Tag: South River

by Mike Pavlichko

Early look at Big Central Football 2026: With Spotswood moving out, Brearley, Dayton Roselle Park will battle it out, as Highland Park, JP Stevens, South River look to make strides

Little change was made to the Big Central Conference’s Freedom Gold Division in the off-season, but with 2025 champion Spotswood moving up and out in the most recent realignment, the top three remaining teams – Brearley, Dayton and Roselle Park – will likely battle it out for the title in 2026. All three were .500 or better, with Brearley having tied the Chargers with a 4-1 division mark, but Spotswood winning last year’s head-to-head. Highland Park will deal with some losses, South River will look to improve, and JP Stevens moves into a division that could help them be more competitive.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the Freedom Gold Division teams – in order of 2025 finish – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication, along with a few notes on each squad. Division games are starred.

Brearley Bears (5-5, 4-1, 2nd place Freedom Gold)
Head Coach: Elliot Platt, 2nd season (5-5)

  • Week 0: at Wallington
  • Week 1: Manville
  • Week 2: Dayton*
  • Week 3: South River*
  • Week 4: JP Stevens*
  • Week 5: Roselle
  • Week 6: at Highland Park*
  • Week 7: Roselle Park*
  • Week 8: at North Plainfield

The Bears were a run-first team last year, as senior Matthew Resende rushed for 1,284 yards. They’re going to miss that, with only two other backs – one a senior, quarterback Joe Squillaro – totalling around 200 yards. Monroe Passmore ran for 206 yards on 26 carries with two touchdowns as a sophomore last season. Their strength could be the defense this year, as sophomore lineman Rocco Federico (14 1/2 sacks, 4 forced fumbles) should be back, while Passmore had two sacks and 6 1/2 TFLs from his linebacker spot. Adding JP Stevens as a division-mate with Spotswood gone could make it harder to qualify for the playoffs, or at least to get a good seed. Brearley made it last year, but ended up as the eight seed and had to play top-seed Mountain Lakes on the road, taking a first round loss.

Dayton Bulldogs (7-2, 3-2, 3rd place Freedom Gold)
Head Coach: Nick Iannacone, 5th season (18-20)

  • Week 0: Governor Livingston
  • Week 1: at Bound Brook
  • Week 2: at Brearley*
  • Week 3: JP Stevens*
  • Week 4: at Roselle Park
  • Week 5: New Providence
  • Week 6: at South River*
  • Week 7: Highland Prk
  • Week 8: Manville

The Bulldogs could be the best of the bunch this year. In 2025, they knocked off division champ Spotswood, 20-19, in a game that ended up costing the Chargers (8-1 at the cutoff) a playoff spot in favor of 3-5 Camden Eastside. In 2026, their QB and top running back and receiver all are back. As juniors, quarterback Adrian Bernkopf threw for 1,270 yards and 14 TDs, while runningback Tyler Fuscaldo carried 119 times for 749 yards and nine scores (Bernkopf ran for the other eight), while Jackson Babiarz caught 21 passes for 479 yards and seven touchdowns. And there are others in the unit who are back and can contribute as well, like rising junior Kevin Lynch (16 receptions, 240 yards, 1 TD). Many key defensive players are back, too, like rising junior DB Dominic Pintado (2 sacks, 5 TFLs), ad rising senior DL Isaiah Rivas (3 TFLs, 2 fumble recoveries for TDs) and Babiarz, who had four of the team’s eight picks last year to lead the team. This could be Dayton’s year.

Roselle Park Panthers (6-4, 2-3, 4th place Freedom Gold)
Head Coach: Greg Dunkerton, 7th season (23-35)

  • Week 0: at Wood-Ridge
  • Week 1: Belvidere
  • Week 2: at South River*
  • Week 3: Highland Park*
  • Week 4: Dayton*
  • Week 5: at Middlesex
  • Week 6: JP Stevens*
  • Week 7: at Brearley*
  • Week 8: at Roselle

The Panthers were impressive when we saw them in early October at Highland Park, coming out with a 35-12 win. They ran the rock to the tune of 2,509 yards last season, led by Nick Salas with 146 carries, 946 yards and 14 touchdowns; he’ll be back this year. So will No. 3 rusher Maxwell Griffin (398 yards, 5 TD), and he’ll be a senior. Salas also caught eleven passes out of the backfield for 165 yards and three scores, but his QB has graduated; Anthony Damiano threw for 485 yards. Roselle Park will lose a little more on the defensive side, with veterans like linemen Lorby Castelly (7 sacks, 1 TFL, 1 fumble recovery) and Jose Candelaria (4 sacks, 2 TFLs, 1 blocked kick) gone to graduation. Bot with that offense, they should be able to give Dayton and Brearley a run for their money.

Highland Park Owls (3-6, 2-3, 5th place Freedom Gold)
Head Coach: Shawn Harrison, 6th season (10-35)

  • Week 0: New Brunswick
  • Week 1: Middlesex
  • Week 2: at JP Stevens*
  • Week 3: at Roselle Park*
  • Week 4: South River*
  • Week 5: at Bound Brook
  • Week 6: Brearley*
  • Week 7: at Dayton*
  • Week 8: Metuchen

The Owls snapped that long losing streak in their final game of 2023, then went 6-3 the next year before falling to 3-6 last season after senior QB Markos Hantsoulis graduated. Now, the other two of the clan – Kosta and Stamatis also are gone, and head coach Shawn Harrison may have to lean a little more on QB Marcus Smith to step up as a senior. He threw for 866 yards and eight touchdowns last season, and top runningback Jacob Quiros also should be back for his senior year, after rushing for 459 yards and five scores a season ago. The defense will have to replace defensive back Matthew Adamczyk-Zapor, who had three sacks and seven tackles for loss last year.

South River Rams (1-9, 0-5, 6th place Freedom Gold)
Head Coach: Rich Marchesi, 40th season (229-158)

  • Week 0: at Point Pleasant Beach
  • Week 1: at South Hunterdon
  • Week 2: Roselle Park*
  • Week 3: Brearley*
  • Week 4: at Highland Park*
  • Week 5: Dunellen
  • Week 6: Dayton*
  • Week 7: at JP Stevens*
  • Week 8: at Spotswood

Though the Rams have struggled mightily in the last few seasons – a mixture of personnel and injuries – Rich Marchesi is the longest-tenured head coach in the Big Central Conference for a reason; he’ll find a way to give whoever he has the best chance to win. The likely candidate to take over under center is Julien Borusevic, who has quite the arm: he was 5-4 with a 2.45 ERA for the Rams’ baseball team this spring. He got some snaps last year behind Orion Familia, going 11-of-28 for 52 yards and a touchdown in parts of six games last season. The good news is Kah’mori Cotto was just a junior last year when he ran for 920 yards and seven touchdowns, and three receivers are back as well. The defense was a relatively young group last year as well, so if they can stick together, the Rams should see improvement in ’26.

JP Stevens Hawks (0-10, 0-3, 5th place in Patriot Gold Division)
Head Coach: David Kunyz, 2nd season (0-10)

  • Week 0: OPEN
  • Week 1: Dunellen
  • Week 2: Highland Park*
  • Week 3: at Dayton*
  • Week 4: at Brearley*
  • Week 5: South Hunterdon
  • Week 6: Roselle Park*
  • Week 7: South River*
  • Week 8: Middlesex

This is more the Hawks’ speed than a division with Bernards, Voorhees and Delaware Valley, and that could help a lot. Senior QB Shamar Burch (847 yards, 4 TDs) struggled with the turnovers last year, but Khawaja Muawiyah got in some good action as a junior, and started late in the season, ultimately going 46-97 for 530 yards and 5 TDs, and if he can improve and also cut down on the interceptions, that will help. Zamarr Raiford was the leading rusher on a team that almost exclusively threw the ball (1,397 pass yards, 122 rushing) last season, as he went for 717 yards and seven touchdowns on 48 catches. No. 2 receiver Jream Sorrell was just a freshman, but still had 22 catches for 185 yards and a score. On defense, 38 different players logged stats last season, so the numbers are there; head coach David Kunyz will have to figure which parts give them the best eleven on the field.

by Mike Pavlichko

Piscataway Magnet earns program’s first win in GMC Championship Tournament, outlasting JFK 10-5; Spotswood, Sayreville, South River all advance to Monday’s first round

The “open” format of the Greater Middlesex Conference baseball tournament ended in 2019, when the league split its signature event into the Championship Bracket – now known as the Jim Muldowney Championship Tournament – and the Invitational, now named for former East Brunswick Tech (now Magnet) AD and coach Ray Cipperly.

Now in its seventh year, Piscataway Magnet – having its best year program history – not only made the championship bracket for the first time ever with a record of 18-1, and a Gold Division title (12-0) under its belt, but on Saturday, they picked up their first win ever in the championship tournament.

The 17th-seeded Raiders were 10-5 road winners at 16th-seed JFK in Saturday morning’s preliminary round, making them 19-1. And it may even be their first win ever in a GMC championship bracket – open or otherwise – with the only other victory we could find in readily available online records being a 5-2 decision over Perth Amboy Magnet in the first round of the 2023 Invitational.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko with Piscataway Magnet head coach Greg Sampson and junior pitcher Kyla Malchiodi:

Each team scored twice in the first inning, then the Raiders got one in the top of the second and the Mustangs (6-14) got one in the bottom of the third to make it 3-3 heading into the top of the fourth, when as it turns out, Piscataway Magnet would get all the runs it needed. Kyle Malchiodi drove in a run with a sac fly, Vincent Canavan scored on a wild pitch, and Elvis Rodriguez hit a ground ball to short, reaching on an error, scoring two more runs to make it 7-3 Raiders.

Piscataway Magnet junior Kyle Malchiodi pitches against JFK in the GMC Jim Muldowney Championship Tournament preliminary round on May 9, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

For good measure, Piscataway Magnet picked up three more insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Freshman Trey Lyerly drove in two with a hard single to left, and Malchiodi singled to drive in another run, making it 10-3.

Back out on the mound to try and finish it off in the home seventh, Malchiodi gave up a single and a walk, then another single scoring two runs, cutting the lead to 10-5. Head coach Greg Sampson went to the bullpen and brought in Brody Guthrie, who walked one to put runners at first and second.

That’s when things got interesting.

Myles Ulaki took a 2-2 pitch, getting hit on the elbow. But the home plate umpire quickly stepped in and said Ulaki leaned over the plate with his elbow, and called him out for the first out of the inning.

After a brief argument – to no avail – Michael Rosales came up, and swung and missed at a 1-2 pitch for the second out. Catcher Colton Lyerly dropped the ball, but with runners on first and second, Rosales couldn’t run down to first. But Lyerly saw the runner on second, Fremy Peralta, far off the bag, threw down, and the tag applied by his younger brother, Trey, ended the game.

The victory sends Piscataway Magnet into Monday’s first round, where they will visit top-seed Edison (14-5), with first pitch set for 4 pm.

OTHER PRELIMINARY ROUND RECAPS:

(13) Spotswood 11, (20) North Plainfield 1: The Chargers (11-11) scored early and often in a five-inning ten-run rule win over the Canucks (16-7). Spotswood scored in every inning, starting with five in the first, highlighted by a two-RBI Ryan Orth double and a two-RBI single from Sebby Saracino. They picked up four more in the fourth, two in the third, and one in the fourth, not needing to bat in the bottom of the fifth with a 10-1 lead.

Starter Jack Korneski was efficient, going four innings with six strikeouts, no walks, allowing just one unearned run; he needed only 46 pitches to do it. Jack Abrams needed just seven pitches to lock it down in the fifth.

The win gives Spotswood just its second win streak of the year in an up-and-down season, after having won four straight in mid-April. They advance to Monday’s first round, where they will play at fourth-seed Metuchen (14-5), which swept two White Division games from the Chargers this season: 10-2 on April 4 and 4-0 on April 7.

(14) Sayreville 6, (19) Carteret 1: The Bombers had a 6-0 lead – with a run each in the first and second and two each in the fourth and fifth – before the Ramblers (14-4) could get on the board. Logan Kaufman went 1-for-3 with two RBI, both coming on a single to left in the fourth, while also tossing six four-hit innings, allowing one unearned run, striking out five to improve to 3-4 on the season..

Sayreville improves to 9-10 on the season and will travel to Old Bridge Monday at 4 pm to face the third-seeded Knights for the first time this season. Old Bridge has won two straight against the Bombers, including a 6-5 regular season game last year, and a 4-0 decision in 2024 in the Central Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals.

(15) South River 5, (16) JP Stevens 2: The Rams (16-5) got another solid start from Jullien Borusevic, who needed just 76 pitches to go the distance, allowing just two runs – one unearned – while striking out three to improve to 4-3 on the season.

South River took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, on a two-RBI Burosevic double and a Noah Barrero single. But Stevens (13-7) cut the deficit to 3-2 in the top of the second, the first run coming on an error of a bunt play, the other on a sacrifice fly by Soham Prajapati.

But the Rams came right back with two more in the bottom of the third, on a Noah Barrero single and a Brendan Lell fielder’s choice. Borusevic would only allow three more JP baserunners the rest of the game, on two singles, and an error.

South River will go on the road in the first round Monday at 4 pm, facing second-seed Middlesex (18-2), which won a regular season game Saturday, topping Rutgers Prep 7-1.

MONDAY’S FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE:

  • (17) Piscataway Magnet at (1) Edison
  • (9) Monroe at (8) Colonia
  • (12) St. Joseph-Metuchen at (5) South Plainfield
  • (13) Spotswood at (4) Metuchen
  • (14) Sayreville at (3) Old Bridge
  • (11) East Brunswick at (6) Woodbridge
  • (10) South Brunswick at (7) St. Thomas Aquinas
  • (15) South River at (2) Middlesex

by Mike Pavlichko

South River claims last of GMC Division titles, taking the Blue in a three-way tiebreaker over Carteret, JP Stevens

The way the Greater Middlesex Conference seeds its baseball tournaments, division titles are everything.

Actually, the whole standings are everything. In the seeding meeting – with this year’s coming up a week from tomorrow, on Friday, May 8th – teams can only be seeded in order of division finish. No division has to be seeded higher than any other, but the second place team in any division can’t be seeded ahead of the first place team, regardless of head-to-head results.

That means the only teams that can be the top seeds are division winners. And South River took the last remaining title to be decided, winning the GMC Blue in a three-way tiebreaker over Carteret and JP Stevens.

The Rams solidified that deal by virtue of an 11-6 road win at Piscataway Wednesday afternoon, giving them their fourth straight win and a series sweep against the Chiefs. But with the Rams, Ramblers and Hawks all 11-3 in the division, it came down to how all those teams did against each other.

South River went 3-1 in that group, splitting with Carteret and sweeping JP Stevens. The Ramblers were 1-3 in that group, swept by Stevens and splitting with the Rams. The Hawks went 2-2, sweeping Carteret, but getting swept by South River. The title goes to the Rams.

It’s their first division title since they shared the Blue in 2022 with St. Thomas Aquinas. Both went 9-1 in the division, and the teams split their two games, with the Trojans picking up a 16-3 win, while the Rams won the series finale two days later, 5-3.

Elsewhere in the GMC, Piscataway Magnet improved to 16-0 Wednesday with an 11-0 win at South Amboy, giving them a perfect 12-0 division record. It’s the Raiders’ first outright division title since 1996, and they’re one of just a handful of undefeated teams left in the state. The question is, will they make the Jim Muldowney Championship Tournament as one of the top 20 seeds, or play in the Ray Cipperly Invitational.

READ MORE: True team play has powered Piscataway Magnet to record season, but Raiders – the last unbeaten GMC team standing – may be just getting started

Regardless of how second-ranked Middlesex fares against Colonia at home Thursday afternoon in its GMC White Division finale (4 pm on CJSR – click here to listen live) the Blue Jays have already clinched the pennant, sitting at 12-1, while second-place Colonia is 9-4.

And in the Red Division, Edison leads the pack at 9-3, with Old Bridge in second at 8-5. The Eagles have one more with St. Thomas Aquinas Thursday, and a make-up at home against East Brunswick next Tuesday. But even if they were to drop both – and the Knights beat St. Joseph-Metuchen Thursday in their division finale, leaving both at 8-5, Edison gets the tiebreaker, having swept Old Bridge 5-2 and 2-1 in the first week of the season.

The only question is, who will get the overall No. 1 seed in the GMC championship tournament?

Edison is 9-4 overall, with losses to Monroe, Woodbridge and St. Thomas Aquinas in the conference, while Middlesex has only one loss at 14-1, coming against South Brunswick.

In that case, it could come down to crossovers in the final week of the season. Edison has three road crossovers, against North Brunswick and JP Stevens out of the Blue Division and Metuchen from the Blue. Middlesex will play up, facing St. Joseph-Metuchen and East Brunswick out of the Red, while also playing a non-conference game at Westfield (8-7) of the Union County Conference this Saturday afternoon at 2 pm.

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: North Plainfield 2, South River 0

Senior Bennie Sokowlowski scattered three hits over seven innings, striking out 11, while fellow senior Vic Ceda hit a sol home run in the sixth to give North Plainfield a 2-0 win over South River, earning a split of their two-game, home-and-home, GMC Blue Division series.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko call all the play-by-play live from Krausche Field in North Plainfield on April 20, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

Sokolowski dominates on the mound with 11 Ks as North Plainfield edges South River, 2-0, to split series

The only run Bennie Sokolowski needed in support from his teammates in maroon pinstripes on a sunny-but-chilly, windy Monday afternoon at Krausche Field came in the first inning.

Give him a run – a single, solitary run – and he’ll take it from there.

The North Plainfield senior threw his third complete game of the young season, striking out eleven while allowing just two hits, in a 2-0 win over visiting South River, in a GMC Blue Division game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Sokolowski was dominant and efficient for the Canucks (8-5, 4-5 GMC Blue). Even though he hit four batters in the game – all of whom were as close to the plate as they could legally be – his control was on point, as was his changeup, fooling hitter after hitter. At one point, Sokolowski had recorded eight straight outs via the K, spanning the third, fourth and fifth innings, with just an infield hit, walk and hit batsman scattered in between.

He almost got in trouble in the first, plunking the Rams’ leadoff hitter, Josh Devers, in the back. But Devers was erased on a fielder’s choice, then Jimmy Sanchez got picked off, and Sokolowski induced a ground ball to first by Hunter Krainski to end the inning.

And North Plainfield got all it needed in its half of the first. Mark Fultz led off with a hard single down the right field line, and after Jake Zotollo got hit by South River starter Julien Borusevic, and a ground ball to shortstop moved the runners to second and third, a groundout to third by Ian Lamiera made it 1-0 Canucks.

With Sokolowski dealing and Borusevic fairly cruising as well – scattering just two more hits, a single and a double, over the next four innings – that’s how it stayed until the bottom of the sixth, when Vic Seda led things off with a first-pitch solo home run to left centerfield, just in case.

Not that Sokolowski needed it. The top of the seventh was like just about any other inning he threw Monday evening. Fly out, ground out, hit batter and a strikeout – his eleventh of the game – to end it.

The insurance homer was Seda’s first of the season, and the second in his varsity baseball career.

Both pitchers threw complete games: Sokolowski got the win to improve to 4-0, while Burosevic is now 2-2 with the loss. Sokolowski also lowered his already-minuscule ERA down to 0.42, allowing just two earned runs all season in four appearances and 33 innings pitched.

South River falls to 8-4 with the loss, 7-3 in the GMC Blue.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko with seniors Bennie Sokolowski, Vic Ceda, and head coach Ben Donaghy:

by Mike Pavlichko

South River, North Plainfield wrap up GMC Blue Division set Monday night, under the lights

Back on Friday, South River welcomed North Plainfield in to town for a GMC Blue Division matchup and sent the Canucks home with a 16-0 victory.

But even with that win, the Rams’ fifth straight, head coach Mike Lepore, Jr., hasn’t won over 300 games in his career by having his teams sit back and relax. He knows that when his team visits Krausche Field Monday night for a 6 pm game under the lights to wrap-up the two-game series, they won’t go into it with a 16-0 lead.

No, it’ll be 0-0.

You can hear Monday night’s game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko calling all the action. Pregame is set for 5:45. Click here to listen.

On the other hand, North Plainfield and new head coach Ben Donaghy knows the same thing. His team is starting on a blank scorecard, not down 16-0.

South River (8-3, 7-2 GMC Blue) is just a half-game behind first-place Carteret – which they split with earlier this month – and North Plainfield (7-5, 3-5) may be three spots back in fifth, but the two have somewhat similar overall record, and both can do some damage at the plate.

The Rams are led by sophomore Julien Borusovic, both in the batter’s box and on the mound, and he’ll be in both places Monday night. He’s 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA, part of a staff that has been throwing efficient complete games early on, and has a team ERA of just 0.39. Meanwhile, Borusovic is hitting .500 on the year through 32 at bats with 15 runs batted in. Hunter Krainski (.379) and Noah Barrero (.333, 11 RBI).

Meanwhile, North Plainfield is hitting .309 as a team, led by sophomore Ryan Soto at .455 and senior Helson Sosa at .417 with eight runs batted in, while senior catcher Jake Zotollo is hitting .385 with 12 RBIs.

On the mound, senior Bennie Sokolowski will get the ball Monday, 3-0 with a scant 0.54 ERA. And the veteran can hit, too: .385 with a team-best 12 RBIs, as well as nine stolen bases, part of a Canuck offense that has stolen 53 on the season so far.

Click below to hear preview interviews with both head coaches and Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

South River head coach Mike Lepore, Jr.
North Plainfield head coach Ben Donaghy
by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio unveils 2026 High School Baseball Broadcast Schedule featuring a dozen regular season games, plus County, State tourneys

With a dozen regular season games, plus coverage of the GMC and Somerset County Tournaments – as well as state tournament coverage to be announced at a later date – Central Jersey Sports Radio has announced its 2026 high school baseball broadcast schedule.

It all gets started next week, with our opener on Tuesday, March 31 at 4 pm between defending 2025 SCT champion Immaculata and NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 winner Hillsborough. Then, after the calendar turns to April mid-week, we get state Group 1 champion Middlesex visiting Spotswood, on Thursday, April 2.

Coverage also includes two regular season games at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater – Montgomery vs Pingry on April 11, and Rutgers Prep against South Plainfield two Saturdays later – as well as the semifinals and finals of the Somerset County Tournament on April 18th and 20th, respectively.

The schedule includes three of last year’s SCT semifinalists, and all four of 2025’s GMC Tournament semifinalists, including a rematch of the title game between Edison and St. Joseph-Metuchen, and a rematch on the Invitational final between New Brunswick and East Brunswick Magnet.

Last year’s North 2, Group 3 winner South Plainfield also is on the schedule, as well as finalist Colonia.

Click here to see the full 2026 broadcast schedule.

by Mike Pavlichko

Mid-Week Girls’ Basketball Update: Several small schools off to good starts, while traditional powers keep things moving along

There’s not much you can say for the old standbys, and this is when they get particularly challenged.

Just barely a week into high school basketball season, Rutgers Prep is 2-0, Gill St. Bernard’s is 1-0, and heavy GMC favorite St. Thomas Aquinas is 2-1. They’ll all load up plenty more wins as the season goes on, and maybe even a few losses as they fan out to showcases on weekends, bookending their conference slates.

But what about some of the smaller schools, or those not always in the mix? A few have gotten off on the right foot.

Fewer schools in Somerset County have played multiple games yet; in fact, of the Skyland teams in our coverage area (Somerset County), everyone has played just one game besides Gill, Prep, and Hillsborough (1-1). So, we’ll be looking more at the Greater Middlesex Conference.

Smaller schools tearing it up…

The way the GMC has muddled their divisions – going away from Red, White, Blue, Gold (and sometimes Silver) to The Red, Blue and White American and National Divisions – there are no more “small school” or “big school” divisions. But two smaller schools in the White National are off to good starts, with Metuchen and Carteret both 2-0.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 21-5 season, but have won their first two games of the year for the first time in thee seasons. They topped Highland Park Monday in their opener, 49-30, before coming back Wednesday to beat JFK, 37-21.

Victoria Zaniecki was the top scorer in both games, respectively. She scored 30 and grabbed 11 rebounds against the Owls, then put in another 13 – and recorded four blocks – in the win over the Mustangs. She’s now just 81 points from cracking the thousand-point milestone.

Carteret, meanwhile, outscored its first two opponents 94-21, beating Kennedy 44-13, and Timothy Christian 50-8 with balanced scoring throughout. Five different players have already scored ten ore more points, led by seniors Anilah Diggs (9.5 ppg) and Samatha Woode (8.5 ppg), while the team has 27 steals already, and eight of the ten players on the varsity roster have more than one.

South River on the rebound…

After a 2-23 record last season in Year One under head coach Nicky Curran – a year in which they lost 21 straight until picking up mid-February wins against Keyport and Woodbridge Magnet – don’t look now, but the Rams are 2-0.

And, going back to last year, have won four of their last five games. They beat Mother Seton 22-20 Monday in their opener, then took a 41-24 decision from Wardlaw-Hartridge Wednesday. Sophomore Arianna Perez leads the team in scoring, pacing South River with 16 points in their most recent win.

The Rams host Calvary Christian (1-1) Saturday morning at 11.

First three-win team is over the bridge…

Maybe, they know how to schedule in South Amboy, but with three games under their belt, the girls are doing just as well as the boys: 3-0.

They opened with a 24-9 win over New Brunswick in the Friends of South Amboy Charity Games Saturday, then beat Woodbridge Magnet 45-24 Monday, and Perth Amboy Magnet 36-19 the next day. Junior

Gabby Evanski has been having a field day, hitting six times already from beyond the arc, and scoring 46 points in three games, while grabbing 30 rebounds. She had 8 points and 11 boards against the Zebras, flipped it against Woodbridge Magnet with 21 and 8 – including four treys – then had a double-double against Perth Magnet, going for 17 points and 11 rebounds, including 7-of-11 from the foul line.

Freshman Valerie Figueroa has scored 26 of her first 31 varsity points in the last two games.

The Tech School Parade continues Friday, when East Brunswick Magnet (1-1) comes to town.

Piscataway Magnet also is off to a 2-0 start, picking up wins against their fellow tech schools: 54-12 over Perth Amboy Magnet Monday, and 44-21 over EB Magnet Wednesday. Freshman Alaina and Alivia Tucker and senior Eva Hernandez all have 24 points scored on the season.

by Mike Pavlichko

Wednesday Night Big Central Roundup: Carteret tops JFK in “consolation” game behind 6 TD night from Boseman; New Brunswick snaps state’s longest active skid; South River picks up first win of season in finale

Al-Naiquan Boseman scored five touchdowns for the Carteret Ramblers, who won a track meet against JFK, 49-31, Wednesday night at “The Pit” in a Big Central Conference crossover “consolation” game.

While the NJSIAA no longer assigns consolation games, teams that miss the playoffs are allowed to set up their own matchups. Scroll down for scores and notes on the rest of the games, many of which were moved from Thursday due to the Nor’easter that’s in the forecast.

Meanwhile, for Carteret, Boseman scored four of his six touchdowns in the first half, after which the Ramblers led 26-25.

Carteret went ahead 33-25 less than a minute into the second half, then went up 40-25 on Boseman’s fifth TD run of the game, a three-yard score with 4:16 to go in the third. He’d score again as time ran out to make it 46-25.

After a Gatik Bhardwah 30-yard field goal made it 49-25, JFK got the game’s final score with 3:49 left on a pick-six by Grant Lorentzen.

Carteret improves to 4-5 with the win, while the Mustangs fall to 6-4.

Carteret Ramblers football team celebrating on the field after a victory, posing for a group photo in their blue and white uniforms.
Carteret celebrates on last win on its home field in 2025, after a 49-31 victory over JFK. (Photo: Marcus Borden)

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden with Carteret head coach Kevin Freeman and players Ronelle Nimneh-Gilbert and Al-Naiquan Boseman, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Here are other scores from around the Big Central Wednesday night:

  • New Brunswick 36, West Windsor-Plainsboro South 0: The Zebras ended the state’s longest active losing streak Wednesday night, winning for the first time in its last 33 games. The 36 points was the most scored by New Brunswick in a game since a 43-14 win at Monroe on October 29, 2021, and it was their first win since a September 16, 2022 home victory over Franklin. And after being shutout four times this season – never scoring more than eight points – it was their first shutout victory since a 14-0 victory over Carteret in 20009, when John Quinn was head coach. They also played Matawan to a shutout tie in 2012.
  • South River 19, Dunellen 0: The Rams picked up their first win of the season Wednesday, finishing the year 1-9. With New Brunswick’s loss, and Dunellen now 0-9, the Destroyers will take the state’s longest losing streak into 2026, now at 19 games. Their last win came against Brearley, 34-28, on October 29, 2023.

  • Millburn 51, Roselle 14
  • Keansburg 27 Middlesex 6
  • South Plainfield 35, Spotswood 28
  • Union 28, Columbia 7
  • Edison 39, Watchung Hills 14
  • East Brunswick 35, Perth Amboy 12
  • Dayton 34, Keyport 6
  • Manchester Twp. 18, JP Stevens 12
  • North Plainfield 42, Highland Park 13
by Mike Pavlichko

2025 Big Central Preview: Freedom Gold Division

Since we worked our way from the Group 5 schools down to the Group 1 last year, Central Jersey Sports Radio will start our 2025 division previews with the some small school love, beginning with the Freedom Gold and Silver, then the Patriot, and running all the way up to the Group 5 divisions.

In the Freedom Gold, Spotswood is coming off its second straight 8-2 season, and second straight division title under head coach Chris Meagher, whose team should again, at the very least, compete for the title.

Last year at this time, Highland Park was coming off a one-win season, but a big win. It came over Point Pleasant Beach and was the Owls’ first victory since 2016. A year later? They are coming off a 6-3 campaign, and still have talent, despite the loss of quarterback Markos Hantsoulis to graduation.

Dayton won four games last year, but finished red-hot, winning three of their last four. Roselle Park and South River will look to make inroads, after each won three games last season.

And Brearley has some renewed enthusiasm after a winless season last year, but also has a new coach in Elliot Platt.

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