Week One (August 11-16) of the Caravan was hot and humid with the temperatures up significantly after last week’s fall-like high 70’s or low 80’s depending where you were!

Monday morning, I kicked off the 2025 preseason at Perth Amboy’s Waters Stadium, which is about a mile from the new High School located at 931 Convery Boulevard.

The message was clear from the leadership, we have a new high school and a new attitude.

Junior quarterback Amaris Peguero took it upon himself to run summer captains practice in Albert G. Waters Stadium. He emphasized the importance of turning the page on last season and the need to be positive no matter what the situation.

Camp Caravan – Week 1

• Monday, August 11: Perth Amboy
• Tuesday, August 12: Montgomery
• Wednesday, August 13: Old Bridge
• Thursday, August 14: St. Thomas Aquinas
• Friday, August 15: Hunterdon Central
• Saturday August 16: Bernards

Fellow captains junior Ricardo Henriquez as well as seniors Tyler Pedrosa and Cesar Marquez made sure to let everyone know the Panthers plan to take each week to prove themselves by being prepared, confident and having each others back throughout the season.

You can interpret their drive or purpose as ganas in Spanish, which they will have on full display when they kick off the season August 29 at home versus J.F. Kennedy.

Tuesday’s stop at Montgomery High School ironically started with me meeting Eric Legrand’s nephew Xavier Harrington, a junior wide receiver and defensive back. I had no idea that he was a member of the Cougars football team.

The Cougars entered the stadium and began practice with an offensive walk through of plays and formations. Each player wore a jersey that quickly identified their status in the program: white was worn by the freshmen, green by sophomores and juniors, gold for the seniors and black for the captains.

Yes, there were quarterbacks in red except returning captain and senior Jack Kristjanson, who wore black. I recommended he wear a red undershirt or red Guardian cap as to remind the defense it’s hands off during practice or scrimmages.

First year head coach Sean Carty had the practice well-scripted and on the clock as the scoreboard was used to indicate when the periods ended. This is only the 3rd school I have seen do this while on the road for Camp Caravan. Delaware Valley and Old Bridge have had similar success over the years.

Montgomery is poised to rebound after last year’s disappointing season with a solid group of talented seniors led by Mike Bellamy, Trey McFadden, Dragomir Georgiev, Brian Gambia and Aidan Mireider who will join Kristjanson as they prepare for their opener at Hopewell Valley.

Wednesday’s 6:30 a.m. practice at Bob DeMarco Stadium in Old Bridge saw about 90 players in half-pads with the offense in black and defense in purple.

Matt Donoghue began his fourth campaign as head football coach on his birthday with the most talented team the Knights have had in some time. Old Bridge was 7-4 in 2024, having lost four games by a combined 10 points which included a playoff contest against Cherokee.

With dual-threat senior quarterback Brody Nugent at the helm, the Knights looked impressive in just their third preseason practice. They have size on the line and skill players who can take it to the house if you pay too much attention to their Houdini-like signal caller.

The focus of this group is to return to the playoffs with the goal of earning the right to play for a championship. With that being said, don’t be surprised to see Nugent in a variety of positions on offense and defense.

Senior captains Jayden Endaz, Tommy Kasoff and Justin Valinotti prefer to let their shoulder pads do the talking on defense as they prepare to open up the season at Rowan University on Saturday August 30 at 3:00 pm against a talented Cedar Creek team in the Battle at the Beach.

Thursday the Trojans of St. Thomas Aquinas were on the field at 9 a.m. following a team meeting prior to practice. First year head coach Shamir Bearfield used a small white megaphone to be sure his players heard him over the music playing on the grass field behind the stadium fencing.

There was plenty of energy as the players moved quickly between drills and scripted periods which covered every phase of the game.

Linebacker Anwar Whitherspoon Jr., a University of Buffalo commit, showed why he is one of the state’s top defenders while only being in half pads. His vocal leadership was evident as he encouraged his teammates to give the maximum effort.

Senior Channon Johnson, a stalwart on the offensive and defensive line was equally impressive as he and his fellow linemen will look to protect sophomore quarterback Zymere Weaver who has proven to be an accurate passer in some big games last year.

St. Thomas Aquinas has not shied away from the competition as they will travel to Montclair, host Catholic Memorial (MA) and Paramus Catholic while finishing the season at Pope John in Sparta.

The Trojans 31-game winning streak against Big Central Conference opponents may have its most serious threat on September 26 when they host a pretty talented team, the Elizabeth Minutemen.

Friday’s 8 a.m. start at Hunterdon Central was a bit more humid with a slight breeze in Stewart Field, the Home of the Red Devils.

I was greeted by former head coach, Jim Meert, who is the offensive line coach for Casey Ransone, who is entering his ninth season as the team’s mentor.

Expectations are high for this year’s senior class led by returning quarterback Drew Cella who is confident that when he gets the ball into the hands of fellow senior James Mongno, goods things are going to happen. This was clearly on display during the team’s second day in full pads.

The Red Devils mixed it up with positional drill work, a tackling circuit, no huddle skeleton pass period with the plays signaled from the sidelines as well as some well-choreographed offensive and defensive scripted play sequences.

Junior Jayden Cozze was impressive as a defender during the defense’s Skelton Pass session and in the full team scout offense versus the first team defense. Seniors Kasey Kingsley, Nick Vasquez and Mike White all bring experience and leadership to a team that opens their season at rival North Hunterdon in the Battle of Route 31.

The real hitting begins for Hunterdon Central on Monday August 18 as they will travel to South Brunswick for a tri-scrimmage at 10 am. This will be their wake-up call and a chance to see where they stack up against the competition.

The final stop of the Week 1 BCC Camp Caravan Tour was Saturday morning at Bernards as the Mountaineers hosted a Red and White intrasquad scrimmage and media day.

The return of a veteran senior class with the physical Thomas Diemar at linebacker who registered 18.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and Logan Stevens at running back who amassed nearly 900 yards and 12 touchdowns as a runner and receiver, along with center James Renz, tackle Justin Simpson and guard Finn Osborne has head coach Jon Simoneau looking forward to the upcoming season.

Of course when you add in junior returning quarterback Nolan Walsh’s nearly two thousand yards passing and 18 tosses for scores along with classmate Patrick Carlisle who relishes running you over, the Bernards offense looks to pick up where it left off as it takes on Cranford in a Week 0 contest.

While many pundits might have been surprised by the Mountaineers 12-1 record last season, don’t be fooled by the fact that this small Group 2 school has averaged a 7-3 record over the 18 seasons Jon Simoneau has been in charge of the program. They expect to win and will put in the work to get it done.

Borden’s Camp Caravan Week 2 Scrimmage Schedule is as follows:

• Monday August 18 at Colonia with North Brunswick, Carteret and Rahway
• Tuesday August 19 at Metuchen with Spotswood, Manville and Point Pleasant Beach
• Thursday August 21 at Union with Edison
• Friday August 22 at North Plainfield with Dunellen
• Saturday August 23 at Hillsborough with Elizabeth