a kickoff.

History repeated itself in the 2019 season opener. Same team, same play, same game.

You’ve got to be kidding.

Any other player who’s not a legitimate threat to play on Sundays might have packed it in. But not Angelo Drake.

Instead, “he never missed one day,” says head coach Pat Gorbatuk.

“He took on the role of assistant coach, helping set up practices, running drills and mentoring young players.”

He was voted a team captain as a junior, because he was – as Gorbatuk explained it – “every player’s favorite teammate.”

Listen below to Angelo Drake and his head coach, Pat Gorbatuck, talk about Drake’s model leadership for the young Mustangs:

Honorable mentions for the Leadership Award go to Nasir Williams of Roselle Park, and Shawn Patterson of Linden.

After not playing the 2018 season due to low numbers in the program, Williams – a senior – rushed for over an average over 100 yards per game in six games this season, also logging more than four tackles a game on defense. His 1.4 TDs per game were 30 percent of the team’s offense. Head coach Greg Dunkerton says Williams stayed with the program and continued to excel despite the lack of team experience, playing through injuries, and at times with as many as six sophomores on the field. He says Williams made it his goal to instill a sense of “Panther Pride” in his younger teammates.

Patterson – a senior at Linden – was a three-year starter on the offensive line, and in 2018 helped paved the way for 3,100 yards of total offense – 2,384 on the ground and 778 in the air. Coach Al Chiola says he first met Shawn in his 6th grade social studies class, where he told the coach he couldn’t wait to play football for Linden. Chiola says after a COVID shutdown, Linden had the option of playing No. 1 Woodbridge with just 2 days of practice, or taking the week off to prepare for Cranford the following week, when Williams said, “Coach, let’s play. We just want to play football.” Chiola says Williams only missed three snaps his entire varsity career.