SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–We have a big week on tap for the second week of the 2010 GMC Gridiron season. Action begins tonight around the GMC. There are 13 games on tap this week including two crossover contests with the Shore Conference. Seven games are on Thursday night, three games on Friday afternoon and evening, and three games on Saturday afternoon and evening. So, let’s take a look at the matchups on Thursday night.
Here is a brief breakdown of the Thursday night matchups:
South River (1-0) at Highland Park (0-1)–This is going to be a tough one to pick. It is the featured Thursday night game for the web site as we will be heading out to Highland Park shortly. The Blue Division schedule kicks off in earnest this week with three matchups involving teams in the division. Dunellen will be hosting Metuchen on Friday afternoon, and the site will be there to see it. The Rams already got a head start on divisional play with an 18-7 victory on the road at Spotswood. The division appears to be wide open this year as Highland Park and Metuchen lost a great deal of talent from last year. South River has its offensive line back along with Taariq Phillips and Xavier Foster. The Owls counter with Tyler Rios, Quawi Batchelor, Mike Long, Manny McClain,sophomore Quatay Niesmith. Highland Park opened the season with a 34-12 loss on the road at Asbury Park. The Owls have won this division four straight year, but this might be the year a different school breaks through. This will be close, but the Rams get the slight edge. Prediction: South River wins, 20-16..
Woodbridge (1-0) at J.P. Stevens (0-1)–The Barrons opened the year in a big way with a huge victory over Old Bridge while J.P. Stevens fell on the road in their opener at Marlboro. The Hawks were actually shutout by the Mustangs. JPS lost Charles Conley and several other key players from last year’s team, and are moving up a division. Meanwhile, the Barrons have mostly everybody back from last year’s team that finished the season with six wins in their final seven games after starting the year at 0-4. In addition, Woodbridge soundly defeated Stevens to qualify for the state playoffs last year. The Barrons have QB Kyle Anderson, WR Anthony Nyers, and defensive players such as Max Issaka and Praise Martin-Ogunike. The Hawks have Dahmil Bowles returning from last year. Woodbridge wins big here. Prediction: Woodbridge wins, 45-6.
Monroe (1-0) at Old Bridge (0-1)–The Falcons were picked by the Star-Ledger to finish ahead of Woodbridge in the GMC Red this year, and the Barrons shellacked the Knights last week in the opener (41-14). Monroe began the season with a hard fought, 21-18 victory at home over East Brunswick. MTHS lost some key players from last year including Matt Stolte and Blake Bascom, but still have the likes of QB Alex Vizcaino, who threw three TD passes against EB. There’s also Mike Walp among others. Old Bridge has a new coach, and a lot of young players. However, the Knights can play competitively as they demonstrated last year against a very good Toms River East team, and they are playing at home. Monroe should win this one. Prediction: Monroe wins 28-13.
Edison (0-1) at East Brunswick (0-1)–Like J.P. Stevens, the Eagles of Edison are moving up a division after finishing at the bottom of the GMC White last fall. Meanwhile, the Bears have lost some key players from last season including Mauro Tucci, Mike Weber, Anthony Gudzak, and Kevin Lantz among others. EB also started the season off with a tough loss on the road at Monroe. The Bears are playing at home though, and have Jared Lynch in the backfield and Julian Quintan on defense. Edison lost in its opener last week against Piscataway. East Brunswick should get on the right track here. Prediction: East Brunswick wins 24-7.
South Brunswick (0-1) at Piscataway (1-0)–The Vikings of South Brunswick lost their opener at home last week to Sayreville (28-7), the top ranked team in the GMC Gridiron Top Ten. Now, they have to face the likes of P-Way, which got 234 yards rushing, and four touchdowns from Tevin Shaw in its opener at Edison last week. The Chiefs also have the likes of Anthony LaPorte at receiver and Naadir Barnwell at quarterback. SBHS also goes on the road for this one. The last time the Vikes played the Chiefs at P-Way, they lost badly after having a stunning upset victory over Sayreville a week earlier two seasons ago. Piscataway is coming off a mediocre season by their standards, and lost the likes of Juwuann Wynn, Malcolm Griggs, Taj Watkins, and Kyle Polk. Chiefs should win in this one. Prediction: Piscataway wins 28-10.
Colonia (0-0) at Carteret (0-1)–The Patriots are opening their season tonight while the Ramblers are coming off a loss on the road at Monmouth Regional last Friday night (41-21). Both of these teams played in the GMC Blue and faced off against each other last season with Carteret winning at Colonia. The Pats have C.J. Gray back while Carteret has Lamont Crews and Naji Johnson back from last season. The Ramblers finished third behind JFK and Bishop Ahr in the Blue Division last year while Colonia finished fourth. Carteret is playing at home. Last year was the first season since 1990 that Carteret didn’t have a winning season. A loss here could put them in a tough predicament early with the likes of Ahr, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, and Perth Amboy still ahead. Prediction: Carteret wins 22-16.
North Brunswick (1-0) at New Brunswick (0-1)–This should be a compelling matchup. New Brunswick won the game when these two teams met at NBTHS last year. The Zebras lost a lot from last year’s team that finished behind Monroe in the GMC White including Simuel Williams. The Raiders, however, finished at .500. Meshrach and Shadrach Ford lead NBHS while Tait Pirkle, Karim Sawyer, Ross Kurtz, and Zak Irizarry pace the Raiders. North Brunswick opened the season with a 19-6 victory over a Middletown North team that qualified for the Central Jersey Group IV state tournament, and lost to Sayreville in the opening round last year. Meanwhile, New Brunswick, which has a new head coach, was shut out by a good Raritan program (25-0) last week. This will be a close one, but North Brunswick gets the edge. Prediction: North Brunswick wins 21-20.
Last week’s record 16-1
Last year’s record 102-32