Tag: Spotswood

by Mike Pavlichko

Cutoff Weekend Friday Playoff Update – Group 2: Bernards edges up, but still no top-seed; Voorhees locks up bid, Dayton can play itself in, Spotswood will miss playoffs at 8-1

With Friday night’s Cutoff Weekend high school football games all in the books, Central Jersey Sports Radio is updating the unofficial NJSIAA playoff standings as we head into Saturday action.

We’ll have further analysis late morning into the afternoon Saturday, with our 2025 “Playoff Projection Show” scheduled for 6 pm where we give our bracket projections. The full tournament for the public schools will be unveiled on Sunday by the NJSIAA via Gridiron New Jersey. We’ll have them shortly after. The brackets become official at noon on Monday.

NORTH GROUP 2

Table displaying the unofficial NJSIAA playoff standings for North Group 2 high school football teams, including team names, win-loss records, points averaged, and other statistics.
  • Even with a win Friday night over Carteret, Bernards still won’t get the top-seed, even though they edged up one place overall. Westwood and Shabazz will get top-seeds, with Shabazz getting it in North 2, Group 2, the same section as the Mountaineers, who would then be the two-seed.
  • Dayton sits in 18th but hosts Brearley Saturday. It’s a true play-in game. Win and they’re in, lose and they’re out.

SOUTH GROUP 2

Table displaying the playoff standings for high school football in South Group 2, including team names, wins, losses, ties, point average (PP AVG), and rankings.
  • The top two seeds flipped here, even though both won. Haddonfield should get the South Jersey Group 2 top seed, while Camden will be the Central Jersey Group 2 No. 1 seed.
  • Johnson held in 8th.
  • Voorhees wrapped up a spot with a win in the Milk Can Game at North Hunterdon.
  • Spotswood, however, is going to be the big news. You could talk about their schedule not being as good as some others, but they beat the teams that were given to them – all but Dayton – including five-win Roselle Park, five-win Bound Brook, and four-win Brearley (who has a chance at a fifth Saturday at Dayton.) Having an 8-1 team miss the playoffs is just absurd, and it’s a combination of a) moving down in divisions after some down years heading into the most recent two-year Big Central scheduling cycle (the new one starts next season), b) a need for better scheduling of crossovers in the Big Central (we’ll have some ideas next week) and c) a state scheduling formula that still gives too much emphasis to losses against strong competition. Welcome to New Jersey, where a win isn’t just a win anymore. You know the old adage, “You don’t get style points?” Apparently, here, you do.
by Mike Pavlichko

Cutoff Weekend Group 2 Playoff Update: Bernards a longshot for a top seed, Spotswood’s in trouble (at 8-1!), while Dayton and Voorhees face play-in type games

It’s Cutoff Weekend in New Jersey high school football, and we’re taking a look at the playoff scenarios for every Big Central team in contention.

This week, Strength Index values are locked in, and out-of-state opponent SI values also have been updated by Gridiron New Jersey, which does all the official calculations of the NJ UPR formula for the NJSIAA. And we’ve double- and triple-checked our own standings to make sure they match with Gridiron’s.

We’ll have another update to the standings after Friday night’s games – yes, there are Thursday games, but none in the BCC, and we’ll only update if there are significant changes.

And, of course, Central Jersey Sports Radio will have its annual “Playoff Projection Show,” airing LIVE on Saturday at 6 pm. Mike Pavlichko hosts with analyst Marcus Borden, and they’ll run through all the projected brackets. Plus, you’ll hear from some of the league’s coaches as well.

Here’s our breakdown of the Group 2 supersections. We won’t be getting into how the brackets look just yet, but we’ll do that with our update after Friday night’s Week 8 action. Click the supersection header to see the official standings on Gridiron New Jersey.

NORTH GROUP 2

  • Bernards: Upon closer inspection, it looks like the Mountaineers (8-0) are most likely going to get squeezed out of a first round playoff game, unless they get a lot of help. Coming in with a 4.2 UPR, it’s not a lot to get to the two teams tied for second at 2.8, Shabazz and Rutherford. But Friday night they play Carteret, and the Ramblers aren’t bad at all; their SI is 56.54 and they’re worth 15 power points. But Bernards’ OSI is a 56.81, and its power point average is 16.13, so it’s just not enough to move the needle either way very significantly. In that scenario, a win on its own keeps them tied for fourth (and with no common opponents and no head-to-head, Hanover Park would get the tiebreaker for now). Now, if they can get some help, that would be good. It looks like if Bernards wins, and Rutherford, Shabazz and Hanover Park all lose – regardless of what Westwood does – Bernards may be able to get the two-seed overall, and a top-seed in North 2, Group 2. But it’s unlikely all three lose. A loss by Bernards, and they could drop to six or perhaps a bit lower.
  • Dayton: The Bulldogs (6-2) get Brearley Saturday, worth 18 power points and with a 49.52 SI value. Both are higher than their current averages (11.43 power points, 40.03 OSI) so a win on their own bumps them up to 15 from their current seat in the 16th position. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but giving wins to the five teams behind them in that scenario – Becton, Vernon, Lyndhurst, Mahwah and Cresskill – still keeps them in at 15; Vernon would jump them, but the others wouldn’t be able to make up enough ground. Should they lose, they’re out. So, we think this is a play-in game for Dayton.

SOUTH GROUP 2

  • A.L. Johnson: The Crusaders (7-1) play Perth Amboy (1-7) Friday, so even a win on its own would drop them from eighth place to a tie for ninth with Gloucester City. That wouldn’t drop them in their section, necessarily, however, because Gloucester City will be in South Jersey Group 2, and Johnson will be in Central Jersey Group 2 when split by geography. Even a win by Bordentown behind them would keep them there, as the Scotties have Pemberton (1-6) on the schedule Friday. A loss, however, could drop them to 11 or lower. Johnson certainly is in the playoffs, but we think either way, they likely play on the road, and they most likely scenario is a 5th seed in CJ2.
  • Voorhees: The Vikings (7-1) are having a fantastic season, but only in 16th coming into Cutoff Weekend. Their schedule is not as bad as some of the smaller-school six- and seven-win teams, but this section is a brutal one. Only one team above them – Point Pleasant Boro at 3-4 – has fewer than four wins. Now, we think that’s mainly the way it should be, but not every supersection is like this. North 5 for example has six of the last seven teams in the top 16 with three wins or fewer, including Montclair at 16 with a 1-7 record. (They would have to reach two wins to be eligible, but something is wrong with a system that allows that to even happen in the first place.) In any event, Voorhees will be hurt by having North Hunterdon (1-7) this weekend in the annual Milk Can Game, a rivalry that dates back to 1976, in which the Lions have a wide advantage. A win alone won’t move them up, though they could edge up if Willingboro and Overbrook – currently ahead of them – were to lose. A loss would drop them to 17, and even losses by Overrook Camden and Willingboro won’t help. Note that Camden Eastside – also ahead of them – is idle this week. It’s possible some quirk would get them in, but the best path is a win over North Hunterdon.
  • Spotswood: Seems like we have this discussion every year with the Chargers. They’re 7-1, their lone loss is to Dayton, and they are on the outside looking in at 18. Let’s just get the easy part out of the way: A loss to 5-2 Roselle Park makes them toast. Now, can they find a way in? The big thing is Roselle Park is 5-2, and they’re a big prize for the Chargers: a 56.10 SI team, where their average is currently 39.45, and worth 21 power points, almost double their current average. But guess what? It still doesn’t move them from 18th! It’s a sign the system is broken and rewards teams more for losses to good teams than wins. (We’ll have more on this Saturday night, during our live projection show, you can be sure of that.) So, is there a path in? We’re going to assume a Voorhees win, which isn’t a big stretch. This one we’re going to dive deep on. What you have to look at is where you can gain in each metric, power points and OSI. The five teams ahead of Spotswood in power points (Spotswood is 13 there currently – by the way, we’ve advocated for ditching power points, going to solely OSI, and making losses less valuable (like 30 or 40 percent) – are Sterling, Collingswood, Voorhees, Manasquan and Lower Cape May. Giving all but Voorhees a loss, the Chargers are still at 17. Now, let’s try OSI, where Spotswood is 21st. The teams ahead of them are Delaware Valley, Governor Livingston, Raritan, Voorhees and Lower Cape May. We already got those last two, and Governor Livingston should beat winless New Brunswick (which hasn’t scored more than eight points in a game since 2022, a streak of 28 games). So we’ll be realistic, and give losses to Del Val and Raritan, and they still don’t get in. Maybe there’s a quirk we haven’t found yet – like a loss by Willingboro -but it looks pretty bleak for Spotswood, even with a win. Will it change anything? Probably not, but it should.

by Mike Pavlichko

Group 2 playoff chase: Just Bernards, Johnson and Spotswood in fields of 16, with Governor Livingston, Voorhees outside the bubble. Can the Highlanders and Vikings make it?

With a paucity of Group 2 teams in the Big Central Conference to begin with – something that has caused issues for some in the past – just two right now are in the field of 16 in either supersection: Bernards in North 2 and Spotswood in South 2.

Quite the contrast with Group 4, with has seven of the eight teams in the North 2 section from the Big Central Conference. That means we might be guaranteed a sectional champion there after the first round! But we digress.

A table displaying the standings of Group 2 teams in the North 1 and North 2 sections of the Big Central Conference, including wins, losses, ties, and various statistics.

In the northern half of the state, the only team even there is Bernards, and the Mountaineers have a shot at one of the two top seed. Either way, they’ll be in the North 2 section rather than North 1, with Bernards currently sitting in second. But they’re just 0.4 UPR points behind Shabazz, ground that’s not impossible to make up, especially if they can win Saturday at Summit (5-1). That’s no easy task, but there are a ton of power points up for grabs.

A table displaying the standings of Group 2 football teams, including their wins, losses, ties, power points average (PP AVG), opponent strength index average (OSI AVG), UPR, Northing, UPR rank, and N rank for teams in the Central and South sections.

Gone are the struggles Spotswood had with a one-loss team hoping they’d make the playoffs. The Chargers have been so good this year, 6-0, one of eight unbeaten teams left in the Big Central Conference. Their reward? They’re sitting 12th overall, sixth in the Central Group 2 section.

Bound Brook – which Spotswood beat last week – has helped their cause. After a couple of years of struggles, the Crusaders had four wins coming into that game. That was a strength-of-schedule killer before, but now it’s an asset.

And the better news for Spotswood is that the teams ahead of them in Central 2 are tightly packed. They won’t need to jump extra spaces. While the Chargers are 12th overall, 6th in their section, ahead of them is Wall (11th overall), Bordentown (10th) and Manasquan (9th) in fourth in the section. There’s a direct path to a home game, and if they win out, there’s a chance they could get one.

On the outside looking in right now are Voorhees and Governor Livingston, back to back. And they play each other this weekend in what could best be described as a pseudo play-in game. Each may be able to make it regardless, but if it comes down to one being 16th and the other 17th on Cutoff Weekend, the head-to-head could get that 17 in, or keep the 16 out.

For what it’s worth, Voorhees is significantly closer than the Highlanders, even though it’s one spot. They’re just 0.6 UPR points behind Pt. Pleasant Boro and Overbrook, who are tied for 15th, and the eight-seeds in their respective sections (Point in Central, Overbrook in South).

The Highlanders are 18th overall, 4.6 UPR points out. That’s a lot of ground to make up, and they’re 3-3. Having winless New Brunswick (UPR 21.6) on Cutoff Weekend won’t help. Assuming they win that game, which they should, they’ll still need to make up ground and – at the very least – probably need to beat either Voorhees at home this week or Bernards on the road next week to get in. It’s highly likely 1-2 in those three games won’t cut it.

by Mike Pavlichko

Gameday with Marcus Borden: Week 6

We continue to barrel toward Cutoff Weekend in New Jersey high school football, with just three games to go in the regular season for the public schools, including this week. And it’s time to talk about it all with Central Jersey Sports Radio analyst Marcus Borden!

Mike and Marcus look back at the week gone by, including undefeated Sayreville’s big win over Piscataway, Hillsborough’s comeback win Saturday at Westfield, and Somerville’s win at Summit, handing the Hilltoppers their first loss of the season.

Also on the show, Mike and Marcus talk about look at the playoffs, where six Big Central teams currently sit with top seeds, but only two of those are undefeated. The other six unbeatens are either in the running – like Sayreville and Bernards – or well out of the chase, but still in the field of 16, like unbeaten Spotswood and Manville.

We also look at this weekend’s games, including Coach’s Friday trip to Montgomery to see the one-loss Cougars take on unbeaten Woodbridge, and Saturday’s Bellamy & Son Paving “Big Central Game of the Week,” featuring a battle of unbeatens, as Phillipsburg travels to St. Joseph-Metuchen.

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

by Mike Pavlichko

State’s “perfect” teams whittled down to 29, with nine left in Big Central; Summit, Manville put streaks on the line Saturday

Of the 29 teams left in New Jersey high school football with unblemished records, nine remain in the Big Central Conference.

How that translates in the postseason is anyone’s guess, but at this point of the season, it’s a remarkable number, considering how the rest of the state has gone.

The Super Football Conference has ten remaining unbeatens, with four going down Friday night and two more to play Saturday. The West Jersey Football league is down to five after four of its teams fell Friday. The NJIC has three, with one to play Saturday, and the Shore Conference has two.

Here’s a closer look at the undefeated teams left in the Big Central, and a list of the perfect squads remaining statewide:

BIG CENTRAL CONFERENCE:

  • Bernards, 6-0: The Mountaineers narrowly escaped Frank Jost Field with a 7-0 win over South Plainfield that extends its state-best active regular season win streak to 31 games, and its second-best Big Central streak to 29, five behind St. Thomas Aquinas. Last 3 games: at Summit, Governor Livingston, Carteret.
  • Manville, 5-0: The Mustangs have yet to play this week, traveling to JP Stevens for a 10 am game Saturday. Last 3 games: Dunellen, Highland Park, at Bound Brook.
  • New Providence, 5-0: With a big 46-7 win at Middlesex on Friday, the Pioneers will head out of conference next week before closing with two Big Central Conference games, one at home, the last one away. Last 3 games: Verona, Bound Brook, at Delaware Valley.
  • Phillipsburg, 5-0: The Stateliners needed a fourth-quarter touchdown to beat West Orange Friday, 24-20 to keep their perfect streak in tact. Last 3 games before the Cutoff: at St. Joseph-Metuchen (Saturday on CJSR), Union, Bridgewater-Rarirtan.
  • Sayreville, 6-0: The Bombers dominated up front and pulled away from Piscataway in the second half, for a 42-24 road win heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Last 3 games: at Franklin, Montgomery, St. Thomas Aquinas.

  • Spotswood, 6-0: The Chargers are in the thick of the playoff hunt, but if they keep wining, they’ll be guaranteed to get in no matter where they seed. They also could be in the hunt for a first-round home game. They beat Bound Brook Friday night, 36-7. Last 3 games: at Dayton, at South Hunterdon, Roselle Park.
  • St. Joseph-Metuchen, 5-0: The Falcons cruised past North Brunswick on the road Friday night, 42-7. Last 4 games: Phillipsburg (Saturday on CJSR), at St. Thomas Aquinas, Woodbridge, at Donovan Catholic.
  • Summit, 5-0: The Hilltoppers host a dangerous Somerville team Saturday afternoon at 2 pm. Last 3 games: Bernards, at Woodbridge, Scotch Plains-Fanwood.
  • Woodbirdge, 6-0: The Barrons were 41-0 winners over Perth Amboy in their second shutout victory of the season. Last 3 games: at Montgomery, Summit, at St. Joseph-Metuchen.

SHORE CONFERENCE (2):

  • Red Bank Catholic, 6-0
  • Southern, 6-0

WEST JERSEY FOOTBALL LEAGUE (5):

  • Burlington Twp., 6-0
  • Cherry Hill East, 6-0
  • Glassboro, 6-0
  • Paulsboro, 6-0
  • Washington Twp., 6-0

SUPER FOOTBALL CONFERENCE (10):

  • Belleville, 5-0
  • Don Bosco Prep, 5-0
  • East Orange, 5-0
  • Fort Lee, 5-0 (Ivy Division)
  • Hanover Park, 6-0
  • Hoboken, 6-0
  • Kinnelon, 6-0
  • Mount Olive, 5-0 (Saturday at Morris Knolls)
  • St. Peter’s Prep, 5-0 (Saturday vs. Seton Hall Prep)
  • West Morris, 6-0

NJIC (3):

  • Butler, 5-0
  • Rutherford, 4-0 (Saturday vs. Cresskill)
  • Wood-Ridge, 6-0
by Mike Pavlichko

Gameday with Marcus Borden: Week 5

With just four more weeks to go in the regular season, high school football is in crunch time in New Jersey. And it’s time to talk about it all with Central Jersey Sports Radio analyst Marcus Borden!

Mike and Marcus look back at the week gone by, including St. Thomas Aquinas and a big win over Elizabeth, then we get Coach’s mid-season report card! No grades, but Borden talks about leading candidates – from big schools and small – for Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Year, along with a couple of MVP and Coach of the Year candidates. It’s not a full list, but it’s a fun listen!

Also on the show, Mike and Marcus talk about how the new playoff formula could shake out, rundown the nine unbeaten teams left in the league, what Big Central Conference stadiums Mike hasn’t been to yet, and the Friday game Coach Borden will be covering – Brearley at South Hunterdon – as he gets to see his 59th and final team of the last two seasons, representing every team in the BCC!

It’s a long one, so get comfortable!

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

by Mike Pavlichko

More than four dozen NJ football teams remain undefeated as regular season reaches midpoint; Big Central has ten perfect squads left

They surely won’t all maintain their perfect records through the end of the regular season, as many will play each other in the coming weeks as we head toward Cutoff Weekend and the 2025 playoffs, but as we head into Week Four of play here in New Jersey, there were 49 teams still yet to see a blemish on their record. (There are now 48, as Dickinson of Jersey City took its first loss Thursday night.)

Ten of those teams are in the Big Central Conference, spanning small schools and big.

There are also now 18 undefeated teams in the Super Football Conference, as well as 13 in the West Jersey Football League, three in the Shore Conference and four in the NJIC. None of the handful of independents are undefeated.

Here’s a closer look at the undefeated teams in the Big Central, followed by a list of those remaining perfect, by division, around the rest of the state.

  • St. Joseph-Metuchen (3-0):  The Falcons are No. 8 in the Central Jersey Sports Radio/Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten. They host Westfield (2-2) Friday night before going to North Brunswick, then facing perhaps the most challenging stretch of their season: Phillipsburg home October 11th (LIVE in CJSR at 1 pm), at St. Thomas Aquinas on the 17th, and home to Woodbridge the Saturday of Cutoff Weekend. The Stateliners and Barrons are both undefeated, while Aquinas is 3-1 and has won 33 straight Big Central Conference games. (Correction: A previous version of this story had the St Joe’s-Westfield game on Saturday. It is Friday night)
  • Phillipsburg (3-0): The BCC’s first-ever true state finalist hasn’t skipped a beat despite losing some significant parts to graduation, and the No. 1 ranking is theirs until they decide they don’t want it anymore. Right now, they’re the class of the Big Central, even though there are some very good teams behind them. The Stateliners visit struggling Hillsborough (1-3) Saturday, and their biggest two tests likely will be the aforementioned October 11th game at St. Joe’s, and a Friday Cutoff Weekend matchup at home against Bridgewater-Raritan, which could have QB Declan Kurdyla back from a knee sprain by then.
  • Bridgewater-Raritan (4-0): Obviously, both the No. 6 Panthers and Stateliners won’t be able to run the table, since they’re division mates and will meet in a few weeks, but Bridgewater has looked very good. They’ll be tested Friday night at Ridge (1-2) in their first full game without Kurdyla, who’s out at least three weeks before he’ll be re-evaluated, which also includes a home game with Elizabeth next week and a road trip to Hillsborough on October 10th. And their regular season closes out at Maloney Stadium on the Friday night of Cutoff Weekend.
  • Spotswood (5-0): The Chargers played Thursday night, and remained perfect with a 34-3 shutout win over Highland Park. Next week, they get a much-improved Bound Brook team (3-1) at home before heading to Dayton and South Hunterdon, before closing it out with Roselle Park. Spotswood sat in 17th place in the South 2 playoff standings before the win over the Owls, which will help them. But if they can finish unbeaten, they’ll automatically be in the playoffs, regardless of where they stand. That’s a distinct possibility.
  • Manville (4-0): The Mustangs’ toughest remaining game might be Highland Park or Bound Brook, the first of which is home, the second of which is on the road, in the regular season finale. This week, it’s a trip to South Hunterdon (0-3). The Mustangs have allowed just six points all season – a touchdown in their opener at Keyport – but since then have pitched three straight shutouts and the defense has logged 14 consecutive scoreless quarters.

  • Woodbridge (4-0): The No. 2 Barrons lost a lot, too, but also seemingly haven’t missed a beat. They travel to Linden (1-3) this week for a Friday tilt, then host Perth Amboy, but the schedule gets decidedly tougher after that. They’ll be at No. 10 Montgomery, home to Summit (also considered for the Top Ten) and at No. 8 St. Joseph-Metuchen on Cutoff Weekend. They should be heading into that stretch at 6-0, but how will they come out of it?
  • Sayreville (4-0):  The Bombers have been very consistent all season. They scored between 26 and 28 points in three of their four games, and have allowed no more than 18 and no fewer than 14 points in that stretch, with wins over Colonia, Linden, Edison and Hillsborough. All but the Patriots are below .500 though, and after a home game with North Brunswick this week, the back-loaded schedule kicks in, with  trip to Piscatway next week (on CJSR) a road game at Franklin on October 10th, followed by home games the next two weeks against No. 10 Montgomery and No. 4 St. Thomas Aquinas.
  • Bernards (4-0): The Mountaineers lost all-world defensive end Thomas Diemar to a season-ending injury in the Delaware Valley game two weeks ago, but they still beat Voorhees in a battle of unbeatens on the road last week, 31-21. This week, it’s JP Stevens (0-4) at home, and their toughest matchup should come against a very good Summit team on the road, Saturday October 17th. The Hilltoppers have a mobile QB, and the test will be if the remaining healthy defensive players can limit Alex Schwark.
  • Summit (4-0): They’re not in the same division as Bernards, so, again, only one of these teams can finish undefeated since they face each other head-to-head. But the Hilltoppers’ remaining schedule is more challenging. After facing a tough Cranford team (2-2) this Friday night up in Union County, they host Somerville the week before Bernards comes to Tatlock Field, and then have a road game at Woodbridge the week after. Big tests.
  • New Providence (4-0): The Pioneers’ have looked very good this year, with a shutoout last week at Metuchen and a 42-7 win at Governor Livingston in Week 1. They get Roselle (1-2) at home this week, then visit Middlesex before an out-of-conference game against Verona, a home game with Bound Brook, and the regular season finale at Delaware Valley. Will that schedule – even if they go unbeaten – allow them to hold on to one of the two top seeds in the North 1 supersection? They have it now, but for how long?

Here’s a look at the rest of the leagues in the state, and their unbeaten teams:

Super Football Conference

  • 4-0 Teams (12): St. Peter’s Prep, High Point, Dumont, Hanover Park, Northern Highlands, West Morris, Kinnelon, Hoboken, Old Tappan, Wayne Hills, St. Joseph-Montvale, Bergen Catholic
  • 3-0 Teams (6): East Orange, Fort Lee*, Belleville*, Mount Olive, Boonton, Don Bosco Prep

West Jersey Football League

  • 5-0 Teams (3): West Deptford, Paulsboro, Cherry Hill East
  • 4-0 Teams (8): Washington Twp., Rancocas Valley, Glassboro, Burlington Twp., Delran, Burlington City, Sterling, Holy Cross
  • 3-0 Teams (2): St. Joseph-Hammonton, Bishop Eustace

North Jersey Interscholastic Conference

  • 4-0 Teams (2): Wood-Ridge, Glen Rock
  • 3-0- Teams (2): Butler, Rutherford

Shore Conference

  • 4-0 Teams (2): Red Bank Catholic, Southern
  • 3-0 Teams (1): Holmdel
by Mike Pavlichko

Gameday with Marcus Borden: Week 1

Opening Week is behind us, it’s Week One where everyone gets into the act in high school football, and it’s time to talk about it with Marcus Borden!

Mike and Marcus look back at the week gone by, including a big win for Old Bridge down at the Battle of the Beach over Cedar Creek, Arique Fleming’s masterful performance for Elizabeth in a rivalry game win over Linden, and then peek ahead to this week’s games, including those Coach Borden will see: Somerville at Cranford on Friday night, and Bernards at Hillside on Saturday.

Also on the show, we discuss other key games in the BCC, Montgomery adding longtime founding coach Zoran Milich’s name to Cougar Stadium, and our new feature, the “Speedster of the Week” presented by Higgins Speed Lab, with the Week 0 winner being Summit’s Alex Schwark.

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

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY:  Spotswood 38, Middlesex 0

Spotswood got three touchdown runs and a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage, while fellow senior WR/S Ryan Foster had a touchdown catch and a scoop-and-score on defense to help the Chargers beat visiting Middlesex 38-0 in the opening game for both schools. Senior kicker Gavin Pereira also booted a 45-yard field goal, a career long.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Ben LaSala call all the play-by-play live from Spotswood, NJ, on August 28, 2025:

1st Half
2nd Half
by Mike Pavlichko

Spotswood controls all three phases in solid Opening Night win over Middlesex

Week Zero games can be a crap shoot. Sometimes it all goes right, sometimes the play is real sloppy.

For the Spotswood football team, it was about 98 percent the first option.

In their first meeting since the COVID season, 2020, the Chargers scored three first half touchdowns and shut out visiting Middlesex, 38-0, powering through a long delay for an injured Blue Jays’ player in the third quarter, then rain for much of the second half to hang on to the shutout in the 2025 season opener for both schools, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Senior quarterback Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage capped off three first half scoring drives – all of which started on the Middlesex side of the field – with touchdown runs of six, three and 23 yards, to give Spotswood a 21-0 lead at the break. He opened the second-half scoring with a 26-yard TD strike to sophomore Ryan Foster.

Others got into the scoring after that. Senior kicker Gavin Pereira booted a 45-yard field goal with 1:34 to go in the third, hitting from the right hash mark into a left-to-right crosswind, just getting it over the crossbar inside the left post. Then, with 10:26 to go in the game, Foster scored on the defensive side, with a 54-yard scoop and score.

Tolbert-Brimage finished 4-of-7 passing for 48 yards, with one unfortunate interception, a screen pass that went off the receiver’s fingertips, and bounced five yards away to a Blue Jay. He rushed for 119 yards on 12 carries to lead the team, while senior Sebby Saracino carried 12 times for 68 yards. Six different players logged at least two carries in the game.

Spotswood senior QB Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage celebrates his third touchdown of the game in a 38-0 home win over Middlesex on August 28, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Middlesex quarterback Matthew Petti, Jr. – a sophomore making his first varsity start – was 11-of-14 for 68 yards, with no TDs but also no turnovers. Most of that yardage came in the second half.

Sophomore Jo Jo Pham was the injured player in the second half. A long stoppage resulted, and word from the field was he had an elbow injury. Pham was taken off the field on a stretcher as a precaution.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!

Spotswood senior QB/DE Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage and sophomore WR/CB Ryan Foster
Spotswood head coach Chris Meagher