Joe Ascolese, the Watchung Hills football team's Offensive Coordinator who has spent nearly two decades on the program's staff over two stints, has been named the Warrriors' new head coach, following the recent departure of Rich Suebert. The move was approved Tuesday night by the Watchung Hills Regional High School Board of Education, according to Athletic Director Dan Root. Ascolese has been the team's OC since 2019, and also was with the program as an assistant from 2005 through 2015.

After retiring from football with the New York Giants in his mid-30s with a Super Bowl ring on his finger, Wisconsin native Rich Seubert and his family moved to California for a few years, where he coached a little football at the high school level. But eventually, he came back to the East Coast, returning to New Jersey, and started coaching the offensive line at Watchung Hills.

More than three dozen high school football players from Middlesex and Somerset Counties, along with several coaches, administrators, educators and officials were honored Sunday at the 55th annual awards dinner of the Bill Denny/Rutgers Football Letterwinners Chapter of the National Football/College Hall of Fame at the Pines Manor in Edison. The local chapter also awarded several scholarships, now having given out more than $380,000 in funds to deserving Middlesex and Somerset County Scholar-Athletes, over a span of nearly six decades.

Former Woodbridge standout Anthony Nyers is the new head coach of the JFK football program, after his hire was approved by the Woodbridge Board of Education last Thursday night. The Woodbridge Board of Ed oversees all three district high schools, including Kennedy, Colonia, and Woodbridge. Nyers had spent the past year working as the wide receivers' coach and Offensive Coordinator at Westfield under Matt Andzel, who just wrapped up his second season as the successor to Jim DeSarno.

High school football is at it again. According to a report out Thursday from Shore Sports Insider (formerly Shore Sports Network), the NJSIAA's Leagues and Conferences committee has recommended that the NJSIAA move back to snaking playoff brackets in each section, rather than splitting them up geographically. Snaked brackets are intended to "balance" them. In that process, when the top 16 in North and South in each group are determined, teams are placed into sections with, for example, the top overall seed in Central, then seeds 2 and 3 in South, then 4 and 5 in Central, 6 and 7 in South, and so on.

When John Hack took the head coaching job at Voorhees two years ago, he told his athletic director the only other job he'd ever take would be in the his own home district, where he and his family live, up at Mendham. Two years later, that's where he's headed. Hack was approved Monday night by the West Morris-Mendham Board of Education to be the new head football coach at Mendham, replacing Ethan Jeros, who was brought back following a 4-6 season.

It may be January, with the high school football season two months in the rearview mirror already, but there was plenty to talk about this week, and we dive into it on a special "offseason" edition of Gameday with Marcus Borden. On Thursday, February 5, Immaculata announced it was parting ways with head football coach Mike Columbo, and announced the hiring of alum Dallas Whitaker (IHS '11), along with Jeff Vanderbeek as football program director.

By the time the Q&A session cleared out, there they were: in their best suits, ready to take Immaculata football by storm. Dallas Whitaker, a 2011 graduate and two-time state champion playing for Peirce Frauenheim had already talked to the kids. "I came here for you," he told them. While that's very likely the case, it's also a little for him.

Dallas Whitaker will be back to coaching football in Somerville again, but this time, he won't be wearing orange and black. It'll be with the team wearing blue and white across town, at his alma mater, Immaculata. Multiple sources close to Whitaker confirmed the move, and an announcement and media availability is scheduled at the school late this afternoon, and Central Jersey Sports Radio will be there.

Andy Steinfeld played at East Brunswick for Marcus Borden, and coached there under him, then led the program now on his own. Last season was the first he spent with another program besides that of the Bears in three decades, working as an assistant under Chris Meagher, and alongside his son, Matt. Now, he's his son's boss. Andy Steinfeld was appointed as the tenth football coach in Spotswood history Tuesday night, when his hiring was approved by the Board of Education.

After three seasons leading the JFK football program, Mike Henderson handed in his resignation on Monday to spend more time with his family. Henderson confirmed the news to Central Jersey Sports Radio this week, saying it was a "difficult decision to make," but says he has two young children at home - two years old and nine months - and says he "didn't want to be absent for either responsibility," family or coaching.

Another year behind us. They seem to go faster and faster these days. Can anyone believe that Central Jersey Sports Radio will be finishing up its sixth season of covering high school sports this June when baseball packs it in? And we started this thing in the middle (July) of the pandemic? Pretty bold move, but then hey, there were limits on fans at football games, and basketball games didn't see fans beyond parents until later in that shortened season.

The Maxwell Football Club is out again with its top players from across the region - in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware - announcing "Mini Max" winners from each state. And out of the 55 selected from the Garden State, ten come from the Big Central Conference, three more than a year ago. The student-athletes are nominated by their coaches, and are evaluated based not just on their football skills, but also academics and community service.

With New Jersey no longer holding the Tournament of Champions - which the NJSIAA did away with for the 2022-23 season - we still miss it. And you probably do, too. Well, we're bringing it back. Again. For the second year in a row, we're holding our own Tournament of Champions. We're letting you, the fans, vote in our Tournament of Champions poll.

The New Jersey Football Coaches Association has come out with the 2025 edition of its "Super 100" All-State team, with nearly two dozen Big Central Conference standouts being honored. The NJFCA Super 100 is chosen by coaches among its members, and 25 are recognized in each of four sections - Central, South, North 1 and North 2 - with non-publics included as well.

With the 2025 Central Jersey Sports Radio Big Central Awards Show in the books, we decided to take a look back at all the award winners we've had in the show's six years. So far, we've honored 111 different players and 34 of the Big Central's 59 teams, and that's not even counting all the Honorable Mentions in the various categories.

Everyone knows the Phillipsburg mystique, but Frank Duffy prefers to call it "the standard." The measuring stick by which all Stateliner teams are judged. That stick has 758 marks on it, one for every win the program has, the most in New Jersey history, spread across 120 years of football that sometimes has taken them to Pennsylvania, more often here at home in the Garden State, and - like next year - will see a mix of Pennsy and Jersey schools on the schedule.

As always, there were tons of great performances across the Big Central during the 202 high school football season, and it's not always easy choosing the Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week Award. But, of course, thanks to Central Jersey Sports Radio founding sponsor Joe Bellamy - without whom none of this would be possible - somehow, we figure it out.