The second annual Shaun O’Hara Bowl, to be played in June at Hillsborough High School, revealed its rosters for the senior showcase game at its Media Day on May 13th.

The players and coaches will compete for Team Otto and Team Rocky, both named after former Raider fixtures and Hall of Famers.

Otto Gsell was a longtime football coach at Hillsborough, becoming an assistant in 1987 and serving as defensive coordinator on state title teams in 1973 and 1980. He was head coach from 1988 to 1993, then moved back into an assistant role and head freshman coach under Mantz. He passed away in 2000, and was inducted into the Hillsborough Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.

Rocky Forte was inducted into the Hall in 2011. He was Athletic Director from 1978-2003, also serving as head wrestling coach for several years, but mainly oversaw the Raiders’ successful growth from a Group 2 athletic program in 1978 into a Group 4 by 2003, as the population in town exploded over several decades. He passed away in 2009.

Team Rocky defeated Team Otto 21-7 in the inaugural game in 2024.

Here are the members of each team for the game.

Team Otto

Head Coach: Kevin Carty (Hillsborough High School head coach)

Giuseppe Cicciari, Hillsborough
Garrett Robuck, Hillsborough
Matthew Bleemer, Hillsborough
Xander Borowsky, Hillsborough
Ryan Seamon, Hillsborough
Ryan Baker, Hillsborough
Jackson Jankowicz, Hillsborough
Khalif Khayuzamh, Hillsborough
Garrett Meyer, Hillsborough
Brady Porter, Hillsborough
Colin Cortez, Hillsborough
Xavier Arteaga, Hunterdon Central
Kyle Ettere, Hunterdon Central
Quintin Fisher, Hunterdon Central
Tyler Suk, Hunterdon Central
Kevin Villegas, Manville
Armondo Lazzeri, Manvillle
Matthew Cudmore, Montgomery
Jakob Espana, Montgomery
Fabregas Gesira, Montgomery
Josh Malek, Montgomery
Caleb Henderson, North Plainfield
Anthony Penaranda, North Plainfield
Julian Adoptante, North Plainfield
Aaron Potts, North Plainfield
Matt Galusha, Pingry
Rafferty Harris, Pingry
John Kelly, Pingry
Jack Moye, Pingry
Jack Rewey, Pingry
Jacob Giordano, Ridge
Ganny Bode, Ridge
Nathaniel Schneider, Ridge
Jamile Adoboe, Somerville
Matthew Chubenko, Somerville
Danek Cirafesi, Somerville
Giovanni Ippolito, Somerville
Zahid Lee-Jackson, Somerville
Jon LoStocco, Somerville
Maximus Nuzzi, Somerville
Sean O’Neill, Somerville
Julian Pisack, Somerville

Team Rocky

Head Coach: Rich Seubert (Watchung Hills Regional High School head coach)

Bobby Burke, Bernards
Aiden Gribben, Bernards
David Silva, Bernards
Xiare Amaker, Bound Brook
Grant Guzzino, Bound Brook
Jeremiah Norwood, Bound Brook
Jordan Johnson, Bridgewater-Raritan
Matthew Kronengold, Bridgewater-Raritan
Nick DiEsso, Bridgewater-Raritan
Christopher DelSantro, Bridgewater-Raritan
Ja’Sante Johnson, Bridgewater-Raritan
Jordan Kronick-Johnson, Bridgewater-Raritan
Nick Parsio, Bridgewater-Raritan
Jack Schroeder, Bridgewater-Raritan
Dylan Tierney, Bridgewater-Raritan
Alex Berberian, Bridgewater-Raritan
Carter Gordon, Delaware Valley
Justin Kollmer, Delaware Valley
Dylan Angeles, North Hunterdon
Luke Testa, North Hunterdon
Patrick McGeough, Vorhees
Jake Arakelian, Watchung Hills
Jake Carfaro, Watchung Hills
Alejandro Dilone, Watchung Hills
Keven Ferrari, Watchung Hills
Lucas Garcia, Watchung Hills
Matiss Kalnins, Watchung Hills
Brayden Kelly, Watchung Hills
Jack Martin, Watchung Hills
Byron McCann, Watchung Hills
Ayaan Mir, Watchung Hills
Isaac Seubert, Watchung Hills
Finn Slattery, Watchung Hills
Nick Valenti, Watchung Hills
Mike Mancino, Watchung Hills

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel speak with former Hillsborough High School, Rutgers, and New York Giant standout Shaun O’Hara at Tuesday’s Media Day!

For the second consecutive year, a Super Bowl champion is returning to his roots.

The Shaun O’Hara Senior Bowl – named for the former Hillsborough, Rutgers, and New York Giants standout and his foundation – will be played on June 11th at Hillsborough High School for the second time after kicking off in 2024. It replaces the Basilone Bowl, last played in 2022.

The Shaun O’Hara Foundation “focuses on creating awareness of life-threatening diseases for which there is little funding, helps to raise funds to support other 501(c) (3) organizations’ health and education initiatives”, with a focus on supporting research and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis.

Played by seniors all across Somerset and Hunterdon Counties, the game features 78 athletes from 15 different schools. They are broken into two teams, Team Otto and Team Rocky, each named after former Raider football pillars and Hall of Famers.

Click here to read our story with the full game rosters!

Otto Gsell – the namesake for Team Otto – was a longtime football coach at Hillsborough, becoming an assistant in 1987 and serving as defensive coordinator on state title teams in 1973 and 1980. He was head coach from 1988 to 1993, then moved back into an assistant role and head freshman coach under Mantz. He passed away in 2000, and was inducted into the Hillsborough Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.

The inspiration for the Team Rocky name, Rocky Forte was inducted into the Hall in 2011. He was Athletic Director from 1978-2003, also serving as head wrestling coach for several years, but mainly oversaw the Raiders’ successful growth from a Group 2 athletic program in 1978 into a Group 4 by 2003, as the population in town exploded over several decades. He passed away in 2009.

Team Otto will be led by Hillsborough head coach Kevin Carty, while Watchung Hills head coach – and former teammate of O’Hara’s in New York – Rich Seubert will lead Team Rocky.

Many of the game’s players and coaches filed into Hillsborough High School for media day on Tuesday. Carty addressed the players and families in attendance, followed by former Raider and Shaun O’Hara Foundation chairman Jim Ruh, who had two sons play in the inaugural game in 2024. Then, it was O’Hara’s turn to address and rally the crowd in attendance. Click below to listen!

Click below to listen to O’Hara address the crowd at Tuesday night’s Shaun O’Hara Bowl Media Day:

Following O’Hara’s speech, each team’s rosters were announced and came together for photos .

Among the standout seniors playing in the game include Hillsborough running back Jackson Jankowicz, the winner of CJSR’s “Unbreakable Record Breaker” Award after scoring 31 touchdowns as a senior, and Bernards defensive lineman David Silva, the recipient of CJSR’s Leadership Award. Both spoke with CJSR about their high school experiences, chance to play one last high school game, and future plans.

O’Hara did as well, speaking about the event, coming back to Hillsborough, and the Shaun O’Hara Foundation.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel speak with former Hillsborough High School, Rutgers, and New York Giant standout Shaun O’Hara at Tuesday’s Media Day!

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel speak with Bernards defensive lineman David Silva and Hillsborough running back Jackson Jankowicz at Tuesday’s Media Day!

Two seniors from one of Hillsborough’s biggest rivals, Bridgewater-Raritan, made it count in their final game as high school students, and they did it on the Raiders’ field.

Of course, it was all fun and games. There were no kickoffs, no power points or division titles at stake.

It was all to benefit the Shaun O’Hara Foundation, which resurrected the now-defunct Basilone Bowl after a year off, raising money for the foundation and its support of children and their families dealing with cystic fibrosis.

Click below to see Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk to former Rutgers standout and New York Giant Super Bowl Champion Shaun O’Hara about the inaugural O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl:

But quarterback Jack Bray and wide receiver Dane Sorensen made it count. They were the Co-Offensive Players of the Game from Team Rocky, which beat Team Otto 21-7 in the inaugural Senior Bowl, as they hooked up twice in the first quarter for touchdowns that helped their team to a 21-7 halftime lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Their first TD connection came just over a minute into the game. And after Hillsborough’s Nick Santa Barbara ran back a pick-six to make it 7-7 midway through the first quarter, the two hooked up again for another score just 41 seconds into period two.

READ MORE: One last ride: Top Somerset, Hunterdon senior football players to clash in inaugural Shaun O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl

Then, Keith Polin of Delaware Valley got a pick-six of his own to make it 21-7 with 1:01 to play in the half. the second half was scoreless.

Polin was Team Rocky’s Defensive Player of the Game. Team Otto Honors went to Santa Barbara on defense and Josh Woodfield on Pingry on offense.

Click below for postgame reaction with Jack Bray and Dane Sorensen, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

The COVID-19 pandemic affected all walks of life around the globe, and the high school football senior all-star game lineup was no exception.

It created unique challenges after a couple of seasons of not being able to play at all, to having limited participation when games like the Marisa Rose Bowl and Basilone Bowl did return.

But this year, a new game has appeared:  the Shaun O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl, to be played at Hillsborough High School on Wednesday, June 15.  It’ll feature graduating seniors from Big Central teams in Somerset and Hunterdon Counties. 

Rick Mantz, former Hillsborough standout player and coach, announced the game in an email to the media Wednesday.

The game, of course, is named after O’Hara, who starred for the Raiders, walked on at Rutgers, earned a scholarship, and became a Super Bowl champion and three-time Pro Bowler with the Giants.

The teams will be named after legendary Hillsborough coaches:  Team Rocky honors former ‘Boro athletic director Rocky Forte and will be coached by Rich Steinert, the Watchung Hills head coach who also was a teammate of O’Hara when Big Blue won Super Bowl XLII.   

Team Otto, named after iconic football coach Otto Gsell, will be coached by Hillsborough Head Coach Kevin Carty.  Gsell was the defensive coordinator on the on the Raiders’ 1980 title team; Mantz kicked the winning field goal for a 10-7 win over hevily-favored Madison Central in the Central Jersey Group 3 title game.

Proceeds from the game will benefit the Shaun O’Hara Foundation, created to assist individuals and families affected by cystic fibrosis.  To learn more about the Foundation or to donate, please contact Rick Mantz at rick.winningconcepts@gmail.com.

Check back later to hear Rick Mantz talk about the inaugural Shaun O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl.