EAST BRUNSWICK
If the East Brunswick High School football team’s 20-7 loss to Old Bridge High
School is any indication, the Bears are on track to become a better football team under head coach Bob Molarz.
But in Molarz’s own words, the team is not quite there yet.
“I believe the program is headed in the right direction,” said Molarz, who completed his third season at East Brunswick, which finished with a 3-7 record. “We really could have ended this season .500, but there were two games we lost when we were leading in the fourth quarter by double digits.”
The Bears’ relatively close game with Old Bridge came against a team that will play for the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group V championship. The Knights (8-3) meet South Brunswick High School (10-1) Dec. 5 at Rutgers University’s High Point Solutions
Stadium in an all-Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) final.
Finishing games is just one area Molarz and his staff will focus on during the offseason. That and utilizing a growing pool of experienced talent could finally enable East Brunswick to be a legitimate contender in the GMC Red Division next fall. The Bears have not had a winning season since 2010, and Molarz’s cumulative record as East Brunswick coach is 8-22.
Kyle Wiggins, who will be a senior, has two seasons under his belt as an often-used running back and should be one of the better rushers in the division. James Schuld, who split quarterback duties with senior Brendan Kennedy, will become the full-time signal caller and has the size at 6 feet, 180 pounds and arm strength to make him a threat to run or throw with equal effectiveness.
Wide receiver Owen McSweeney and tight end Matt Bartus are excellent targets when Schuld decides to air the ball. East Brunswick will also return size and experience on the line and an active secondary including Anthony Torres, who will be joined by Wiggins and McSweeney.
“We were in the red zone a lot but didn’t score,” Molarz said. “All we need to do is finish a couple of times, and that will give us the confidence we can do it more often.”
SPOTSWOOD
Once again, Spotswood High School, which finished 7-3, will be faced with a major rebuilding job because of the graduation of key seniors who occupied skilled positions. However, that’s nothing new to head coach Andy Cammarano and his staff, which has had to replace the starting quarterback in each of the last two seasons. Both times, the Chargers won the GMC Blue Division championship.
However, the most difficult task next year will be finding somebody who can do what senior receiver Marlon Hart accomplished this season. He was a game-changer every time he touched the ball.
Before putting on a football uniform this season, Hart devoted his athletic career to playing basketball. However, once he made the decision to play football, he became an instant star, amassing over 600 receiving yards and six touchdowns, a pair of kickoffs returned for touchdowns and a punt return for another score.
Senior Shawn O’Conner successfully eased into the quarterback job, taking over for Ryan Smolin, who guided the Chargers to their first division title since 2000. The agile O’Conner ran well and displayed a surprisingly strong arm.
Joe Hayford, a small but tough-nosed player, was valuable as a bulldozing running back who could gain tough yards and was equally valuable as the middle linebacker on defense. He will also be hard to replace.
Finally, two-way tackle Lou Vacca will be sorely missed because of his size, at 6 feet 2 inches tall and 295 pounds, and toughness.
Cammarano has built his team’s success based on a regimented weightlifting and condition program during the offseason that has proved to work every year.
Winning has contributed to more players joining the team, and the coach is hoping that will be the case next season when the Chargers once again compete for a division title.