2015 GMC Gridiron Game Capsules–Week Two–Friday Night

Week Two Opens With 11 Games on Friday

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Friday evening, week two of the 2015 Greater Middlesex Conference football regular season will begin with a big slate of 11 games.  Key match-ups include:  St. Joseph’s traveling to Red Bank Catholic for a clash of Non-Public schools, Edison hosting Old Bridge at The Drawl in a Red Division clash of two Top 10 teams in the MyCentralJersey.com latest poll, Woodbridge hosting Bishop Ahr in a GMC White clash that will be the featured game this week for GMC Gridiron, and in a key early season GMC vs. Shore Clash, Middlesex travels to Point Pleasant Beach.  Below are brief game capsules on the contests:

Bishop Ahr (0-1) at Woodbridge (1-0)–The BGA showed some fight in its 32-18 season opening loss at Colonia.  The Trojans actually jumped out to a 12-0 lead early on before the defending White Division Champion, Patriots finished the game on a 32-6 run for the win.  Woodbridge opened its season in fine style with a solid 28-6 victory over arch rival, Carteret.  Last year, these two teams met in Week 2 at Ahr with the Trojans hanging on for a one point win.  The Barrons should win playing at home in the refurbished friendly confines of Priscoe Field.  Prediction:  Woodbridge wins, 24-6.

Colonia (1-0) at J.F. Kennedy (0-1)–The Patriots got a little more than it bargained for against an upstart Bishop Ahr team at home, but proved the mettle of a champion with a come from behind win by two touchdowns.  Meanwhile, Kennedy battled New Brunswick at Bartha Field for the better part of two and a half quarters before the Zebras scored 21 unanswered points over a span of just under 12 minutes to pull away for the 42-21 victory.  Colonia has dominated this neighborhood rivalry in recent years with three straight double digit wins including a 28-18 victory over the Mustangs in the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV semifinals last year.  Prediction:  Colonia wins 35-17.

St. Joseph’s (0-1) at Red Bank Catholic (1-0)–After losing in surprising fashion on the road at South Plainfield last week, the Falcons of St. Joseph’s, which were ranked fifth in the MyCentralJersey.com pre-season Top 10, now have the difficult task of traveling down to Count Basie Field in Red Bank, and knocking off the defending Non-Public Group III champion Caseys of RBC.  Red Bank Catholic is coming off a 28-0 victory over Long Branch on opening night, and should be too tough for the Falcons.  Prediction:  Red Bank Catholic wins, 35-14.

Old Bridge (1-0) at Edison (1-0)–For the first time in a couple seasons, the Edison Eagles are ranked in the Top 10 after knocking off Monroe Township, which was ranked 9th in the pre-season according to MyCentralJersey.com.  Old Bridge, currently ranked third, has been one of the top four tier teams in the GMC Red for a number of seasons now.  It will be a battle between two talented young quarterbacks with Old Bridge’s Art Sitkowski, who has already garnered interest from Rutgers and Maryland, and Edison’s Haaziq Daniels, who has been putting up big numbers and making big plays since his debut against crosstown rival, J.P. Stevens last Thanksgiving.  It should be an entertaining night at The Drawl, but OB gets the edge here.  Prediction:  Old Brigde wins, 24-23.

Middlesex (1-0) at Point Pleasant Beach (1-0)–Revenge will be on the minds of the Garnet Gulls, which lost at Middlesex last season during week two in a surprising early season upset.  However, it was only the beginning as the GMC Blue took it to the Shore’s Class B Central Division last year.  Both teams are coming off opening weekend wins with the Blue Jays pulling away from Highland Park for a 27-12 victory while Point Beach had a more difficult task of downing rival, Asbury Park in overtime (13-6).  The Gulls are playing at home in the friendly confines of Antrim Field, and that should give them a slight edge.  Prediction:  Point Beach wins, 18-14.

Keansburg (0-1) at Highland Park (0-1)–Last year when these two teams met in Week 2, Highland Park nearly pulled off a dramatic last second victory, but a pass in the end zone was knocked away as the Titans survived.  Both teams come in to this contest coming off opening weekend losses.  Highland Park lost on the road to Middlesex in a GMC Blue clash while Keansburg lost handily to a Mater Dei program that has been on the rise over the past several years.  The Owls, which one only one game last year, are looking to get the W early this year.  Og Nwadike, Dylan Boynton, Nasir Boykins, Noah Pointer, and Ryan O’Shea should have the experience to prevail here.  Prediction:  Highland Park wins 27-22.

Monroe (0-1) at Piscataway (6-4)–The Falcons of Monroe took one on the chin last week in an upset loss to Edison.  Now, MTHS faces the daunting task of taking on second ranked Piscataway at Ciardi Field.  The Chiefs are coming off an opening night win at East Brunswick (42-7).  Since moving up to the Red Division, Monroe only has one win against the Power 4 teams in the division:  South Brunswick, Piscataway, Sayreville, and Old Bridge, and that was a forfeit win from the Bombers last season.  With the likes of Danny Haus, Kamal Stewart, Elijah Barnwell, and Zaire Ashley, P-Way has too many weapons.  Prediction:  Piscataway wins 38-14.

Sayreville (1-0) at North Brunswick (0-1)–Coming off a solid opening night win over J.P. Stevens on a special night for Sayreville football, the Bombers will now look to notch a second straight win to start the season when they travel to Libro Field in North Brunswick to take on the Raiders.  NBTHS lost to Old Bridge on opening night by the score of 27-6 at Lombardi Field in OB.  Sayreville will try not to look ahead to its Week 3 showdown with Manalapan in Bomber Country next Friday night, but with the likes of QB Jayson DeMild and other weapons such a tall wideout, Jahsim Floyd, Michael Liberti, and Coray Williams, the Bombers should get the win  Prediction:  Sayreville wins, 31-6.

New Brunswick (1-0) at South Plainfield (1-0)–This could be one of the interesting match-ups of the week as the Zebras, ranked in the Top 10, travel to Jost Field in Tigertown to take on the upstart Tigers, who are coming off an opening night upset of then 5th ranked St. Joseph’s.  South Plainfield’s Jason Lee earned Player of the Week Honors with his all around performance to lead SPHS to the 29-7 victory.  New Brunswick will try to counter with Maurice Ffrench and Samad Davila.  Tigers have the momentum and the home field, and are looking to avenge last year’s upset loss to the Zebras in the Hub City.  Prediction:   South Plainfield wins, 27-13.

J.P. Stevens (0-1) at South Brunswick (1-0)–It is not a good week for Stevens to take the trip down Route 1 South to Monmouth Junction to face the top ranked Vikings.  Coming off a loss at home to state ranked Middletown South in the season opener, the Vikes will be looking to rebound and get a lot of frustrations out.  Phil Campbell, Mo Jabbie, Josh Liao, and Trevon Blakey will be leading the offense while Chrisjon Summers and Rich Hoff will anchor the SBHS defense.  Stevens will be led by the versatile Jay’von Blackwell.  Prediction:  South Brunswick wins, 38-6.

Long Branch (0-1) at Carteret (1-0)–These two teams will be meeting for the fourth time in the past three seasons.  The last time these squads met, Carteret avenged a regular season loss in Week 2 with a CJ Group II semifinal playoff victory at Long Branch.  Both teams were hit by graduation, and took hard losses on opening night.  Long Branch lost to Non-Public Group III defending champion, Red Bank Catholic (28-0) while Carteret was defeated on the road at Woodbridge (28-6).  Hard to tell which team will win here.  The Ramblers need a victory to get back up to .500, especially with a road game looming at New Brunswick next week.  Prediction:  Carteret wins, 13-12.

GMC Gridiron will be at Priscoe Field in Woodbridge for the GMC White clash between the Barrons of WHS and Bishop Ahr.