Tag: Middlesex County

by Mike Pavlichko

55th annual Bill Denny awards dinner honors local football standouts, coaches, and more

More than three dozen high school football players from Middlesex and Somerset Counties, along with several coaches, administrators, educators and officials were honored Sunday at the 55th annual awards dinner of the Bill Denny/Rutgers Football Letterwinners Chapter of the National Football/College Hall of Fame at the Pines Manor in Edison.

The local chapter also awarded several scholarships, now having given out more than $380,000 in funds to deserving Middlesex and Somerset County Scholar-Athletes, over a span of nearly six decades.

The ceremony was presided over by Fred Roselli, chapter president, with awards presented by Tom Bara and Frank Noppenberger.

Read on to learn more about all the honorees.

Distinguished American: This award went to South River’s Rich Marchesi, the longtime Rams’ skipper and alum who will be heading into his 39th season this fall. Marchesi’s record is 228-154, with four Central Jersey Group 1 titles, in 1991, 1995, 2000 and 2001. He also played with with future Penn State All-American and NFL standout Kenny Jackson on the vaunted 1979 undefeated team as a senior, which went undefeated and was a state champion, ending the season ranked No. 3 in New Jersey. A five-time Bill Denny Coach of the Year, he is the winningest coach in South River football history, eventually surpassing Denny. Marchesi was inducted in the the New Hersey Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001.

Edward “Red” Losiewicz Distinguished Official: Given to the official who has “demonstrated sportsmanship, integrity and character in interscholastic athletics,” Tim McDonald was this year’s recipient. An East Brunswick resident, he started officiating football in 1997, and also has been an official for lacrosse, softball and basketball.

Chester Zdrodowski Distinguished Educator (Middlesex): Old Bridge Athletic Director Dan DiMino was the recipient of this award, A Monroe resident, he was named AD in 2016 and has overseen an athletics program that was won 31 division titles, 26 conference championships, 14 NJSIAA sectional crowns, and nine New Jersey state titles. DiMino also is on the Greater Middlesex Conference Executive Committee, and manages scheduling for the entire league. Among several charitable endeavors, DiMino helps lead the Old Bridge Holiday Knight Toy Drive around the holidays, partnering with the Marisa Tufaro Foundation.

Chester Zdrodowski Distinguished Educator (Somerset): This one goes to Michael Hoppe, the Athletic Director at Bernards. Hoppe is a Mountaineer through and through, an alum who has been at his old stomping grounds since graduating from Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) in 19984. Starting out as a teacher and coaching three sports, he has been the AD for the last 26 years.

Coach of the Year (Middlesex): Matt Donaghue just wrapped up his fourth season as the Old Bridge football coach, promoted to the head job after Anthony Lanzafama stepped down. At 25-17 in that span, this past fall was a breakout year, following a 6-4 campaign in 2024, as the Knights went all the way to the “Central Jersey” Group 5 final, where they fell to Washington Twp. out of South Jersey. Donaghue also is the head coach of the baseball team at Old Bridge, which won the Central Jersey Group 4 title in 2023, and was a finalist a year ago.

Coach of the Year (Somerset): Montgomery’s Sean Carty takes home the award in his first year on the job, after being promoted from Offensive Coordinator under Zoran Milich, who stepped down as the school’s first and only football coach after the 2024 campaign. The Cougars went 8-4 this past fall, with signature wins over Somerville and Sayreville, and went all the way to the North Jersey, Section 2 Group 4 title game – their first ever – where they fell to defending champion Phillipsburg. A Rutgers graduate and four-year letterwinner, he played for his father, Hall of Fame coach Kevin Carty, at Somerville. His brother, Kevin Jr., is the head coach at neighboring Hillsborough, with his other brother, Ryan, is the head coach at the University of Delaware.

Sporstmanship School of the Year: Highland Park, Bridgewater-Raritan

STUDENT-ATHLETE HONOREES:

Rutgers: Jai Patel (South Brunswick)

Middlesex County:

  • Jonathan Hughes, Carteret
  • Dylan Chiera, Colonia
  • Jackson Portik, Dunellen
  • Noah DeJesus, East Brunswick
  • Robert Roma, Jr., Edison
  • Stamatis Hantsoulis, Highland Park
  • Grant Lorentzen, JFK
  • Esteban Reyes, JP Stevens
  • A.J. Crisci, Metuchen
  • Sean Hughes, Middlesex
  • John Lawless, Monroe
  • Jeffren Paulino, New Brunswick
  • Zachary Cipot, North Brunswick
  • Mark Fultz, North Plainfield
  • Brody Nugent, Old Bridge
  • Sebastian Medina Moreno, Perth Amboy
  • Brady Gallogly, Piscataway
  • Joseph Curbelo, Sayreville
  • Jacob Walczyk, South Brunswick
  • Kenneth Young, South Plainfield
  • Filipe Granadiero, South River
  • Gavin Pereira, Spotswood
  • Tom Myers, St. Joseph-Metuchen
  • Anthony Perez, Jr., St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Josh Allen, Woodbridge

Somerset County:

  • Justin Simpson, Bernards
  • Moaaz Abdelmonem, Bound Brook
  • Stephen Pikulin, Bridgewater-Raritan
  • Francis Flores, Jr., Franklin
  • Shane Khurana, Hillsborough
  • Bo Almeida, Immaculata
  • Collin Shimp, Manville
  • Michael Bellamy, Montgomery
  • Ryan Moye, Pingry
  • Anthony Valera, Ridge
  • J. Griffin Kaye, Somerville
  • Jake Herring, Watchung Hills

Pop Warner (Middlesex): Daniel Crowley, Edison Jets

Pop Warner (Somerset): Vincent Sandomenico, Watchung Hills Wolverines

by Mike Pavlichko

Idle Phillipsburg still atop Borden’s Big Central Top Ten, but Piscataway and Woodbridge jump Aquinas in Middlesex rankings

After the opening weekend of play in New Jersey – with the majority of teams around the state and the Big Central taking part – it’s idle Phillipsburg still at No. 1 in Marcus Borden’s Big Central Top Ten.

But there’s a change in Middlesex County after St. Thomas Aquinas dropped its opener 36-26 to Mount St. Joseph of Maryland down in Delaware at the Mid-Atlantic Pigskin Classic Saturday afternoon.

Piscataway moved up to take the No. 1 spot, while Woodbridge rose to No. 2. Both won their opening games; the Chiefs were 21-11 winners over Manalapan at home Friday night, while Woodbridge edged out Old Bridge on the road on Thursday. Marcus covered that game and the Trojans’ Saturday afternoon game in Delaware:

Below are Marcus Borden’s Big Central and Middlesex rankings following Week Zero action:

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg tops Borden’s preseason Big Central Top Ten; St. Thomas Aquinas tops in Middlesex

After ranking the entire 59-team league in the Big Central Media Poll for the last four years, the survey of local media members is being replaced with Marcus Borden’s own Top Ten rankings.

Each Monday during the football season, Borden – now in his second year as high school football analyst with Central Jersey Sports Radio – will unveil his overall Big Central Top Ten, as well as the his Top Ten for Middlesex County, where he was coach for 30 years at Brunswick, winning two state titles.

Below, you can find Coach Borden’s Big Central Conference and Middlesex County preseason rankings:

When I was coaching the Bears, I did enjoy finding out which teams were the ones the media deemed worthy of a top ten weekly ranking.

In all honesty, it was even comical at times to read the analysis that went into to selection process or the weekly recaps. I will refrain from this and give my opinion in our weekly Game Day show.

Needless to say, it’s not where you start the season, it is where you finish it!

Best of luck to all the players, coaches and fans seeking a championship moment, it is well worth the ride.

by Mike Pavlichko

Marcus Borden picks Borden’s Ballers 2023 Middlesex County All-Area Team

In his first year joining Central Jersey Sports Radio, longtime former East Brunswick coach and high school football analyst Marcus Borden is bringing his Middlesex County All-Area team to our pages!

Borden has handpicked first and second teams on Offense, Defense, and Special teams, plus a group of Honorable Mentions, all of which combine to have all 24 Middlesex County schools represented.

Scroll through this story to see this year’s honorees.