GMC Gridiron Game Capsules–Week Eight–Friday Night

Fright Night Features Ten Games

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–The next to last week of the regular season kicks off with 10 games involving GMC teams on the schedule for Friday night.  The huge match-up of them all is between Piscataway and South Brunswick at Ciardi Field in P-Way.  There are also three crossover games between the GMC and Shore.  Other match-ups worth noting are:  Old Bridge at Monroe and Carteret and J.F. Kennedy.  GMC Gridiron will be featuring a Blue Division contest on Friday night between Dunellen and South River from Columbia Park in Dunellen.  Below are game capsules with predictions on the Friday night contests:

South River (2-5) at Dunellen (6-1)–The Destroyers continued to roll last week with a lopsided win on the road at Asbury Park (65-18) while South River was roughed up by a Shore Regional (35-0) team that Dunellen rallied in the fourth quarter to beat back in Week #4 (16-7).  Over the last three weeks the Rams have been outscored 128-21.  Dunellen has won six straight since losing to Spotswood on the road in its season opener.  Dave Johnson, Nassan Anderson, Rob Young, and Paul Appleton are running the Destroyers single wing offense like a well oiled machine.  South River will try to counter with Sean Darrar, Nick Lepore, Richie Leogrande, Mario Nigro, Cyrus Byrd, and Khaliyl Everett.  Prediction:  Dunellen wins, 34-8.

South Brunswick (7-0) at Piscataway (6-0)–This is the game that everyone else will be at tonight.  The Chiefs are coming off a bye thanks to a forfeit win over Sayreville last week.  Meanwhile, South Brunswick rolled past Edison (39-14) following a thrilling win on the road two weeks ago in Monroe (20-17).  Not only are both teams undefeated, but they are tied for the GMC Red lead with a 6-0 record.  The winner here will be in the driver’s seat for the division crown.  After yielding the most points in a season since 1970 last year, Piscataway has bounced back with three shutouts including two straight before the bye week.  The Chiefs have outscored their opponents by a margin of 180-20 this season.  Meanwhile, South Brunswick has outscored its foes by a margin of 215-96.  P-Way is led by the likes of Kamal Stewart, Danny Haus, Elijah Barnwell, Elijah Pierson, Tyrell Bush, and Elorm Lumor while SBHS is led by Syracuse bound Dontae Strickland, Matt Golden, Amir Johson, Josh Liao, Mohammed Jabbie, and Marcus Jackson.  Chiefs get the edge thanks to their stout defense at home.  Prediction:  Piscataway wins, 21-17.

Old Bridge (4-2) at Monroe (5-2)–Old Bridge is coming off a two week bye, which means two things:  The Knights are well rested, and perhaps a bit rusty.  Meanwhile, the Falcons have played in each of the last two weeks including a heartbreaking loss at home to South Brunswick (20-17) and a blowout win at Howell thanks to a strong second half (34-7).  Old Bridge has done as good as it could without the services of RB Myles Williams, who went down with a broken leg in the Week #3 clash at South Brunswick.  QB Mike Gargano has run the offense well, and has made plays with his arm and his legs.  Targets such as Jake Esposito, Tyler Hopman, and Dante Whipple helps a lot.  Nick Sodano and Esposito have picked up some of the slack in the absence of Williams.  The Falcons counter with a spread offense attack led by QB Stephen Karoly, who can throw, run, and catch passes.  Akeer Franklin had a big game against Howell as Chase Santiago, David Matel-Okoh, and Cameron Coleman provide good targets for Karoly.  Both teams have good kicking games with Josh Wood of MTHS and Ed Mish of OBHS.  Since moving up to the GMC Red, Monroe has never beaten Old Bridge (0-5).  This might be the year that the Falcons break through.  Prediction:   Monroe wins, 24-14.

Carteret (5-2) at J.F. Kennedy (4-2)—Prediction:  Last year, these two teams met at The Pit in Carteret, and played a great game before the Ramblers pulled out the hard fought win (19-10).  Expect another grind out game between these two schools.  CHS continued to roll with its third straight win last week, a 27-3 decision over Bishop Ahr at home.  Kennedy has also won three straight by a combined margin of 105-33.  Both teams have played St. Joseph’s, South Plainfield, Colonia, Bishop Ahr, and New Brunswick with the Ramblers going 4-1 in those contests while JFK is 3-2.  The Mustangs are 3-1 at home on their new turf field while Carteret is 0-2 on the road this season.  However, the last time, I picked Kennedy to win thanks to their home record (against St. Joseph’s), the Mustangs were shut out (14-0).  QB Angelo Golina has been running the Carteret offense well in the place of Nelson Baez and should continue to do that with weapons like WRs Brandon Gilder, Hassan Williams, and Justin Taylor along with RB Ra’Keem Bennett.  Sam Kamara anchors the Ramblers defense.  Kennedy counters with QB Andrew Roberts along with WRs Terrance Young and Stepp Ozgiebe and RBs Ari King and Andrew Allen.  Could be one of the best games on Friday night.  Prediction:  Carteret wins, 21-20.

Middletown North (4-2) at North Brunswick (2-5)–For the first time since the 2011 season, Middletown North will be facing North Brunswick. The two teams squared off two years in a row with NBTHS winning both times in 2010 (19-6) and 2011 (25-6).  Since the GMC started playing crossovers against the Shore Conference in 2009, Middletown North has gone 3-7 versus GMC schools.  Meanwhile, North Brunswick has compiled a 5-4 mark against the Shore Conference since 2006.  This will be the first time this season that the Raiders will be taking on a Shore Conference school while this will be Middletown North’s second game against a GMC foe.  The Lions played Perth Amboy back on opening weekend, and won easily (40-0).  North Brunswick is coming off a nice win on the road at J.P. Stevens (13-7) last week.  The Raiders got all they could handle from a Hawks team that is much better than their winless record indicates.  Middletown North is looking to qualify in Central Jersey Group IV.  North Brunswick will be looking to play spoiler.  Middletown North’s record could be deceiving at 4-2 since all four wins have come against teams with a combined record of 3-23.  The Lions have beaten those teams though by a combined margin of 139-21.  MNHS is also coming off a bye.  QB Kevin Poindexter leads the Raiders offense along with the likes of two way standout, Joe Castellanos, who caught a 66 yard TD pass versus Stevens last week.  RB’s Max Emanuel and Francis Omowole anchor the backfield while Rex Rogers can make big plays at any time on the field.  Should be another close one.  Middletown North gets the edge.  Prediction:  Middletown North wins, 21-13.

Freehold Township (3-4) at Edison (1-5)–The Eagles are coming off a 39-14 loss to undefeated South Brunswick last week on the road.  Meanwhile, Freehold Township was jolted at home in overtime (27-21) against an improving New Brunswick squad.  The Eagles lone win this season was over North Brunswick several weeks ago (37-27).  Since the GMC and Shore started playing crossover games against each other in 2009, the Patriots of FTHS have gone 2-8 against GMC schools.  Meanwhile, Edison has gone 2-3 including back to back wins over Marlboro by a combined margin of 49-7 in 2012 and 2013.  Joe Kim and Godwin Asamoah lead an Eagles team looking to win at home for the first time this season.  EHS should break through here.  Prediction:  Edison wins, 24-21.

St. Joseph’s (2-4) at Woodbridge (4-3)–Woodbridge beat up a South Plainfield team that appeared at first to be an even match coming into last week’s contest.  The Barrons now have a chance to qualify for the Central Jersey Group III playoffs.  A win over St. Joseph’s goes a long way.  The Barrons are led by sophomore QB Tracey Fudge, along with fellow classmates Quassim Glover and Keshaun Henry.  Seniors Zahneer Shuler, Zaire Robinson, Tyler Smith, Percy Martin, and Ryan Alcott also contribute to this improving team.  Woodbridge has won 4 of its last 5 with the only loss during the stretch coming at the hands of undefeated Colonia (49-27).  St. Joe’s played Colonia last week at CHS, and lost 41-10, and also lost QB Javon Hicks.  Breein Tyree and Nick Krimin lead the Falcons.  Could we be seeing a repeat of the 2009 WHS team that reached the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV semifinals?  Prediction:  Woodbridge wins, 27-17.

Colonia (7-0) at New Brunswick (3-4)–The Zebras are flying high after notching two straight wins over Perth Amboy (14-7) and Freehold Township (27-21 OT).  However, NBHS now faces the unenviable task of taking on undefeated and GMC White leading Colonia, which rolled past St. Joseph’s in its last regular season home game of 2014 (41-10) last week.   The Patriots also rolled past Perth Amboy (35-14) and defeated Bishop Ahr (35-14), Carteret (28-15), Kennedy (26-7), and Woodbridge (49-27) that all defeated the Zebras earlier in the season.  Colonia has not won a GMC White game by less than two scores this season.  QB Tenny Adewusi directs the offense with weapons such as RB Sam Pero, Pharoah Napoleon, Chase Barneys, Bryce Barneys, Brandon Haines, Jodrell Thompson, and J.J. Corbett.  New Brunswick is led by QB Trevon Blakey, RBs Maurice Ffrench and Samad Davila, and WR Carlos Hernandez and Emmanuel Osei.  Hoops standout, Nadir Whitten also contributes.  Colonia should win easily here. Prediction:  Colonia wins, 35-13.

Perth Amboy (0-6) at South Plainfield (2-4)–The Tigers return home for their final three games of the season starting on Friday night against the winless Panthers.  Perth Amboy only lost 14-7 to New Brunswick two weeks ago, and the Zebras gave SPHS its first loss of the season (21-13).  However, the Tigers are 2-0 at home this season, and have defeated their foes at the friendly confines of Frank R. Jost Memorial Field by a margin of 77-26.  South is coming off a tough loss to Woodbridge on the road last week (42-7) while Amboy was shut out at home last week by Kennedy (21-0).  The Tigers are led by QB Patrick Waldrop, RB Zaire Cone, WRs Kyle Dickerson and John Chillemi, and TE Jason Lee.  The Panthers counter with RB Larry Johnson and Tristan Rock.  SPHS should get an easy win here.  Prediction:  South Plainfield wins, 42-6.

Mater Dei (5-2) at Highland Park (0-6)–Mater Dei is coming off a 43-13 thrashing off Metuchen last week, and is 2-1 versus GMC schools this year.  The Seraphs have averaged 45 points per game in those three contests.  Meanwhile, Highland Park is still searching for its first win, and have lost to the likes of Keansburg and Keyport, which Mater Dei has handled easily this season.  QB Christian Palmer gets Mater Dei’s offense going.  He can beat you with his arm and his legs.  Tysaun White is a solid running back and the Seraphs have several athletic and talented receivers as well.  Highland Park will try to stay competitive in this one with QB Ryan O’Shea, RB Nasir Boykins, Dylan Boynton, and Justin Sims.  Prediction:   Mater Dei wins, 45-6.

GMC Gridiron plans to be at the freshmen game between J.F. Kennedy and Carteret this afternoon at The Pit in Carteret followed by a trip to Columbia Park in Dunellen to see the Destroyers in action against South River.