Tag: North Hunterdon

by Mike Pavlichko

Hunterdon Central sweats out North Hunterdon fourth quarter rally, hangs on to win

The Hunterdon Central Football team had a sizable fourth-quarter lead at 29-6, and things were looking good for the Red Devils.

Head coach Casey Ransone says his team played “three-and-a-half quarters” of solid football. It was the last half of the last quarter that almost tripped them up.

But hey, there are no style points here.

Ultimately, Central hung on for a 36-28 win at North Hunterdon Thursday in the season opener for both schools, piling up 442 yards of offense in quite the balanced attack: 224 on the ground and 214 through the air.

Senior QB Drew Cella went 17-for-21 with four touchdown passes, all to fellow senior James Mongno, who caught eleven passes overall for 161 yards. Junior Reggie Osae-Aye rushed 21 times for 158 yards, with a long of 48.

And defensively, the Red Devils logged four sacks.

It was a win in as critical a game as you could play in an early season Big Central crossover game, considering the level of competition they’ll face in the American Silver Division, with the likes of Bridgewater-Raritan, Phillipsburg, Ridge and Hillsborough all yet to come down the pike.

Click below to hear Hunterdon Central head coach Casey Ransone talk about the Red Devils’ season opening win at North Hunterdon:

by Mike Pavlichko

Gameday with Marcus Borden: Week 0

The 2025 high school football season begins today, and it’s time to talk about it with Marcus Borden!

The majority of Big Central Conference teams open up this weekend, and we talk about our Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Game of the Week, featuring Spotswood at Middlesex in the Chargers’ first game with their brand-new lights.

Also on the show, Coach Borden talks about the games he’ll be covering this weekend down at the Battles at the Beach, with Hillsborough taking on Washington Township on Friday, then Old Bridge battling Cedar Creek on Saturday, both at Rowan University in Glassboro. We also take a quick look back at the 2025 Big Central Camp Caravan, talk about the big numbers out for Dunellen football, and some other key Week Zero games around the league!

Click below to listen to the Week Zero edition of “Gameday with Marcus Borden”:

by Mike Pavlichko

2025 Big Central Preview: Liberty Silver Division

The Big Central Conference Liberty Division should be an interesting one this year.

Somerville won the division in 2024, en route to a program record 12 wins and a Central Jersey Group 3 title. But many key guys are gone, and the Pioneers will need the next crop of seniors to step up.

Challenging them will be Rahway, which also lost some key pieces (who doesn’t?) from a team that gave up just 115 points in ten games last season, the second lowest total in the Big Central.

Then there are three teams who all could improve this year. Watchung Hills was 5-5 overall in 2024, but always is a tough out. North Hunterdon – which won a sectional title in 2022, then lost nearly everyone to graduation, and saw their coach step down – went from winless to a 4-5 season in ’24 under second-year head coach Ben Ibach.

And in Montgomery, offensive coordinator-turned-head coach Sean Carty takes the reins from Zoran Milich, who retired in the off-season, and is looking at a bounceback year after a senior-laden 2023 campaign.

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

by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2025: Can sectional champ Somerville repeat in Liberty Silver, with Rahway, No. Hunterdon, Watchung Hills, Montgomery ready to challenge?

While Somerville may have swept the Liberty Silver Division in 2024 and won the Central Jersey Group 3 title, many key Pioneers are off the graduation, and there are plenty of teams to challenge them in 2025. There’s the Rahway team that was right behind them, going 3-1 last season in the division and with a boatload of talent returning, plus Watchung Hills looking for a bounceback year and North Hunterdon on the way up.

Then there’s Montgomery, which graduated a ton following 2023 and finished just 1-9 last year, but is now led by Sean Carty, who joined the Cougar staff under Zoran Milich in 2018 and for much of that time has been their offensive coordinator. With young players getting an extra year under their belt, and a jolt from Carty, this could be a very interesting division in 2025.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the Liberty Silver 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 (*).

Montgomery Cougars (1-9, 0-4, 5th place in ’24)
Head Coach: Sean Carty (1st season)

  • Week 0: Hopewell Valley (6p)
  • Week 1: Summit
  • Week 2: at Somerville* (6:30p)
  • Week 3: North Hunterdon*
  • Week 4: at Watchung Hills*
  • Week 5: Linden
  • Week 6: Woodbridge
  • Week 7: at Sayreville
  • Week 8: at Rahway* (6p)

Yes, their top rusher is gone, but the Cougars’ No. 2 only had two fewer yards – QB Jack Kristjanson, with 150 – but he’s also back as their signal caller, as is top receiver Trey McFadden. Carty may need to figure out a few more pieces, but they can be good. The defense loses a couple of two-way linemen in Matthew Cudmore (3.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery) and Landen Dikker (5 sacks, 3.5 TFLs) but there’s plenty expected back, too, including linebacker Dragomir Georgiev (2 sacks, 3 TFLS), and excellent two-way lineman Michael Bellamy (1.5 sacks, 7 TFLs, 1 forced fumble).

North Hunterdon Lions (4-5, 1-3, 4th place in ’24)
Head Coach: C.J. Robinson (4-14, 3rd season)

  • Week 0: Hunterdon Central (Thurs)
  • Week 1: at Colonia (6p)
  • Week 2: Watchung Hills*
  • Week 3: at Montgomery*
  • Week 4: Rahway*
  • Week 5: at Monroe
  • Week 6: Somerville*
  • Week 7: East Brunswick
  • Week 8: at Voorhees

The Lions lost a ton following their sectional title in 2022, including their head coach Kevin Kley, and struggled in Year One under new head coach C.J. Robinson, which was to be expected. Then, as hoped, they showed much improvement in 2024, winning four games. Expect North to take another step up next year. Quarterback Nick Ramaci started as a junior last year and threw for 1,150 yards and 11 touchdowns, and he should have major skill guys back, including runningback Cole O’Connor (622 yards, 8 TD) and Xzavier Warner (269 yards, 5 TDs), not to mention the nearly 500 yards Ramaci ran for himself. They also bring back all but 61 of 1,132 team receiving yards, with three receivers catching double-digit passes, led by Antonio Sauchelli (477, 4 TD) coming back for one more go. On paper, this experienced club could be near the top of the division. On defense, nearly everyone who recorded a sack, interception of fumble recovery last season is back.

Rahway Indians (7-3, 3-1, 2nd place in ’24)
Head Coach: Brian Russo (57-42, 11th season)

  • Week 0: Willingboro (6p)
  • Week 1: at Scotch Plains-Fanwood
  • Week 2: Perth Amboy (Thurs, 6p)
  • Week 3: Somerville* (Sat 12p) (Veterans Field)
  • Week 4: at North Hunterdon*
  • Week 5: at Cranford
  • Week 6: Watchung Hills* (6p)
  • Week 7: at New Brunswick (Sat, 12p)
  • Week 8: Montgomery* (6p)

Coach Russo is blessed with an abundance of electrifying talent coming back. Jaquan Robinson won the starting QB job as a sophomore; he threw for 706 yards and eight touchdowns, while rushing for 246 yards and two scores. Super-talented RB Andrew Avent returns, bringing back 1,412 rush yards and 16 TDs, while all but 150 of nearly 750 receiving yards come back. Avent also is a defensive force at linebacker, where he led the team with 17 TFLs, while also recording three sacks, a scoop and score, and a blocked kick. Rising juniors Jyvon Cooper (2 sacks, 6 TFLS, 2 fumble recoveries) and Jalen Eastman (2 sacks, 9 TFLs, and a pick-six) will make defensive noise, too. This could be a big year for Rahway.

Somerville Pioneers (12-1, 4-0, Liberty Silver, Central Jersey Group 3 champs in ’24)
Head Coach: Matt Bloom (18-7, 3rd full season)

  • Week 0: at Schalick (6p)
  • Week 1: Cranford (6:30p)
  • Week 2: Montgomery* (6:30p)
  • Week 3: at Rahway* (Sat, 12p) (Veterans’ Field)
  • Week 4: Hillside (6:30p)
  • Week 5: at Summit (Sat, 2p)
  • Week 6: at North Hunterdon*
  • Week 7: Plainfield (6:30p)
  • Week 8: at Watchung Hills*

The departure of a ton of talent will leave a lot of spots to fill for Bloom and company. First, he’ll need a new signal caller with Brendan Pacheco (1,742 yards, 27 TD, just 4 INT) off to graduation. So is RB Terrell Mitchell (1,406 yards, 18 TD) and WRs Brady Scheier (6887 yards, 8 TD) and Josh Rodriguez (478 yards, 7 TD). In fact, just one receiver is back (Aidan Bush, 5 catches, 58 yards, 1 TD), and a handful of runningbacks return. Defensively, Josh Bowen is among the top statistical returnees expected; he tallied four sacks, six TFLs, and had one pick and a forced fumble as a sophomore last season. Replicating last year’s overall success will be quite the challenge.

Watchung Hills Warriors (5-5, 2-2, 3rd place in ’24)
Head Coach: Rich Seubert (38-50, 10th season)

  • Week 0: Moorestown (6p)
  • Week 1: Woodbridge
  • Week 2: at North Hunterdon*
  • Week 3: at Linden
  • Week 4: Montgomery*
  • Week 5: South Brunswick (6p)
  • Week 6: at Rahway* (6p)
  • Week 7: Elizabeth
  • Week 8: Somerville*

The Warriors looked good through the first half of 2024, going 6-1, their lone loss at Woodbridge, but they slumped to the finish line, losing their last four, including a first round playoff defeat to the Barrons. Their starting QB, Mason Kelly (1,134 yds, 10 TD) is gone, as is their top rusher (Lucas Garcia, 624 yards, 5 TD) and top receiver (Brayden Kelly, 532 yards, 3 TD), but there are some other players with experience. It’ll be up to Seubert to decipher it all. The defense was senior-heavy, too, with rising senior DL David Thornton the top returnee stats-wise, with four sacks, seven TFLs and a fumble recovery last fall.

by Dom Savino

All it takes is one: Kroner sends top-seed Colonia to North 2, Group 3 final in 1-0, 10-inning thriller

The strikeouts came in every form: swinging and staring, foul-tipped and dirt-covered, on high fastballs and buried sliders.

For an out shy of ten full innings, pitchers ruled the afternoon at Colonia High School, where the top-seeded Patriots hosted 4-seed North Hunterdon in the North 2, Group 3 semifinals.

It was only fitting that a pitcher got the last laugh, too.

With two outs in the 10th, Colonia left fielder-turned-reliever Colin Kroner lifted a single down the right-field line to score the game’s only run and punch the Patriots’ ticket to their first sectional final since 2018.

Kroner’s hit was the second for Colonia and the fourth of the entire game. The teams combined for 33 strikeouts, 13 walks, and seven fly balls into the outfield.

What was a high school baseball matchup felt, for long stretches, like a Friday night, Division 1 showdown between Colonia’s Cory Pascarella (a Monmouth signee) and North Hunterdon’s Alex Famolari, who’s pledged to attend Duke.

Coming off a 16-strikeout no-hitter in the quarterfinals, Pascarella was almost as dominant Tuesday, striking out 12 more over 7.2 innings and 114 pitches. It was the senior’s third straight start of 7 or more shutout innings.

Famolari was equally superb over six scoreless. The only hit against him rocketed through the right side of the infield, vacated on a hit-and-run.

Before Kroner’s game-winning single, run-scoring situations were few and far between. Famolari loaded the bases in the 6th after a two-out walk followed that lone hit-and-run, but his final pitch of the game — a breaking ball — notched his 10th strikeout. It was the game’s only at-bat with a runner on third base.

North Hunterdon’s best chance came in the fifth, which Zach Linzer led off with a looper over third base — the only hit Pascarella allowed. Jadon Krisanda followed with a walk. But, Pascarella locked in from there, retiring the next three batters to keep the game scoreless.

Even when the teams turned custody of the pitcher’s duel over to their bullpens, hitters were kept in check thanks to Kroner and North Hunterdon’s Hunter Brown, who each posted five strikeouts and surpassed two innings.

It’s what made Kroner’s tenth-inning single all the more striking — a timely hit, finally! With Joe Massimino on second after a walk and sacrifice bunt, Kroner sprayed the first pitch he saw inside the right-field line. The Seton Hall commit was greeted near second base by a pack of rabid Patriots, hungry for both a state championship ring and revenge after a first-round exit from the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship Tournament.

Colonia will host second-seed South Plainfield on Thursday in the North 2, Group 3 title game. The Patriots have yet to concede a run in the state playoffs, and North Hunterdon’s two hits were the first Colonia has allowed over three sectional games.

Click below for postgame reaction from Colonia’s Colin Kroner, Cory Pascarella and head coach Mike Scialfo, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Colin Kroner
Cory Pascarella
Head coach Mike Scialfo

by Mike Pavlichko

North Hunterdon grabs first win of season – and first for CJ Robinson – on Senior Night vs. Montgomery behind Ramaci’s 5 TDs

It may have been Senior Night in Annandale Friday night, but the night belonged to a junior showing the promise of the North Hunterdon program.

Going 0-9 last year in CJ Robinson’s first season as head coach after a sectional title in 2022, the Lions started the season 0-3. But it finally turned around as Montgomery came to town.

Nick Ramaci threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring in the first quarter, then ran for two more in the second of 15 and two yards, and caught three more touchdown passes in the fourth quarter en route to a 41-7 win.

The win snapped a 13-game skid going back to the 2022 North Group 4 semifinals, a 21-20 overtime loss to Northern Highlands. But it was the first for head coach CJ Robinson, who took over last year after Kevn Kley stepped down following their title run.

Decimated by graduation, it’s been a long road back, but with a junior leading the way, things are looking up for the Lions, who are 1-3 heading into a game at ranked Rahway next weekend.

Montgomery – hit hard by graduation in its own right after last season – falls to 0-4 and will visit Watchung Hills next week for the first of three straight road games.

Click below for postgame reaction from North Hunterdon head coach CJ Robinson:

by Mike Pavlichko

Marcus Borden’s 2024 GMC/BCC Camp Caravan: Gov. Livingston, North Hunterdon scrimmage

Central Jersey Sports Radio high school football analyst Marcus Borden continued his 2024 Camp Caravan tour of preseason practice with a visit to Berkeley Heights to catch a scrimmage between Governor Livingston and North Hunterdon.

You can find videos – including video highlights and interviews – from both teams below.

Governor Livingston: Head Coach Pete Ramiccio and seniors Lucciano Santamaria (QB), Jack Dally (RB/OLB, Dylan Landis (OL/DL)

North Hunterdon: Head Coach CJ Robinson and seniors Russell Hyland (LG) and Luke Testa (RT/DE) along with juniors Nick Ramaci (QB) and Dan Figurski (WR/S).

You can now watch all the 2024 Camp Caravan videos on YouTube by clicking this link!

by Mike Pavlichko

2024 Big Central Preview: Liberty Silver Division

Plainfield is out, Somerville is in. And even though both teams hovered around .500 last year, the Liberty Silver Division of the Big Central Conference gets no easier in 2024 for the remaining teams.

Somerville at Plainfield at least are in divisions that make a little more sense geographically speaking. The Pioneers should challenge for the division, with a host of talent back and Matt Bloom entering his second full season as head coach.

Montgomery will have to replace the talented QB-reciever duo of Michael Schmelzer and Matt D’Avino, but head coach Zoran Milich has a program there, not just a team, so expect the Cougars to reload. North Hunterdon – winless after a state sectional championship season in 2022 that saw big losses to graduation – should bounce back.

Watchung Hills took a stinging playoff loss last year in the semifinals, but should also be in fine form, and Rahway is hoping some of the youth they had last year – which got a little worn down after a good start to the season – will pay off in the form of experience and stamina this year.

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

by Mike Pavlichko

2023 Big Central Preview: Liberty Silver Division

The smallest division in the Big Central Conference may be one of its most competitive in 2023.

The Liberty Silver only has four teams, but all can pack a punch. North Hunterdon graduated a ton of seniors from a squad that won not only the division last year, but the North 2 Group 4 title. While all their biggest statistical contributors are gone, the Lions still should be competitive, even with a new head coach in C.J. Robinson.

Watchung Hills is always a tough out, and hasn’t had a sub-.500 season since his Rich Seubert’s third season in 2017, when the Warriors were winless. Montgomery was right there with them last season; both were 7-3.

The wild card may be Plainfield. James Williams’ squad has put together back-to-back five-win seasons for eleven victories in a span of two years, something that hasn’t been done since they won five in 2004, and six the following year in 2005 for an 11-win two-year run.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko’s preview of the Liberty Silver Division from the Big Central Conference’s inaugural Media Days:

by Mike Pavlichko

North Hunterdon returns few seniors in quest to defend title, but Lions are tight-knit group

If North Hunterdon is to repeat as a state sectional champion in 2023, it won’t be easy.

Certainly not impossible, but certainly not easy.

Luke Martini, Kente Edwards, Alex Uryniak, Danny DeLusant, Derek Vaddis, and even their head coach Kevin Kley are all gone. Kley was head coach for five seasons, and those other players were with him the whole time.

Now, there’s a new coach: C.J. Robinson comes over from Bernards, and he has only four returning seniors.

All of them – Tyler Anderson, Alex Moore, Brennan Zundel, and Michael Schroeck – were at Big Central Media Days this week at Hillsborough’s Iron Peak Sports & Events, and it was easy to see the camaraderie among them, and with their coach.

It’s a small division, the only one with four teams in the BCC Liberty Silver, with Montgomery, Plainfield and Somerville. Winning that title won’t be an easy task either, but one can expect North Hunterdon to be in the mix, for sure.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlickho with the North Hunterdon contingent at Big Central Media Days: