Homecoming night hits differently as a reigning football champion.
Heading into the 2026 season with a target on its back after winning its first state sectional title in its 34-year history (post East-West merger), Bridgewater-Raritan High School knew it had big shoes to fill and that its title defense would not be easy. That is pretty understandable given the Panthers graduated 21 seniors from last year’s North 2, Group 5 state sectional champion squad, especially given the brutal schedule it annually plays as a member of the Big Central Conference American Silver Division as part of the long-term blueprint laid out by fourth-year head coach DJ Catalano.
On top of this, nearly three quarters of its receiving yards, over half of its rushing yards, nearly three quarters of its total touchdowns from scrimmage, and all of its field goals from last season’s trophy campaign were produced on offense by members of last year’s graduating senior Class of 2026.
One of those players was last year’s accomplished starting quarterback: Declan Kurdyla, who ultimately extended a lengthy streak of either a junior or senior finishing as Bridgewater-Raritan’s leading signal caller. The last time an underclassman has had that distinction for the Panthers, no one on their current roster was alive, including current Bridgewater-Raritan sophomore J.B. Baxter.
Six games into his 2026 season – and notably commanding the Panthers’ line of scrimmage, Baxter is presumptively set to snap that streak.
“It’s a great feeling and crazy to think with how many kids we have [at Bridgewater-Raritan High School],” Baxter said of being the Panthers’ starting quarterback and playing in front of his packed home crowd on Homecoming night, which took place at the symbolic John Basilone Memorial Field as part of a massive Somerset County campus that serves over 2,700 students. “All of our guys have trust in me. Our linemen do their jobs and protect me.”
“When you also have guys out there like ‘Woody’ who you can just throw the ball up to and let him make plays, it’s great and it makes my job a lot easier.”
Baxter notably referenced Bridgewater-Raritan senior Evan Woodring, and both of them helped give the Panthers key breathing room on Homecoming night’s first play of the second quarter.
Bridgewater-Raritan (5-1) and Hunterdon Central (1-5) combined for 20 points just over halfway into the first quarter, when each of the game’s first three drives ended with touchdowns capped off by a 28-yard run by senior Jonathan Okolo (six rushes, 85 yards, one touchdown) down the Red Devils’ sideline with 5:02 left in the first quarter.
While Hunterdon Central recovered a muffed punt to extend their ensuing drive, a turnover on downs by Bridgewater-Raritan’s defense eventually set up the key first play of the second quarter, when Baxter (12-for-18, 205 yards, one touchdown, one interception) extended the Panthers’ lead to two possessions courtesy of a 61-yard touchdown pass to Woodring (six receptions, 134 yards, one touchdown).
Senior running back Jahmier Black (21 rushes, 172 yards, three touchdowns) then produced his second rushing touchdown in as many periods on the way to a hat trick for Bridgewater-Raritan, which rode a 22-point halftime lead and 520 total yards of offense to a 35-18 victory on Homecoming night Friday, October 2, at John Basilone Memorial Field in Bridgewater.
“It’s all about the next-person-up mentality,” explained by Woodring: a Swiss Army Knife himself who has batted for the cycle of football positions given his own play at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, safety, and even placeholder for the Panthers’ kicking unit captained by junior Parker Lyons (five-for-five extra point attempts) – just to name a few roles. “I want to play whatever position for my team gives us the best chance to win. Our coaches put us in great situations to make plays, and my teammates are super supportive, especially our sophomore quarterback who is slinging the rock and making my job a lot easier.”
“That next-person-up mentality goes for everyone."
This indeed bodes well for a team that already snapped losing streaks of nine years and 11 years to division rivals Hillsborough High School and Ridge High School, respectively, as part of a stretch where the Panthers entered Friday night having not surrendered a touchdown since the final 80 seconds of its 40-14 rout of arch-rival Hillsborough.
That was three weeks ago.
Under the leadership of Catalano and his army of assistants, Bridgewater-Raritan’s young offensive playmakers are continuing to gain experience. The majority of its defensive starters from its 9-4 championship campaign last season, however, have returned with a vengeance in 2026.
Outside of its lone loss to date: a hard-fought 43-36 setback at non-public contender St. Joseph High School (Metuchen) back on September 5, the Panthers have allowed just 42 total points in its five victories.
Of these 42 points, 18 of them were ultimately tallied by an up-and-coming Hunterdon Central squad that entered Friday night with four losses by just 18 total points.
“At the end of the day, we have dudes on every single side of the ball,” said Woodring, who stepped into the starting quarterback role for four extended appearances as a junior last season due to injuries sustained by starter Declan Kurdyla, including the Panthers’ state semifinals matchup against Passaic County Technical Institute after Kurdyla exited due to a shoulder injury sustained when he rushed for a touchdown in that game’s opening drive. “I know we lost a lot of production [after last season], but we trust every single person that we play on offense. To be quite honest, we haven’t reached our full potential yet, and we have so much more to achieve and accomplish.”
“By the postseason, we promise that you’re going to see an even scarier offense, especially once we continue to get more experience and feel each other out.”
That is a scary thought for a Panthers squad motivated to defend its state sectional title – and perhaps more, especially given its lone home loss last season came in that aforementioned Group 5 state semifinals game against Passaic Tech, 24-13. As a result of that crushing loss, Bridgewater-Raritan was denied a trip to what would have been its first overall Group 5 state championship game.
Even though Hunterdon Central ultimately produced more touchdowns against Bridgewater-Raritan than its previous three opponents combined, the Panthers’ victory never appeared to be in doubt, and Bridgewater-Raritan’s victory marked back-to-back seasons that it won on Homecoming night.
Leading 28-6 late in the third quarter after stopping Hunterdon Central on fourth down deep in its own territory, Bridgewater-Raritan responded by marching all the way down to the Red Devils’ five-yard line in the final three minutes of the period. Sophomore Brody Misiak then had other ideas for the visitors, as he ran back a gutsy interception of a potential dagger touchdown throw by the Panthers 99 yards down their sideline for a Red Devils touchdown.
This got Hunterdon Central back to within 28-12, but Baxter immediately bounced back by orchestrating another scoring drive, which resulted in Black’s 29-yard touchdown run to put Bridgewater-Raritan ahead, 35-12, after Lyons’ fifth extra point in as many tries.
“J.B. is a special kid, and he is very smart and mature,” praised Catalano about his team’s starting quarterback. “We knew that right away and even when he was in eighth grade. What no one will ever notice is that it is easy to be happy and composed when things are going right, where he is awesome, because he is a sophomore and he still has things to learn. How he handles it and how he responds to adversity is what I am really impressed with. With that mindset, those ‘sophomore’ mistakes get corrected very quickly, so I’m just incredibly proud to coach a player like that.”
“He’s just only going to keep getting better.”
Black also finished with nine total tackles on defense, including one tackle for loss, only behind the 12 collected by senior Nick Crovelli: two of them being tackles for losses. Senior Jamelle Jones had one-and-a-half sacks with two tackles for loss, while junior Freddie Schenk and senior Trent Levash each split a sack while combining for three tackles for loss. Senior Jake Markovitch delivered the remaining sack along with a team-high three tackles for losses.
Classmate Nick Bogolashvili had the last of 12 total tackles for losses by the Panthers’ defense.
Bridgewater-Raritan ultimately outgained the Red Devils, 520-130, thanks to 315 total yards on the ground to go with 205 yards in the air by Baxter, who was not sacked on a productive night the Panthers’ offense only had one play for a loss in yardage from scrimmage.
Hunterdon Central freshman Aaron Erb, who totaled 75 total yards and both of the Red Devils’ offensive touchdowns from scrimmage, rounded out the game’s scoring in the fourth quarter with a 16-yard touchdown run.
In the end, Bridgewater-Raritan celebrated Homecoming by improving to 5-1 for the second straight season.
“It’s the best feeling in the world, and Bridgewater-Raritan is a special place,” concluded Catalano of the Homecoming crowd and the support from the Panthers’ faithful, including members of the Panthers’ girls’ volleyball team in attendance that had defeated Hopewell Valley Central High School, 2-0 (25-21, 25-21), in a match that ended at Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium across campus just 30 minutes prior to kickoff at John Basilone Memorial Field. “All of our stands are packed, this means something, and you can feel the energy. I think our players felt it too. I absolutely love it here, and it is because of that right there.”
“I’m really lucky and happy to be here, and I just love the energy everyone brings to our games week in and week out.”
The following eight pairs of Bridgewater-Raritan High School students made up the 16 members of the 2026 Homecoming Court.
Margarita Silvar and Nolan Chinchilla (Homecoming Royalty)
Tyler Hamby and Olivia Leon
Greg Rydberg and Masha Rabkova
Ella Lim and Vivian Chao
Himani Konda and Chhavi Jakhotia
Brianne-Naomi Ramrattan and Rhia Evans
Paige D’Aloisio and Emma Kipila
Max Weinstein and Makenzie Harris
After the conclusion of Homecoming night, Bridgewater-Raritan (5-1, 2-0) now stands alone atop the Big Central Conference American Silver Division, as Ridge (3-2, 1-1) stunned New Jersey’s No. 16 ranked team in Phillipsburg High School (4-2, 1-1) with the game-winning touchdown as time expired en route to a 14-13 victory over the Stateliners at Lee Field in Basking Ridge on Friday night.
To launch a critical stretch of the regular season, Bridgewater-Raritan will travel to fellow North, Group 5 contender Union High School (5-1) for a massive showdown next at 7 p.m. Friday, October 9, in Union.
The Panthers and Farmers have traded victories in each of their last six regular-season meetings going back to 2018, including their most recent meeting won by Union in overtime, 27-21, at John Basilone Memorial Field on September 1, 2023. Given the Panthers won at Union the season prior, 7-6, when Catalano served as defensive coordinator in his first year with the Panthers under then-head-coach Rick Mantz, each of the previous two matchups between Bridgewater-Raritan and Union were won by the road team.
Bridgewater-Raritan will then travel to Phillipsburg at 7 p.m. Friday, October 16, at Maloney Stadium in Phillipsburg before closing out the regular season at home against Watchung Hills Regional High School (2-4) at 6 p.m. Friday, October 23, in Bridgewater.