FOOTBALL RESULTS: Big Central Conference and area roundup for Week 2
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
Bernards 35, South River 0: Connor Laverty threw three touchdown passes as Bernards earned the road win to improve to 2-1. The sophomore connected with Enzo Britez for a six-yard score to make it 14-0 in the first quarter and with a 5-yard TD with 5:04 left in the quarter for a 21-0 lead. Laverty also threw a 30-yard pass to Tommy Hanratty in the second quarter to make it 28-0. At 7:01 of the first quarter, Nick Kouflie ran in a 4-yard score for the 7-0 lead. In the second half, sophomore Aidan Gribben to Brandon Shafer for an 11-yard TD for the 35-0 advantage. For South River (1-1), Parker Lane was 5-for-9 for 43 yards and Joseph Lepore had four catches for 38 yards.
Hunterdon Central 28, Elizabeth 21: RJ Hart threw for 211 yards (11-for-19) with three touchdowns and rushed for 92 yards and a score on 16 carries as Hunterdon Central (2-1) won its second straight to match the combined win total for the last two seasons. Trevor Fisch had six catches for 121 yards and a 67-yard TD in the fourth quarter that broke a 21-21 tie. Michael Carbo caught a 7-yard TD pass and Joseph Valentino snagged a 50-yard score. For Elizabeth (1-1), Vito Tropeano Jr. was 9-for-20 for 188 yards and rushed for two scores.
Pingry 19, Hopkins School (CT) 12: Christian Fassnacht had two rushing touchdowns as Big Blue (1-1) got the dramatic home win. Late in the fourth quarter, freshman Ryan Moye drove Pingry down the field and threw a TD to Henry Pyne with 2 seconds left in the game. Jason Weaver added some big-time catches in the game. Defensive standouts in the win included Andrew Schauers, who had with some key pass breakups, Rafferty Harris, Henry Pyne, Jason Weaver and Christian Fassnacht. Captain Peter O’Mara kept the game tied with a blocked extra point.
Game story:Piscataway football earns first win since 2019
Game story:Montgomery continues hot start
Game story:Brown, Wragg boost Westfield football with big second half in win over Union
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
New Providence 21, Roselle 20: Junior Ben Gullo rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns, and junior Matt Botvinis blocked a 24-yard field goal attempt with seven seconds remaining and New Providence (2-1) held on for a wild win.
Roselle (0-2), which lost by just three points last weekend against Delaware Valley, opened the scoring in the first quarter on a four-yard run from Nazir Baker to go up 7-0. Gullo scored on a two-yard run, but the kick failed early in the second, before the Rams made it 14-6 on a 13-yard Baker-to-Mirabeau Romeus scoring strike. The Pioneers then got a 25-yard pass from Jackson Zarinko to Sean Donnelly, and a 2-point conversion pass from Eric Dowden to Zarinko to tie it, and it remained 14-14 at halftime.
New Providence went up 21-14 early in the third on a 13-yard Gullo run and a Sean Reilly PAT, but Roselle responded with a 14-yard Baker-to-Romeus connection to make it 21-20. But the Rams’ PAT failed, providing the final margin.
Roselle had one more chance, setting up for a would-be game-winning boot in the final seconds, but it went awry.
Zarinko finished 11-106 rushing, threw a TD, and grabbed an interception on defense. Baker threw for 127 yards and two TDs, plus the rushing score. Emmanuel Lyles rushed 12 times for 148 yards for Roselle.
Governor Livingston 31, North Plainfield 14: Quarterback Michael Geertsma ran for a touchdown and hit Ryan Honey for a 71-yard scoring pass, and Jack Daly ran in two scores and Governor Livingston got into the win column. Liam Quigley chipped in a 21-yard field goal and went 4-for-4 kicking extra points for the Highlanders (1-2). Josh Collazzo threw a 20-yard TD pass to Tyrell King, and ran in a score for North Plainfield (0-3). Kobe Catarino recorded four tackles, a sack, a fumble forced and a fumble recovery in the win.
GAME FEATURE: Rahway honors beloved late teammate with win
GAME STORY: Hillsborough handles Bridgewater-Raritan to win 15th straight
GAME STORY: North Brunswick bounces back to edge Edison
GAME STORY: Second-half surge sends Phillipsburg over Ridge
Delaware Valley 38, Voorhees 7: Patrick Garlinghouse rushed for three touchdowns and Jack Bill rushed for a TD, threw a TD pass and kicked a 24-yard field goal to spark Delaware Valley (2-0). Justin Koplan caught a first-quarter TD pass to open the scoring for the Terriers. Isaac Levitan’s 2-yard TD run in the second period got Voorhees on the board, after Del Val led 24-0. The Vikings are 1-1.
Perth Amboy 39, J.P. Stevens 14: Angel Alvarado rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown, and Jesiah Andrew added 80 rushing yards and a score and Perth Amboy rolled to 1-1. Quarterback Lavion Balthazar connected with Shakir Price on another TD for the Panthers, who also got a rushing score from Xavier Frias. Balthazar also returned an interception for a score.
Linden 31, Woodbridge 0: Tequan Thomas threw two touchdown passes, and rushed for 140 yards and a score to propel Linden (1-1). Kerdel Moses caught a 30-yard TD strike and Jawon Lee caught a 26-yard toss for the Tigers. Alex Donic ran one in for Linden. Woodbridge is 1-2.
Manville 21, Middlesex 14: Shawn Purcell ripped off a 94-yard touchdown run with 2:56 left in regulation and Manville competed a fourth-quarter rally to nab the win, improving to 2-1.
Middlesex (1-1) led 14-7 after threw quarters, getting a 30-yard interception return for a score from Julian Zduniak in the second quarter and a six-yard TD run from Dom Parenti in the third.
Manville recovered a fumble at the start of the final frame and ran it back, getting a seven-yard TD from Josh D’Ambrosio and a PAT from Alex Orzol to tie it. After a goal-line stand that saw the Blue Jays get all the way down to the 4-yard line, Purcell went the other way for the win, his second TD of the game, after catching a 66-yard scoring pass from Danny Wildgoose in the second period. Purcell finished with 147 rushing yards on 17 carries.
Dunellen 29, Highland Park 14: Aiden Sangiray ran for 131 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns, and Anthony Hatz added 87 rushing yards and two scores and Dunellen improved to 1-1. Highland Park is 0-3.
A.L. Johnson 42, Bound Brook 0: Ryan George scored two rushing touchdowns and Robert Gallaher hit Thomas Woods with a 55-yard TD pass to highlight the romp for A.L. Johnson (2-0). Matt Jean-Louis recovered a fumble in the end zone for a score and Dylan Perrotto recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for the Crusaders. Antwone Smikle ran in a score in the win. Bound Brook is 0-2.
Dayton 20, Roselle Park 14: Lujuan Quinones threw a touchdown pass and ran in another, and Alex Altemus scored another to send Dayton to 2-0. Roselle Park is 0-2.
Immaculata 50, Newark Central 0: Cameron Chadwick rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns, catching a pass for another, and quarterback Mason Geis tossed a pair of TD passes and Immaculata rolled to 1-1. Anthony Brown also caught a scoring pass for the Spartans, while Zion Grant and Roan Ince each added another on the ground. Martin Wantong returned an interception for a touchdown in the win.
Monroe 24, East Brunswick 14: Aidan Lane caught two touchdown passes from Riley Piscitelli, and ran back a kickoff for 70 yards and a score and Monroe improved to 1-1. Alex Moses added a field goal for the Falcons. East Brunswick is 0-2.
Colonia 21, J.F. Kennedy 13: Jaeden Jones threw a TD pass and ran in another, and Jeffery White opened the scoring with an 18-yard TD run to propel Colonia (3-0). Aiden Derkack scored on a 23-yard scoring strike in the win. The Mustangs are 0-3.
North Hunterdon 25, Watchung Hills 24: Derek Vaddis caught a 76-yard touchdown pass from Luke Martini midway through the fourth quarter and North Hunterdon pulled ahead for good, rallying for a wild victory to improve to 3-0.
Vaddis totaled 207 receiving yards and two scores, adding an interception on defense, as the Lions came back from a 21-6 deficit in the first half, trailing 21-12 at halftime. Kente Edwards pitched in 124 yards and a touchdown for North, while Alex Uryniak paced the defense with 13 tackles. Watchung Hills (2-1) picked off four passes in the game.
South Plainfield 13, Carteret 12: Michael Green grabbed a 45-yard touchdown pass from Joe Maroney late in the fourth quarter, and Justin Hannon added the game-wining point-after kick and South Plainfield (2-0) won a back-and-forth battle at Jost Field.
Carteret (2-1) struck first, as Tyrece Parrott hit Jeremiah Serrano with a 20-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. It remained 6-0 until the fourth when the Tigers got on the board, getting a 76-yard run from Green to tie it 6-6.
The Ramblers responded, as Serrano hit Parrott again, for 61 yards, and after another PAT failed, Carteret clung to a 12-6 advantage, before Green’s run.
South Hunterdon 40, Belvidere 7: Brayden Hinman returned two punts for touchdowns, and Bode Dunn and Tommy Ramson each ran in touchdowns and South Hunterdon moved to 2-0. Garrett Swayhoover madce 11 tackles, and Trevor Sirak and Walter Ditzel each recorded 10 stops in the win. Sirak also added a sack. Belvidere is 0-2.
St. Thomas Aquinas 43, Scotch Plains-Fanwood 0: Senior quarterback Jayden Young had a huge game as the Trojans won their second-straight on the road. The four-year starter threw for 327 yards (13-for-22) with three TDs to Benjamin Bussiere from 39, 89 and 35 yards. The senior had three catches for 163 yards. Najee Lovejoy added seven receptions for 94 yards and Joel Marellis rushed for a team-high 70 yards on nine carries and a score. Elijah Abass-Shereef (5 carries for 55 yards) added a rushing TD.
Old Bridge 27, South Brunswick 22: Danny Hennessey rushed for 140 yards on 24 carries and scored three times – twice in the fourth quarter – as Old Bridge pulled out the win. The senior bolted for touchdown runs of 25 and 16 yards in the final 12 minutes and added an 8-yard TD run in the second quarter. Old Bridge (2-1) rolled up 331 total yards and 15 first downs. Brady Cavallaro threw a 3-yard TD pass to Thomas and McAleavey and finished 16-for-31 and 180 yards. Robert Orzol had a team-high five tackles and recovered a fumble. Additionally, Ben Lomicky had four catches for 61 yards and Luke Triantafillou had three catches for 50 yards. South Brunswick fell to 0-2.
Rahway 45, Lincoln 16: Kyle Hall scored four touchdowns to lead Rahway (2-0) to its second win of the season. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior recovered a fumble for a 68-yard score in the first quarter. He also added TD runs of 10 and 12 yards and caught a 10-yard score from Amir Robinson. Robinson also threw a 16-yard TD to freshman Damari Julius. Additionally, Anthony Lopez kicked a 23-yard field goal. Defensively, Jalen Barnes had a handful of sacks.
Sayreville 22, New Brunswick 7: A week after losing to state-ranked Phillipsburg 14-7, the Bombers once again got a big defensive effort to improve to 1-1. Sayreville plays Edison next week in a key game between two of the best teams in Middlesex County.
St. Joseph-Metuchen 31, Somerville 15: The Falcons hot started continued with a key win over Somerville, which started the season state-ranked. St. Joseph, which beat New Brunswick 30-6 in the opener, travels to Union next week.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Big Central Conference NJ football results and area roundup: Week 2
