Teams: Colonia, East Brunswick, Old Bridge, Perth Amboy, Piscataway, South Brunswick, and St. Joseph’s
Favorite: St. Joseph’s
Contenders: East Brunswick, South Brunswick, and Piscataway
Outlook: Despite losing Quenton DeCosey, Danny Brix, and Karim Awad, the Falcons are still the team to beat in the GMC Red. In the off-season, St. Joseph’s added Marques Townes (Cardinal McCarrick) and Wade Baldwin (Immaculata) transferring to the school in addition to Kentucky bound Karl Towns, James Ziemba, and Jimbo Long returning. The Falcons also have solid talent coming up from a JV squad that was undefeated a year ago, and won the East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament.
East Brunswick is a strong contender for both division and county honors this year. Despite losing the likes of Mike Summerer and Joey Ross, the Bears still have a lot back led by NJIT bound Rob Ukawuba, Amir Bell, Gary Baumer, Jake Krantz, Danny Leung, Ethan Folz, Pat McMullen, Carl Taylor, and Mike Manne. EB also had a JV squad that finished second in the JV tourney last season, and a sophomore class than won the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament as frosh a year ago. The Bears won the championship of the East Coast Conditioning Fall League back in October over a tough field that consisted of Linden, St. Patrick’s, Seton Hall Prep, Bridgewater-Raritan, Watchung Hills, Rutgers Prep, and Middletown North.
South Brunswick took some hits as well to graduation, but still have the likes of Chris Bourne, T.J. Taylor, Dion Hooper, Dontae Strickland, and Sean Keenan returning as well as Sal Hasan transferring in from St. Joseph’s. In addition, they have talented juniors led by Corey Lumpkin and solid sophomores led by Strickland, Jack Engel, and Jason Stonkus. With Taylor, Hooper, and Strickland all playing football for a Viking team playing in its first ever sectional championship this weekend, the Vikes may have some struggles getting out of the gate early, but once everybody is playing and healthy, expect them to battle hard in the GMC Red.
Piscataway had some significant changes in the offseason. In addition to the losses of talented players such as Tajae Sharpe, Vik Singh, Greg Davis, and Jelani Jackson, the Chiefs have a new coach. Former New Brunswick head coach, Antoine Allen took the reins at P-Way after Guy Jensen stepped down at the end of the season in March. The Chiefs still have some talent though led by the likes of senior guard Marcus Freeney along with classmates Clarence Morris, Jo Jo Hoover, David Claybrook. P-Way also has Nadir Jackson and Jamari Stephenson along with big man Marinus Tavernier.
Colonia, Old Bridge, and Perth Amboy will have to fight to compete with the top four in this division, but the Patriots, Knights, and Panthers all are capable of coming away with wins. Colonia as Trent Barneys as well as Bleriot Thompson, and sophomore James Corbett while Old Bridge may have a chance at its first 1,000 point scorer in Sultan Aminu. Amboy got a transfer from McCarrick in Carlos Morales in addition to the likes of Marquis Irizarry and David Rogers.