Cheers to these following players who were instrumental in guiding their teams to NJSIAA sectional football playoff state championships this past weekend.
Middletown South High School completed a perfect 12-0 season with a 35-7 pasting of Phillipsburg in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section II, Group IV championship game played Dec. 5 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. Phillipsburg had won the last two sectional titles.
The Rogers brothers, Cole and Dylan, played big roles for the Eagles. Running back Cole ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns while linebacker Dylan spearheaded the Eagles’ defense with 4.5 sacks.
Jackson Memorial’s Mike Gawlik ran for 208 yards and three touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass to Kyle Johnson for another as the Jaguars rolled to their second consecutive NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group IV championship. Jackson defeated Brick Memorial, 42-14, in the sectional final played at Rutgers University’s Highpoint Solutions Stadium on Dec. 5.
Mohamed Jabbie provided the exclamation point for the South Brunswick High School football team’s defense when he returned a pass interception 31 yards for a touchdown. The Viking defense pitched a shutout as South Brunswick won the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group V championship, 42-0, over Old Bridge. The final was played at Rutgers University’s Highpoint Solutions Stadium on Dec. 5.
Raritan High school quarterback Marc Carnivale delivered a fourth-down pass to Nick Pasquin for an 11-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left in the game to lift the Rockets to a stunning 28-26 triumph over top-seed Lincoln in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group II final played at Kean University on Dec. 5.
Running back Derek Ernst ran for 144 yards and two scores for the Rockets in the upset.
Raritan entered the state playoffs with a 3-5 record. But, four straight victories to end the season gave the Rockets a 7-5 record and the Central Jersey, Group II title, the program’s first since 2004.
Mike Ruane registered a team-high nine tackles for Rumson-Fair Haven, leading a defensive effort that shut down previously undefeated Red Bank Regional in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III final. The Bulldogs captured their third straight sectional title with their 21-0 triumph at Rutgers University’s Highpoint Solutions Stadium on Dec. 5.
Doug Goldsmith ran for 243 yards and three touchdowns and Jack Britton added 191 yards and a score as Shore Regional pounded out 500 yards on ground capping an undefeated season with a 56-28 victory of Palmyra in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group I final played at Kean University on Dec. 5.
The win stretched the Blue Devils, 12-0, two-year winning streak to 20 straight and gave them a second straight Central Jersey, Group I championship.
In St. John Vianney’s 40-17 loss to DePaul Catholic in the Non-Public Group III final a Rutgers on Dec. 5, Chris Chukwuneke led all defensive players with 15 total tackles including 12 solo stops.
SJV finished the 2015 season with an 11-1 record.
