GMC Gridiron Game Capsules–Week Nine–Friday Night

Only Seven Games on the Schedule for Friday Night Lights

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Friday night, the final week of regular season play commences with seven games on the GMC Gridiron.  We will be over at Frank R. Jost Memorial Field in South Plainfield to see the Tigers in action against White Division leading Colonia.  Meanwhile, there are several other games with playoff implications including Woodbridge at J.F. Kennedy, Old Bridge at Piscataway, and Monroe at East Brunswick.  Below are game capsules with predictions on the seven contests:

Colonia (8-0) at South Plainfield (2-5)–Colonia has rolled through the GMC White schedule this season.  Meanwhile, South Plainfield has struggled, and is looking to salvage its season by winning its last two games.  The Tigers inexplicably lost to previously winless Perth Amboy at home last week (12-10).  South Plainfield also lost to New Brunswick in Week #2.  Colonia defeated both of those teams by a combined total of 85-42.  The Patriots have beaten all of its GMC White opponents by at least two scores this season.  The only team that has come close to beating the Pats was Matawan (CHS won 10-7).  Colonia, which also defeated SPHS at Jost Field last year (24-21),  has won the last five meetings between these two schools. South Plainfield is 2-1 at home this season.  The Pats are led by QB Tenny Adewusi, RB Sam Pero, RB Pharoah Napoleon, Chase Barneys, Bryce Barneys, Jodrell Thompson, J.J. Corbett, and Brandon Haines.  The Tigers are led by junior QB Patrick Waldrop, RB Zaire Cone, WRs Kyle Dickerson and John Chillemi, and TE Jason Lee.  Colonia will get the win here.  Prediction:  Colonia wins, 42-21.

Woodbridge (5-3) at J.F. Kennedy (6-2)–Last year, these two teams met at Kennedy, and the Mustangs rolled over a reeling Woodbridge squad.  This year, these two teams match-up in what could be one of the better, if not the best game in Week 9.   Both teams enter the contest playing very well.  The Barrons have won 5 of 6 since losing their first two games.  Both of those early losses were by a combined total of 8 points.  JFK has also won 5 of its last 6 including four straight since an October 3rd loss at home to St. Joseph’s (14-0).  The Mustangs are also 4-1 on the friendly confines of their new field turf stadium.  Meanwhile, Woodbridge is 1-3 on the road.  Kennedy has lost to Joes 14-0 while Woodbridge has beaten the Falcons 14-7.  The Mustangs downed Carteret last week (23-13) while the Barrons lost to the Ramblers on opening night (14-7).  Woodbridge QB Tracey Fudge will match-up nicely against Kennedy QB and Player of the Week, Andrew Roberts.  WHS Basketball standouts Quassim Glover, Keshaun Henry, Zaire Robinson, and Zahneer Shuler will battle JFK hoops standouts Terrance Young, Stepp Ozgiebe, and Andrew Allen.  Should be a good one.  Kennedy gets our pick.  Prediction:  J.F. Kennedy wins, 27-24.

Old Bridge (5-2) at Piscataway (6-1)–After suffering its first loss of the season last week at Ciardi Field against undefeated South Brunswick, the Piscataway Chiefs will try to rebound when they take on Old Bridge at home on Friday night.  The Knights are coming off a hard fought win on the road at Monroe.  Old Bridge had a two week bye prior to last Friday’s game while the Chiefs were coming off a bye entering its game against South Brunswick.  So both teams have had some rest recently, which should benefit them here, and when the state playoffs get underway next week.  Old Bridge QB Mike Gargano has found ways to win games with both his arm and his feet while P-Way QB Danny Haus is a talented sophomore directing the Chiefs.  Jake Esposito and Nick Sodano have been leading the Knights running attack in the absence of RB Myles Williams, who was injured in a week three contest at South Brunswick.  P-Way’s running attack is spearheaded by the trio of Elijah Barnwell, Elijah Pierson, and Tyrell Bush.  Esposito and Bush are also threats in the passing game.  Dante Whipple can make big plays on both sides of the ball for Old Bridge while Elorm Lumor anchors the P-Way defense.  Ed Mish provides a solid kicking game for the Knights.  Piscataway should rebound at home.  Prediction:  Piscataway wins, 24-10.

Monroe (5-3) at East Brunswick (4-3)–After starting the season at 1-3 with the three losses coming by a combined total of 128-22, the EB Bears have rebounded with three straight wins including victories over Stevens and Marlboro, where they scored an average of 32.5 points per game.  Meanwhile, the Falcons have staggered to the finish line with two tough losses at home to South Brunswick (20-17) on October 17th, and Old Bridge (28-21).  A win here will give a much needed boost for either squad entering the state playoffs.  Both of these teams will play in CJ Group V.  Monroe has lost its three games this season by a combined total of just 20 points.  The Falcons are led by QB Stephen Karoly and RB Akeer Franklin.  MTHS also has fine targets in its passing game out of the spread offense with WRs Chase Santiago and David Matel-Okoh along with TE Cameron Coleman.  Adam Darwish can make big plays on defense while Josh Wood provides a solid kicking game.  East Brunswick will counter with QB Kevin Hemmings, WR Sean O’Sullivan, and FB Sam Walker.  Both teams had competitive games against J.P. Stevens with the Falcons winning at JPS (28-27) in Week 3 while EB defeated the Hawks (30-26) in Week 6.  The Falcons did beat North Brunswick handily (36-6) while the Raiders blew out EB (40-13).  Monroe should get back on track here.  Prediction:  Monroe wins 31-17.

Perth Amboy (1-6) at Bishop Ahr (3-4)–This game features two teams going in opposite directions right now.  Perth Amboy is coming off its first win in nearly two years while Bishop Ahr had a bye after losing three straight.  The Panthers, led by Tristan Rock and Larry Johnson upset South Plainfield at Jost Field last week (12-10), and were more competitive in losses to New Brunswick (14-7) and J.F. Kennedy (21-0).  On the other hand, Ahr, which was 3-1 at one point in the season, has fallen on tough times with the three defeats coming by a combined score of 96-29.  The Trojans, however, are 2-2 at home while Amboy is 1-2 on the road.  Bishop Ahr is led by QB/LB David Holder while Tim Thomas leads the ground attack at RB.  Marcus Trotman is one of two standout receivers and Tommy Galante is a promising sophomore.  Amboy will give the BGA a fight, but the Trojans should prevail.  Prediction:  Bishop Ahr wins, 17-13.

St. Joseph’s (2-5) at New Brunswick (3-5)–This game could actually be a very competitive one.  Since starting the season at 0-2, St. Joe’s has been in every game except one, a 41-10 loss to Colonia on October 24th.  The Falcons shut out J.F. Kennedy a little over a month ago, and have pushed Carteret (lost 17-14 in OT) and Woodbridge (lost 14-7) to the limit before losing over the last three weeks.  Joes did suffer a loss with Javon Hicks going down recently with an injury, but the Falcons still have Breein Tyree and Nick Krimin.  New Brunswick took some lumps last week against GMC White leading Colonia, but still have a chance to finish its campaign on a positive note with two wins to reach .500 for the first time since the 2008 season.  The Zebras have made strides under first year head coach, Dan Sofilkanich, and have recent wins over Perth Amboy (14-7) and Freehold Township (27-21) to prove it.  NBHS is led by QB Trevon Blakey and RB Maurice Ffrench while Samad Davila, Carlos Hernandez, Emmanuel Osei, and Nadir Whitten also contribute.  The Falcons should prevail in a close one.  Prediction:  St. Joseph’s wins, 20-17.

Marlboro (0-8) at J.P. Stevens (0-7)–Something has got to give here with both teams coming in winless.  Stevens has been the more competitive of the two teams though.  The Hawks have battled with top GMC Red teams Monroe (lost 28-27) and Old Bridge (17-6) while losing a close one to an East Brunswick team (30-26) that rolled past the Mustangs a couple weeks ago (35-12).  JPS has some good players on the offensive side of the ball with RBs Chris Chukwuneke and Deandre Perkins along with WR Francois Ballou.  The Hawks squandered a couple red zone appearances with turnovers in another tough loss at home a couple weeks ago to North Brunswick (13-7).  If Stevens can take care of the football and take advantage of red zone opportunities, it should win easily here.  Prediction:  J.P. Stevens wins, 28-0.

GMC Gridiron is going to take in some of the freshmen game between Stevens and Marlboro while also featuring Piscataway and Old Bridge in its Freshmen Game of the Week.  Then, it will watch South Plainfield host Colonia in a GMC White varsity tilt from Frank R. Jost Memorial Field in Tigertown on Friday night.