Arthur L. Johnson High School

High School football is here!  Jersey Sports Zone kicks off our 2018 coverage with great action from all around the state from Thursday’s openers.  Here’s a preview of our coverage and just scroll down below to watch all of our games Hillsborough 27 Colonia 25 The Hillsborough Raiders staved off a fourth-quarter comeback from Colonia thanks to a game-winning 38-yard field goal from Franklin Wasserman, a former soccer player playing in his first varsity football game, as time expired in regulation. JSZ’s Jay Cook was in Colonia to capture this special moment: West Orange 26 Montclair 19 | Dorian Rawls 3 INTs, 2 TDs | Week 0 Highlights After a disappointing season in 2017, the West Orange Mountaineers felt they had something to prove this season and today was a good start. Though the Montclair shutout West Orange 16-0 in the first half, the Mountaineers came storming back in the second. Dorian Rawls had three interceptions and two touchdowns, while Shakhi Carson rushed for over 100 yards. Talk about a comeback. Check out full highlights of this exciting game now: North Brunswick 9 St. Joe-Metuchen 7 Aaron Ahr’s 33-yard field goal in the fourth quarter proved to be the game winner as the Raiders used outstanding defense to end a 19 game regular season win streak by the Falcons.  Following a scoreless half, North Brunswick got on the board with an 11 yard TD catch by Chris Arnold.  Saint Joe-Metuchen took the lead early in the fourth on a 2 yard TD run by Brian Reilly.  After Ahr’s field goal, the Raiders defense buckled down to secure a signature win.  Watch JSZ’s highlights and post-game reaction: Governor Livingston 21 AL Johnson 14 Jake Faulkner’s 91 yard TD catch from Dylan Dwyer with three minutes remaining was the difference in the Highlanders come from behind win in their home opener.  Sebastian Iakouchevitch had a 29 carry, 186 yard, 2 TD performance in a losing effort.  Trailing 7-0 at the half, Noah Truncale came up with two key turnovers in the third quarter as Governor Livingston took a 13-7 lead in the 4th quarter on a Jayson Schmidt 9-yard run.  Iakouchevitch put the Crusaders in front 14-13 after an 18 yard gallop, but Governor Livingston’s huge play from Dwyer and Faulkner sealed a win for the home team.  Watch the highlights and post-game reaction from a great opener in Berkeley Heights: Holy Cross 29 Gloucester Catholic 19  In their first sporting event since reopening independently, Holy Cross Prep Academy took down Gloucester Catholic, 29-19. A game that started in favor of GC switched momentum thanks to some big plays from quarterback Andrew Paolini and fullback Jack Fusco. With a 10 point lead late in the fourth the Lancers made a huge stop to eventually put the game away. JSZ’s Nery Rodriguez was there for all the action: Jersey Sports Zone’s coverage of Gloucester Catholic is made possible by NJM Insurance. We’re so excited to have NJM Insurance sponsor six South Jersey schools this season as well as our South Jersey Game Balls. Thanks to NJM, we’ll have more great highlights and features from South Jersey in all sports! Mater Dei Prep 41 Pinelands 8 Mater Dei Prep is on a mission in 2018. Even without their starting quarterback Rob McCoy, the Seraphs still managed to put up 41 points against new divisional opponent Pinelands Regional. JSZ’s Jay Cook has highlights from the 41-8 win in Middletown: Cinnaminson 34 Cherry Hill West 13 After falling to Haddonfield in the South Group 2 playoffs Cinnaminson kicked off 2018 with an exciting 34-13 victory over Cherry Hill West. The Pirates were led by Rashad Raymond who finished the day with 238 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns. Watch the highlights:  Jersey Sports Zone’s coverage of Cinnaminson is made possible by NJM Insurance. We’re so excited to have NJM Insurance sponsor six South Jersey schools this season as well as our South Jersey Game Balls. Thanks to NJM, we’ll have more great highlights and features from South Jersey in all sports! Voorhees 26 Plainfield 12 George Eberle ran for three TD’s and passed for another as Voorhees overcame an early 6-0 deficit to post an impressive home opening win.   Watch the highlights and JSZ’s Madison Bess talking to the Vikings signal caller about his solid opening night effort:

Each week JSZ will bring you ten nominations, both baseball & softball, for our weekly Mid-State Game Ball Award. These nominations are composed of athletes who had top, player of the week-worthy, performances across the Mid-State. Vote for your favorite athlete now, and this week’s winner will be awarded a JSZ Game Ball & Game Ball Ceremony. (Polls close Tuesday at 3PM) Baseball Poll Take Our Poll Softball Poll Take Our Poll Reminder! You can always nominate a deserving player for a Game Ball! Just email Courtney DuPont (courtney@jerseysportszone.com) with the following information: The player’s Name The player’s School The game/date played this week The player’s stats for that game

The number 2 seed, Johnson, took on the Ewing Blue Devils, 10th seed, in the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA Girls Soccer State Tournament. It was a back and forth battle as most of the game resided in a 1-1 tie, but late in the second half Johnson pulled out a 2-1 lead and held on for the win. Goal scorers today for the Crusaders were Kylee Zawaki & Gionna Nigro. Check out full highlights and postgame interviews brought to you by JSZ’s Mid-State rep, Courtney DuPont: Johnson will play next Monday against the Bernard Mountaineers in the NJSAII Semifinals Sponsor Alert!  Thanks to Princeton Orthopaedic Associates for sponsoring our Ewing High School coverage on Jersey Sports Zone. Because of Princeton Orthopaedic Associates, we’ll get many more great moments from Blue Devil sports all year long!  

Each week, JSZ’s Courtney DuPont posts ten nominees from outstanding performances from the Mid-State 38 and Western NJ.  Voting is open now through Tuesday at 3:00 pm.  The winner of the poll will get a JSZ Game Ball presented during a mid-week practice with his teammates. Take Our Poll Last Week’s Game Ball Winner from Courtney DuPont Coaches: You can nominate your top performer every week.  Just drop a line to courtney@jerseysportszone.com no later than Saturday evening and we’ll nominate your player. Take Our Poll

Union 27 Middlesex 14 A 60 minute lightning delay at the half threatened the final high school football game for all-stars from Union and Middlesex, but the skies cleared and  the second half produced a great game.  Union had a 7-0 lead at the half thanks to a Roselle High connection as Gerald Hairston found teammate Drew Stephens on a 26 yard TD pass play.  Middlesex rallied from 13-0 down to take a 14-13 lead in the fourth quarter on a DeShai Smith 22 yard TD catch.  But Cranford quarterback Brian Oblachinski guided Union to two fourth quarter scores and earned the MVP honors.  Watch all the highlights and post-game reaction from Kean University: Welcome to Jersey Sports Zone!  After three years on the Jersey Shore, we’ve expanded our coverage to every part  of the Garden State.  We are excited to bring you high definition highlights and features of high school sports all year long.

Watch video of the dramatic conclusion of the state semifinals A.L. Johnson scored two goals six seconds apart in the final minute to score a come from behind 10-9 win over Rumson-Fair Haven in the South Jersey Group I Final.  Rumson-Fair Haven controlled the first quarter, leading 4-0, but Johnson closed the gap to 6-4 at the half.  In the third quarter, Dominic Padula’s second goal gave RFH a 7-5 advantage.  In the closing seconds of the third, Chris Sutphen scored with 12 seconds left on a great individual move to give the Bulldogs a 8-6 advantage.   Sutphen would tally his third goal of the contest 1:05 into the fourth, but it would be Rumson Fair-Haven’s final goal of the game. The Bulldogs tried to melt away the clock, but A.L. Johnson took advantage of a man advantage when Matt Pedicine scored to tie the game at 9 with 34 seconds to go.  On the ensuing faceoff, Joe Francicsco gained possession and scored the game winner just six seconds later.  Francisco scored six times and Pedicine had three goals for the #10 seed, who advance to face defending state champion Mountain Lakes on Wednesday in Livingston.