SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–The eighth week of the 2013 Greater Middlesex Conference football season gets underway on Friday night with 9 games on the docket. Â GMC Gridiron plans to be at the GMC Red clash between South Brunswick and Sayreville at Bomber Stadium in Parlin. There are also two tough matchups in the GMC White including Colonia at Carteret, and J.F. Kennedy at South Plainfield. Below are our picks for Friday night’s contests.
South Brunswick (5-2) @ Sayreville (5-2)–-This is the Game of the Week matchup for GMC Gridiron as it will travel to Sayreville HS to see the Bombers take on the Vikings in a critical matchup not only in the crazy GMC Red, but also in a very tough field in Central Jersey Group V. Sayreville enters the contest in eighth place in the CJ Group V power points standings while South Brunswick is in sixth place. Only eight points separate the two teams so a win here is huge. The Vikings had a bit of a struggle against Middletown North in a bit of a trap game while Sayreville rolled easily past North Brunswick. Both teams began the season at 1-2 before winning four straight. Each handily defeated long time rival, Piscataway in back to back weeks. Both teams were knocked off by Old Bridge in the beginning of the season. Sayreville lost to Edison on the road in week three (35-27) while South Brunswick pounded the Eagles at home (41-21). South Brunswick has a solid running attack led by QB Amir Johnson, and RBs Dontae Strickland and Dahrae Ford.  Prediction:  Sayreville wins, 28-21.
Colonia (5-2) @ Carteret (4-2)–-Don’t look now, but the Ramblers of Carteret have been quietly on a winning streak with three straight wins following a 33-14 loss at home to South Plainfield. During the win streak, the Ramblers have outscored their opponents by a margin of 85-27. So far this season, Carteret has only given up an average of 15 points per contest. Both teams have played Raritan this year with Carteret winning over the Rockets in week two (12-7) while Colonia surprisingly lost at home to Raritan last week (38-18). Both teams are fighting for a playoff spot with Carteret playing in the rough and tumble Central Jersey Group III while Colonia is battling for position in North Jersey Section 2 Group IV. Colonia is led by Tenni Adewusi at QB while Sam Pero runs the ball at RB, and Pharoah Napoleon, Chase Barneys, Bryce Barneys, and Elijah Williams all can make big plays. Carteret is led by QB Nelson Baez, WR Brandon Gilder, WR Cory Baccarella, and RB Terrell Merricks. Prediction:   Carteret wins, 20-19.
J.F. Kennedy (4-3) @ South Plainfield (4-2)–-Here is another important game in not only the GMC White, but more importantly in the state playoff chase. After winning four in a row to start the season for the first time since 1966, South Plainfield has dropped to in a row to the division leaders Colonia (24-21) and St. Joseph’s (34-19). Meanwhile, Kennedy has turned things around with three straight wins after a 1-3 start. During the streak, JFK has outscored its opponents by a margin of 142-19, but the foes also have a combined record of 3-17 on the season. South Plainfield’s foes in their last two games have a combined record of 12-2. Kennedy also played Joes and Colonia and lost by a combined margin of 75-25 although the Colonia game broke wide open with a kickoff return at the end of the first half, and then a fumble recovery deep in Colonia’s territory early on in the third. The brothers RB Anthony Roberts and QB Andrew Roberts lead the Mustangs while QB Kyle Moroney and RB Roemello Monroe anchor the Tigers attack. However, both teams also have other playmakers with JFK having Terrance Young, Ari King, and Brandon Wood while South Plainfield also has Kyle Dickerson and John ChillemiPrediction:  South Plainfield wins, 21-20.
Bishop Ahr (2-5) @ Woodbridge (2-5)–-After losing to Carteret (7-6) at home last Friday night, Bishop Ahr has lost all five of its games by a combined margin of 28 points this season. The Trojans have also only given up an average of 14 points per game. Meanwhile, Woodbridge has plummeted since opening the season at 2-0. The Barrons have been outscored by a margin of 181-35. David Holder, Tim Howard, Nelson Thomas, and Kaysaan Neal anchor the triple option attack while Mike Viggiano is a good target at wideout for Ahr. Meanwhile, the Barrons have Zahneer Shuler, Joe Maina, Joe Muzzio, Ryan Alcott, and Percy Martin-Ogunike making plays on offense. The Trojans are on the road where they have been 1-2, but Woodbridge is 1-2 at home.  Prediction:  Bishop Ahr wins, 20-7.
Marlboro (0-6) @ Perth Amboy (1-5)–Perth Amboy is riding high after its 39-13 win over New Brunswick last week that broke a 15 game losing streak. Marlboro is still searching for its first win of the season, and have been outscored by a margin of 208-50 so far this season. The Mustangs were shut out by 1-5 Freehold Township (12-0) and were soundly defeated by 1-5 Middletown North (41-12) two weeks ago. The Panthers are also playing at home, which will also help. Tristan Rock, Julio Medina, and Dennis Sutton lead the Amboy offensive attack, which is averaging 13 points per game, and had as many points in last weeks win over New Brunswick that they had in the previous five games combined. Â Prediction: Â Perth Amboy wins, 26-6.
East Brunswick (1-5) @ Edison (3-3)–Very important game for the Eagles. Not only are the Eagles trying to qualify for the playoffs for the second straight year, but they have a stretch of three winnable games against opponents with a combined record of 4-14 to close out the year. So, a 6-4 or better record is not out of the question. The high potent offense of the Eagles was shut out last week on the road at Old Bridge. Meanwhile, EB had its highest scoring output of the season to date in a 30-20 loss at home to J.P. Stevens. The Bears are led by Kevin Hemmings at QB and RB Jonathan Gerhartz. Meanwhile, EHS is led by QB James Waldron, RB Aqeel Daniels, and a stable of WRs in Kyle Boyer Tucker, Nick Wales, Joe Kim, and Donnell Wright. Eagles are also playing at home. Prediction: Â Edison wins, 31-7.
Monroe (5-2) @ J.P. Stevens (3-3)–The Falcons have dropped down a few notches in the Central Jersey Group V and GMC Red Division races, but still have a chance to put together a good run to finish out the season. Monroe will have to do it without the services of QB Stephen Karoly, who broke the wrist in his non-throwing hand in the heartbreaking loss at Old Bridge two weeks ago. Kyle Volkmann is a quality replacement though, and the Falcons still have RB Akeer Franklin and wideouts David Betancur and Cameron Coleman. MTHS also has a stout defense. J.P. Stevens has been playing better as of late with two wins in its last three games, but are 0-3 versus teams with .500 records or better this year. RB Chiebuka Chukwuneke leads the Hawks along with his brother and fellow RB Chris Chukwuneke. QB Ryan Schneider also gives JPS a threat in the passing game. Prediction: Â Monroe wins, 35-6.
North Brunswick (0-7) @ Piscataway (3-3)–The Chiefs are still in very good position to make the state playoffs and with a favorable schedule at home the next two weeks, P-Way should get in once again. Piscataway actually finishes the year with its final four games at home including last week’s 35-19 win over Monroe. Justin Strother filled in very well for P-Way at QB last week, and with Ladi Isijola and Tyrell Bush among a solid core of wideouts and freshman Elijah Barnwell running well out of the backfield along with Dajan Foat, expect the Chiefs to roll here against a North Brunswick team that will be looking to finish out the season. Prediction: Â Piscataway wins, 38-7.
St. Joseph’s (7-0) @ New Brunswick (0-7)–After giving up as many points to a previously winless Perth Amboy team that the Panthers had scored in the previous five games combined, it doesn’t bode well for New Brunswick, which has an ability to move the ball and score some points, but an inability to stop opposing offenses. Coming off a nice win at home over South Plainfield last week, St. Joseph’s will be looking to take advantage with RBs Matt Olivo, Andrew Cunningham, and Marques Townes. The Falcons are also getting solid play at QB from Rutgers Prep transfer Breein Tyree. Prediction: Â St. Joseph’s wins, 42-6.
Note: GMC Gridiron plans to see some of the freshmen game between Woodbridge and Bishop Ahr later this afternoon at The BGA, and then travel over to Bomber Stadium in the Parlin section of Sayreville to see the Bombers in action against South Brunswick in a very important game not only in the GMC Red, but also in Central Jersey Group V. Next week, GMC Gridiron plans to see two more freshmen games featuring the White Division as Kennedy hosts Carteret on November 7th and South Plainfield travels to Perth Amboy next Friday to play the Panthers. Then, in the varsity nightcap, there has been a change, and we will be at The Pit in Carteret to see the Ramblers take on JFK.