Brief Look At Week Eight Contests Around The GMC On Friday Night
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Friday night, GMC Gridiron returns to make his picks after being away for several weeks. We’ll have more on that later on this weekend. The site will be heading out to Woodbridge High School to see the Barrons in action against the Monroe Falcons. It will be the first time that the site will be seeing WHS in action while it is the second time we’re seeing the Falcons. There are 12 games on tap for this week. Seven are on Friday night, four are on Saturday, and one is on Sunday. Let’s take a look at this week’s outlook for Friday night’s games:
Monroe (1-5) at #3 Woodbridge (4-2)–Last year, the Falcons rallied from behind at home to derail any playoff hopes for the Barrons. This year, Woodbridge is likely to qualify in what will be a very tough Central Jersey Group III field with the likes of many good teams from the Shore Conference. The team should be a bit healthier this week with the likes of Anthony Nyers back in the line-up and others such as Cody Zalasar returning. Woodbridge took it on the chin last week at Sayreville, but Kyle Anderson and the gang should get back on track here.Prediction: Woodbridge wins 34-7.
Old Bridge (2-3) at #1 South Brunswick (5-0)–Last week, the top ranked Vikings rolled to an easy win over Monroe on the road while the Knights defeated the Falcons in week two. However, South Brunswick is highly touted with wins over the other top squads in the GMC Red such as Sayreville, Piscataway, and Woodbridge. The Vikes are athletic, have plenty of speed and talent, and most importantly, tough on defense. SBHS does a great job of taking away your key skill position players. Vin Gargano and Aaron Ford will try to rally the Knights, which are coming off a loss to Manalapan last week. Prediction: South Brunswick wins 49-7.
East Brunswick (0-5) at #2 Sayreville (5-1)–The Bombers regained some of their swagger with a dominating effort against Woodbridge at home last week. After losing on opening night to top ranked South Brunswick, Sayreville has won five straight heading toward its annual showdown with Piscataway. Delon Stephenson, Alex Yanuzzelli, Zeke Perkinson, Isiah Cureton, and Mike Carey lead the charge for the Bombers. Mike Cia will try to throw a monkey wrench into the works for East Brunswick, which is still searching for its first win. Prediction: Sayreville wins 35-7.
#6 Colonia (4-1) at South Plainfield (2-3)–The Tigers took a step back in its resurgence a couple weeks ago with a surprisingly lopsided loss at J.F. Kennedy (41-14). Meanwhile, the Patriots have been one of the big surprises on the GMC Gridiron this fall. Colonia is led by Greg Jones, Trent Barneys, Christian Thomas, and C.J. Cimilluca. SPHS is at home, and have twin brothers Colin and Brendan Wilson along with the likes of Jamil Canes and Anthony Torchia. The Pats, which have only allowed 13 points in the last 16 quarters, should continue to roll here. Prediction: Colonia wins 24-6.
Bishop Ahr (2-4) at #8 North Brunswick (3-2)–This is probably the only real toss up game of the week. Both teams are fighting to get into the state playoffs. Ahr has lost two straight after evening its record at 2-2 earlier this season, has been up and down trying to adjust to the Wing-T offense while North Brunswick suffered two tough losses to Colonia (20-0) and Carteret (31-8) before knocking off Perth Amboy two weeks ago. Billy DeMato leads an Trojan offense that has weapons such as Kenny Virden, Roger Kilgore, Tim Hagerty, Dillon Salva, and Taylor Black. Meanwhile, LaShawn Boyd and Mike Parsons lead the Raiders. BGA is more desperate for a win here since a loss knocks them out of the playoffs. Prediction: Bishop Ahr wins 24-23.
Keansburg (1-4) at #7 Dunellen (5-0)–The Titans of Keansburg from the Shore Conference are coming off their first win of the season last week over Cardinal McCarrick. However, Dunellen represents a much bigger challenge with a roster that has 17 players returning from last year’s team including Vinnie Grausso, Jeff Puckett, Zach El-Halim, D.J. Ditter, and Sean Gibney. The Destroyers did a great job of controlling the ball in its win over Highland Park last week. DHS didn’t allow a single offensive touchdown to the Owls, and HPHS didn’t run an offensive play until the 9:47 mark of the second quarter. Predicition: Dunellen wins 50-6.
Highland Park (3-3) at Shore Regional (3-2)–It doesn’t get any easier for the Owls with a trip down to West Long Branch to take on the Blue Devils of Shore Regional. Shore is the defending Central Jersey Group I Champs with a victory over Dunellen in the final last December. Highland Park needs to utilize the special teams play of Quawi Batchelor, who accounted for the team’s only score against Dunellen last week with a 70 yard kickoff return for a TD in the first quarter. More importantly though, the Owls need to get their passing game going, and open holes for both Batchelor and Quatay Niesmith. Prediction: Shore Regional wins 35-17.
GMC Hoops will be posting the preview of Friday night’s game later on.