A tight game through the first 24 minutes, the final 24 belonged to Roselle Park. The Panthers topped the Roselle Rams at home, 41-19, in the final Thanksgiving meeting between the two teams, the 106th game between the two schools. Roselle Park (6-4) never trailed in the game, with Anthony Cianfrocca scoring twice on touchdown runs in the first half. The first came from 21 yards out and gave him team a 7-0 lead with 5:26 to go in the opening quarter.

“We’re getting zero help from anybody,” said one former employee.

Second-seed Bound Brook got 17 points and 16 steals from state steals leader and freshman sensation Peytan Pugh in a 62-41 home win over 6th-seed Roselle Park in the Central Jersey Group 1 semifinals, sending the Crusaders to their first sectional championship since 2020. Click below to listen to Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from Bound Brook High School on March 4, 2026.

The task was a tall one. Bernards knew that coming in. The 7th-ranked Mountaineer girls basketball team was a perfect 10-for-10 in 2025-26 heading into Saturday afternoon's non-conference home game with Roselle Park and the state's top scorer, Sidney Smith. And it would be a good test against a solid squad not from their league, a chance to see how they stacked up.

There are the offensive numbers, and the defensive numbers. Then, there are the intangibles. Logan Stevens has all of them. He's the Central Jersey Sports Radio Two-Way Player of the Year, getting it done all over the field. It was another outstanding year for Stevens, who ran it 125 times for 1,100 yards even and 14 touchdowns, including five multiple touchdown games, one of which came in the playoffs.

Thanksgiving is here, but once that's done, that's it for Big Central football in 2025, and Mike Pavlichko takes a look back on this week's edition of "The Big Central in 2 Minutes!" On this week's episode, Mike looks back at tough state semifinal losses for Phillipsburg and Bridgewater-Raritan, while teasing the Stateliners' game against Easton on Turkey Day, and the final Thanksgiving Day game between Roselle and Roselle Park - of which, …

There were 13 high school football games Thursday night, but only seven playoff-eligible games (Ivy Divisions in the Super Football Conference aren't playoff-eligible). Those games didn't have a big impact on the standings, but when combined with the rest of the results to come in Friday and Saturday, they could have some real sway in who makes the postseason and who doesn't.

In a Big Central Conference Freedom Gold Division matchup, Anthony Cianfrocca and Nasir Cheston each scored twice to power Roselle Park to a 35-12 road win over the Highland Park Owls. Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau call all the play-by-play live from Jay Dakelman Field at Joseph Policastro Stadium in Highland Park, NJ, October 10, 2025: 1st Half 2nd Half

Two long drives told the story of this game, Roselle Park's first of each half. The Wing-T is difficult enough to defend, but when you have strong runningbacks that are tough to bring down, that makes it even tougher. Three of those backs were on display Friday night for the Panthers in a 35-20 win at Highland Park, the "Big Central Game of the Week" presented by Bellamy & Son Paving on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Friday night, when Roselle Park travels to Highland Park for a Big Central Conference Freedom Division game, both certainly need a win. But the effect on the playoff race for both teams will be markedly different. Their records aren't much different. The Owls are 2-3, with the Panthers are 3-2. But Roselle Park - despite the better record - is sitting at 24th place in the North Group 1 supersection, eight spots out of a playoff berth.

A big focus in preseason camp for Roselle Park in 2025 will be making sure the Panthers' line play is secure. Both sides of the ball have seen some key graduation losses, but head coach Greg Dunkerton figures if they can get that group set, the return of some key skill players will allow them to flourish. One of those who will see an increased role this year will be Mike Aguanno, who had a bit part in the offense a year ago, with just four carries and one catch.

Our final two divisions to preview in the Big Central Conference are the Freedom Divisions, a pair of six-team groupings including some of the smallest schools in the league. The Freedom Gold defending champion is Spotswood, which was 8-2 a year ago, but lost a big senior group. North Brunswick transfer Se'mir Tolbert-Brimage will take over at quarterback. Brearley and Roselle Park are expected to challenge.

Since we worked our way from the Group 5 schools down to the Group 1 last year, Central Jersey Sports Radio will start our 2025 division previews with the some small school love, beginning with the Freedom Gold and Silver, then the Patriot, and running all the way up to the Group 5 divisions. In the Freedom Gold, Spotswood is coming off its second straight 8-2 season, and second straight division title under head coach Chris Meagher, whose team should again, at the very least, compete for the title.

Based on recent success, Spotswood's sweep of the Freedom Gold Division in 2024 didn't come as a shock to anyone who follows Big Central Football, but boy was Highland Park a pleasant surprise after breaking the state's longest active losing streak of 51 games in 2023. The Owls finished second in the six team division, going 6-3 overall, 4-1 in the division - their only loss to the Chargers - en route to their best season since going 6-4 in 2016, the last time they'd won a game until they closed their season two years ago with…