Tag: St. Thoams Aquinas

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 4 Old Bridge builds early lead, hangs on to edge out No. 8 St. Thomas Aquinas, 26-24

They might not be the powerhouse they were when they won a Big Central Conference record 35 straight league games from 2020 through 2025, but St. Thomas Aquinas is a very, very talented football team – playing more of the big boys every year – and creates a lot of headaches for a lot of opponents.

But it was No. 4 Old Bridge that likely gave the eight-ranked Trojans and their coaching staff headaches Friday night at Vince Lombardi Field, as the Knights built up a 23-0 lead before STA could get on the board, and it was enough to power a 26024 victory for Old Bridge.

The Knights opened the scoring at 6:38 of the first quarter on a three-yard touchdown run by Chase Rizzo to make it 7-0.

Then, just past the midway point of the second quarter, the Knights’ scored again, as QB Aiden Rios hit Amari Alsbrook for an eleven-yard touchdown strike. to make it 14-0 with 5:12 to go before the half.

Old Bridge called a time out with 3:30 to in the second anticipating an STA punt, and it helped the Knights punch in a one-yard run from Rizzo with 41.6 to go to make it 23-0. But that was enough time for Aquinas, which got on the board with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Zymere Weaver to Tristan Bester as time expired, and a good two-point try made it 23-8 at the break.

In the second half, the Trojans were not done. They got a touchdown closer at the 6:31 mark of the third, when Weaver hit Aaron Crooms for a 69-yard touchdown pass, with a two-point run making it 23-16.

But with 1:34 to go in the third, Old Bridge got perhaps its most important score of the game: a 34-yard field goal by Arain Mezera to put them up by ten, and they would need almost all of it.

That’s because with 8:23 to play, Tristan Bester picked off a pass from Rios, and the ensuing drive resulted in a Zymere Weaver one-yard touchdown run at 7:46 left to make it 26-24 with their third two-point conversion of the game.

Old Bridge, though, would chew up clock the rest of the way, and win the game to improve to 3-1, with all three wins in BCC play. St. Thomas fell to 3-1 on the year.

Click below for postgame reaction with Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue, senior RB/DB Chase Rizzo and junior QB Aiden Rios, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 1 St. Joseph-Metuchen tops No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas in Big Central parochial power battle, snapping Trojans’ record 35-game league winning streak in the process

All good things must come to an end.

That’s the 35-game Big Central winning streak – the longest in the short history of the fledgling league – which came to a crashing thud for No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas Friday night, as No. 1 St. Joseph controlled their matchup in North Edison from start to finish for a convincing 41-19 win.

And with one end, comes a new beginning for the Falcons, who last week ascended to the top spot in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten with a 21-0 win over then-No. 1 Phillipsburg at home.

Maybe they’ll be the next one to put together such a streak. If they way they’ve been playing this year is any indication, that could be a distinct possibility.

Senior quarterback Justin Scaramuzzo opened the scoring with a touchdown pass to Kenny Noonan with 2:23 left in the opening quarter, then followed it up with a 20-yard strike to Reggie Bropleh at 8:55 of the second – following a fourth-down stop by the Falcons’ defense – to make it 14-0.

But the Trojans would cut it to a one-score game with 2:59 left before halftime with a Zymere Weaver six-yard touchdown pass to Anwar Witherspoon. A one-yard Scaramuzzo run with 29 ticks on the clock put Joe’s up 21-7 headed into the locker room.

In the third, after an Aquinas touchdown was called back on a penalty, they were stopped on fourth down and Joe’s answered with a 16-yard TD catch by Edgar Cruz with 3:54 left in the third.

But Aquinas would get the next two scores to stay in it. They got a kickoff return for a score by Anthony Perez, making it 28-13 after they missed a two-point try, then Weaver found Witherspoon again from 35-yards out to make it 28-19, again missing on a two-point try.

From there, the Falcons hunkered down, and pulled away.

Scaramuzzo hit Bropleh from 25-yards out to make it 35-19 with 9:29 left, the Falcons recovered a fumble on the next possession, and capitalized with the third Scaramuzzo-Bropleh connection of the game with 6:49 to go, making it 41-19.

St. Joseph (7-0) is back in action next Saturday against No. 2 Woodbridge (7-0), while the Trojans will visit No. 7 Sayreville (6-1).

Click below to watch postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio analyst Marcus Borden with St. Joseph-Metuchen head coach Bill Tracy and seniors Reggie Bropleh and Justin Scaramuzzo, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Colonia wins first GMC boys’ title since 2015, winning slugfest with St. Thomas Aquinas

The final margin might have been ten, but it was much closer than that for about 30 of the 32 minutes of game play in Friday night’s Greater Middlesex Conference boys’ championship game.

No one led by more than six until the final minutes, as second-seed Colonia got to the foul line and hit its shots to pull away.

The Patriots ended fourth-seed St. Thomas Aquinas’ three-year reign as GMC Tournament champions, pulling out a 55-45 win at Monroe Township High School, despite trailing after each of the first three quarters of play, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Sophomore Aiden Derkack was named MVP after pouring in 21 points for the champion Patriots (18-8), while senior Jaeden Jones chipped in 14.

Rinelson Dilone led Aquinas (16-10) with 20 points in defeat.

Colonia led early, 8-2 in the first quarter, but Aquinas went on a 14-4 run to make it 16-12. Those were the last big runs anyone would make until the Patriots pulled away, holding Aquinas without a field goal for almost the last four minutes of the game.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: