The Bridgewater-Raritan High School football team hoisted the 2025 North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 state championship trophy high into the air for all to see after a 21-14 victory over Bayonne High School on Friday night, November 14.

Basilone Memorial Field was the setting when Bridgewater-Raritan established history when the team won the school’s first state sectional playoff title in football.

Bridgewater-Raritan snapped the 14-14 tie with 2:33 to play in the fourth quarter when senior quarterback Declan Kurdyla scrambled to avoid a sack and then found senior receiver Jack Cifuentes, who caught the ball over the middle at the 38-yard line and sprinted to the end zone for the 58-yard touchdown.  Joe Squicciarini converted the kick to end the scoring at 21-14.

Bridgewater-Raritan will now take the next step and seek the school’s first group state playoff championship when it meets Passaic County Tech, the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 5 state sectional winner, on Friday, November 21, in the Group 5 semifinals at Basilone Memorial Field in Bridgewater. Game time is 6 p.m.

Bridgewater-Raritan has yet to lose a game this year at the newly renovated Basilone Memorial Field, posting a 9-0 record this fall.

A victory over Passaic County Tech would send Bridgewater-Raritan to the Group 5 state championship game against the winner of the other Group 5 state semifinal game between Washington Township High School and Kingsway Regional High School. That semifinal is also scheduled for Friday, November 21, at 6 p.m.

The Group 5 state final will be played at either MetLife Stadium or Rutgers University on one of the following dates: November 28 through December 3.

In the victory over Bayonne, celebrations were well underway before the clock hit triple zeroes, as shortly following the final quarterback kneel, the Bridgewater-Raritan sideline rushed onto the field, meeting their teammates with many iterations of hugs and handshakes.

Before receiving the trophy, standout players Jahmier Black, Jamelle Jones, and Connor O’Hare rushed over to their sideline to grab a water jug to dump on Coach, DJ Catalano. Parents also found their way onto the field and sprayed the team with sparkling water in celebration.

Coach Catalano, who is usually found after games in a stoic and professional demeanor, was clearly very emotional as he congratulated all of his players and members of his coaching staff.

During Coach Catalano’s three-year tenure as head coach of Bridgewater-Raritan, the team has consistently developed and improved as a unit year by year.  His ability to establish such a strong culture amongst his players and the community around them has been nothing short of amazing.

Postgame, Coach Catalano said that this sectional title “was everything” to him, whilst giving high praise to his staff.

“I have these coaches that spend so much time away from their family to grind with me,” he remarked.  “[they] watch film with me, and game plan, and we have a blast.  I just have so much fun being with them. It’s just a special place.”

Bayonne made the trip to Basilone Memorial Field following a 27-13 upset victory over Piscataway High School, the second seed, in Piscataway in the state sectional semifinals.

Bayonne was propelled to victory largely in part to the efforts of their Villanova University-offered running back Chance Fischer, who turned the game into a track meet by rushing for 123 yards.

When studying for Friday night’s matchup, Coach Catalano admitted to being astonished by the effort of Bayonne after watching back film from the game.

“I remember watching the Piscataway game, and I’m like, ‘oh my goodness,” he laughed.  “I would go, “this is going to be a problem.”  You saw what they were doing. We knew this was going to be a battle.”

Fischer also posted a similarly dominant game on the ground against Bridgewater-Raritan, as he ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.

The Panthers also possessed a similarly dominant run game with their running back duo of Jahmier Black and Denzel Amoafo, with the former rushing for 114 yards and a touchdown.

Bridgewater-Raritan also posted a dominant game in their previous game after beating Union City High School 22-7 in a rematch of their 2024 North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 semifinal matchup.

Bayonne won the coin toss and deferred the first possession to Bridgewater-Raritan, which sought to take an early lead, as it has typically been able to do in all of its previous games.

The first drive of the game did not go exactly as planned for the Panthers, as an illegal formation penalty and the ineffectiveness of the ground game on first and second down had the offense backed up deep in their own end.

However, Kurdyla was able to do what he does best, as he extended a broken pass protection into a deep completion to junior receiver Evan Woodring, setting his offense up in Bayonne territory. Kurdyla attempted to extend a fourth-down play on the same drive in a similar manner, but was stopped short of the line to gain after scrambling.

This gave the Bees the ball for their first drive of the game, and on their first play from scrimmage, senior quarterback Nico Sampson Jr. threw a screen pass to the left side, which his receiver took all the way down inside the Panther 35-yard line. Bayonne sought to establish its will on the ground with Fischer and eventually did just that, as he took a simple inside zone rush for 21 yards to the endzone.

Kurdyla has words of encouragement for his team as the Panther defense exited the field, shouting to the sideline to “match their intensity.”

However, the Bridgewater-Raritan offense was unable to get going on their second drive either, as a first-down rush that gained no yards, a second-down sack, and an unproductive third-down screen pass forced Coach Catalano to trot out the punt unit.

The Panther defense came out for Bayonne’s second drive looking much sharper, as they stopped the first and second down running plays for little gain before the end of the first quarter.

After flipping the field, a low snap caused Sampson to succumb to the pressure from the Bridgewater-Raritan defensive line, forcing their first punt of the night.

Feeling energized on the heels of that defensive stop, the Panther offense was finally able to get motoring.

On the first play of the drive, Black was able to get to the outside and break off a huge run into Bayonne territory. This was followed by a shovel option play that Kurdyla kept for himself for another huge gain, and another scramble that he took down inside the 10-yard line. It seemed inevitable that the Panthers would score, but Kurdyla attempted to force a second-down pass play into a tight window in the end zone, and it was intercepted by Jerome Hayes Jr. to end the offensive threat.

This interception swung the momentum completely in Bayonne’s favor, as following an early defensive facemask penalty, Sampson found Hayes on a huge completion down the sideline to bring the Bees inside of the Panthers’ 40-yard line. On that play, defensive holding was called, and an additional 15 yards were tacked onto the play.

The Bees then brought the ball inside the 1-yard line thanks to a few nifty scrambles from Sampson, but eventually found themselves at fourth down following a failed QB draw. On this fourth down, the home crowd at Basilone Memorial Field reached deafening levels to try and propel their defense to get a stop. This hollering worked, as a pitch to Fischer was stopped short of the goal line, prompting even more raucous cheers before both teams walked to their locker rooms for halftime.

When Coach Catalano discussed this defensive snap, he described his defense as “so smart.”
“We had a whole arsenal of things that we could do and adjustments that we could make. What’s really great is that they can come and give us feedback in their eyes,” he said.

The Bees got the ball to start the second half, but on their first play coming out of halftime, Sampson dropped the snap. Jones came off the left side, scooped the ball up, and took it back into the end zone for the touchdown. Squicciarini kicked the conversion to tie the score up at 7-7.

Black credited Jones’ fumble recovery with giving the team the strength to press on, adding that it “gave everybody energy.”

This score completely killed the confidence of the Bayonne offense, as its next drive resulted in a three-and-out.

The Panthers held all of the momentum and began to really press forward with their running game. Black was able to break off a 20-yard run to the 50-yard line, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty added another 10 yards.

All night long, Black was able to break tackle after tackle to get to the first down marker. He attributed this hard-nosed running style to rigorous practice.

“We practice from Monday to Thursday, every week since it started,” he described. “We just put in the work. We keep grinding. It’s never a day off.”

However, the promising drive stalled out, and Coach Catalano sent out Squicciarini and the field goal unit. The Panthers’ special teams unit unveiled something that we haven’t seen all year, as the placeholding Woodring took the snap from Gavin Zeiman and stood up, launching it downfield to an uncovered Mikey Bratus for a touchdown. Unfortunately, the momentum-swinging play was called back by an illegal substitution call.

The Bayonne offense continued to be completely stymied in the third quarter, as another three-and-out series was punctuated by a pass breakup from Black, who worked in at linebacker.

The Bridgewater-Raritan offense took the field yet again, determined to break the tie. The Panthers continued to rely on Black and Amoafo all the way into Bee territory. They also found a few breaks along the way, as a defensive holding call on fourth down gave the Panthers a fresh set of downs, and a pass interference call on a shot to the endzone gave the team prime field position in the red zone. Coach Catalano once again put the ball in the hands of Black, who carried it into the end zone. The PAT  kick left the score in favor of Bridgewater-Raritan, 14-7.

On its next drive, the Bayonne offense finally found its voice when Fischer broke off yet another huge run, this time down the sideline for nearly 75 yards all the way to the end zone to knot it up at 14-14.

Fischer and the Bees continued to gash the Panthers on the ground, as he broke off yet another huge run into Bridgewater-Raritan territory. The Bees eventually found themselves on a third down and short, but a hard count got several Panthers defensive linemen to jump, giving Bayonne a fresh set of downs. The Panther defense then finally halted two consecutive Fischer runs and a fumbled snap, bringing up a fourth down. The Bees turned to the passing game on this play, but Sampson couldn’t find anyone and was sacked by junior Nick Crovelli.

The pendulum once again swung to Bridgewater-Raritan’s sideline, with Black breaking off several more tough runs all the way into Bayonne territory.

This rushing attack motivated Bayonne to sell out completely to the rush, prompting a chess move-like switch to the passing game from Coach Catalano.

The winning touchdown came on third down and 18 yards to go for Bridgewater-Raritan. With 2:33 left, Kurdyla avoided a fierce pass rush and rolled to his left. There he located Cifuentes open, and the receiver made a leaping catch at the 38-yard line and then dashed to the end zone.

On the ensuing kick, Squiccarini sent the ball deep on the kickoff towards the left sideline, leaving the Bayonne special teams unit content with letting it roll out of bounds. Before the ball could leave the playing field, a mob of Panthers swarmed to the free ball, recovering it and giving their offense possession.

The Panthers were now 10 yards away from a sectional title. One first down and the game was over. Black was able to muscle forward on third down, giving the Panthers a new set of downs and their first sectional playoff title in school history.

Black smiled when recalling his effort on the field after the game had ended.

“This is my first year here,” he disclosed. “It means everything, man. I’m just proud I can bring one home to these boys and make them all happy.”