Westfield keeps it in-house, names ’02 alum Matt Andzel new Blue Devils’ football coach
With longtime football coach Jim DeSarno stepping off the football field and into administration – taking over for the retiring Sandra Mamary in June to be Westfield’s next Athletic Director – the Blue Devils have a new head coach. DeSarno has decided to keep things in-house in naming Matt Andzel as the 13th head coach in the storied Westfield program’s history. Andzel has been the defensive line coach for Westfield, spending the past eleven seasons under DeSarno, and also played for the Blue Devils under Ed Tranchina from 1999-2001. Despite the late date of the higher, having someone inside the…
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by Mike Pavlichko
WATCH: Video from the halftime ceremony at inaugural Shaun O’Hara Senior Bowl honors Hillsborough legends Otto Gsell, Rocky Forte
When top senior football players took the field one last time as high school student-athletes in the inaugural Shaun O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl Wednesday night, the game was replete with dedications and references to a pair of Hillsborough greats. Shaun O’Hara is, of course, one of them. O’Hara starred for Rick Mantz at Hillsborough, then walked on to Rutgers, eventually playing for the New York Giants and winning a Super Bowl with Rich Seubert, who was one of the head coaches in the game. Seubert led Team Otto, which won 21-7 over Team Rocky. The names were meant to honor…
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by Mike Pavlichko
Swercheck approved by Middlesex Board of Ed to replace McGuane as Blue Jays football coach, following cancer diagnosis
This one’s not part of the coaching carousel that’s already been in motion, from Woodbridge to South Brunswick to Roselle, but it may have started a new one. Robert Swercheck has been named the new head football coach at Middlesex High School, coming over from Scotch Plains-Fanwood. His hiring was approved Wednesday evening by the Board of Education. He takes over for Phlip McGuane, who was 11-8 in his two years at Middlesex. McGuane, however, was recently diagnosed with cancer, and Athletic Director Mike O’Donnell says though he’s feeling fine, McGuane didn’t know how he would respond to potential treatments…
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by Mike Pavlichko
Team Rocky tops Team Otto 21-7 in inaugural Shaun O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl
Two seniors from one of Hillsborough’s biggest rivals, Bridgewater-Raritan, made it count in their final game as high school students, and they did it on the Raiders’ field. Of course, it was all fun and games. There were no kickoffs, no power points or division titles at stake. It was all to benefit the Shaun O’Hara Foundation, which resurrected the now-defunct Basilone Bowl after a year off, raising money for the foundation and its support of children and their families dealing with cystic fibrosis. Click below to see Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk to former Rutgers standout and…
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by Mike Pavlichko
One last ride: Top Somerset, Hunterdon senior football players to clash in inaugural Shaun O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl
67 football players, 13 cheerleaders, all seniors. All will take to a high school football field one more time Wednesday night, as the top seniors from Somerset and Hunterdon Counties will square off in a brand-new all-star game: the Shaun O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl. The idea came about a year earlier, after the absence of the Basilone Bowl, which had been a big event over the years to benefit wounded soldiers and their families. The financial realities of the post-COVID world caught up with the game – which began in 2013 – and with an inability to raise enough money,…
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by Mike Pavlichko
Roselle’s Ibrahim Halsey prepping to take over as new South Brunswick football coach
The coaching carousel continues in the Big Central Conference. South Brunswick Athletic Director CJ Hendricks has recommended Ibrahim Halsey as the Vikings new head football coach, with his approval scheduled for a vote by the Board of Education at its June 13th meeting. Halsey spent the last three years as head coach at Roselle, leading the Rams to a 17-16 record in that span, with an 8-4 mark in 2022 being the high point. He takes over for Joe Goerge, who took the Woodbridge job after Joe LaSala stepped down as head coach of the Barrons in late March. Halsey…
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by Mike Pavlichko
After 11 seasons at Union, Lou Grasso steps down to take AD job at Colonia
Union head coach Lou Grasso has stepped down as head coach of the Farmers’ football program after eleven seasons, making the announcement on the team’s Twitter page Friday afternoon. Grasso will take over as Director of Athletics at Colonia High School, after being approved by the Woodbridge Board of Education Thursday night, as confirmed by the district office to Central Jersey Sports Radio. He’ll take over from Ben LaSala, who retired from coaching the Patriots in 2013 and has been in the position since. Grasso has been the head coach at Union since 2013, compiling a 67-49 record, with his…
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by Mike Pavlichko
Big Central football standouts from Somerset, Hunterdon Counties to star in inaugural Shaun O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl
The COVID-19 pandemic affected all walks of life around the globe, and the high school football senior all-star game lineup was no exception. It created unique challenges after a couple of seasons of not being able to play at all, to having limited participation when games like the Marisa Rose Bowl and Basilone Bowl did return. But this year, a new game has appeared: the Shaun O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl, to be played at Hillsborough High School on Wednesday, June 15. It’ll feature graduating seniors from Big Central teams in Somerset and Hunterdon Counties. Rick Mantz, former Hillsborough standout player…
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by Mike Pavlichko
Joe Goerge departs South Brunswick, is approved as new Woodbridge football coach
After two seasons in a second stint at South Brunswick, Joe Goerge is heading up the Turnpike to become the next head coach of the Woodbridge football program. The veteran mentor’s hire was approved by the Woodbridge Board of Education Thursday night. The 69-year-old Goerge takes over from Joe LaSala, who handed in his resignation on March 26th after six seasons where the Barrons went 37-20, with a trip to the North 1, Group 4 title game in 2019. Goerge led the Vikings to unprecedented success in his first go-round in Monmouth Junction, a seven-year tenure that ran from 2012…
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by Mike Pavlichko
Measures in the state legislature would offer protections, pensions for high school coaches
Contrary to popular belief, the high school football coach at (inset your favorite school here) is not striking it rich. Quite the contrary. Not only that, but unlike teachers in a district, they have no protection from the whims anyone in charge. There’s no “tenure” for a high school baseball coach. On average, New Jersey State Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D-Paterson) says high school football coaches make about $9,000 a year. If you broke that down by game for a team that plays ten games, that’s $900 a week for ten weeks. That’s not bad if that was all they did.…
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by Mike Pavlichko
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