Bull Session Week Zero
September 9, 2026
With fewer Saturday high school football games to watch, it is worth checking out a college game. You can go to a Princeton or Monmouth game. Or any of the D3 schools: William Paterson, Montclair State, Kean, Rowan, TCNJ, and FDU (Florham). New Jersey kids play for those schools, and it can be entertaining…..I checked out the Lyndhurst-Rutherford game this past Thursday night; Rutherford won, and the Lyndhurst band was good, with an energetic performance of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”….I don’t remember seeing a team punished the way the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA were, losing five #1 draft choices. The only one that could be worse is the SMU death penalty in football in the late 80s, when the program was closed down for recruiting violations while on probation….Around the state, Colonia plays on navy blue turf, Butler on blue, and now Newton plays on gray turf….Watching Passaic Tech-Shabazz on Big State Sports, it was nice to see PCT wearing all-blue uniforms….I always thought touchdown celebrations in high school drew a penalty, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore….Oh, I forgot about Saturday afternoon games; one can see Rutgers play; plenty of seats should be available….It was nice to get to the Old Tappan-Ramapo game, and they were playing AC/DC, followed by Guns N ‘ Roses tune, Welcome to the Jungle when I arrived. They followed with different types of music, and one song that a colleague identified as Taylor Swift. I am proud to say I cannot ID one song of hers, and her song was so forgettable that I forgot how it went by halftime….During the weekend, I saw some old-school running backs: Joey Gorga of Ramapo and Jahmier Black of Bridgewater-Raritan. Deacon Frayne of West Morris is another good one I saw on YouTube….I enjoy watching West Morris games because of top execution….I don’t make predictions often, but I think Bergen Catholic will earn its first win this weekend….Washington Township’s win over Millville came as a surprise to some, but they were undefeated last year. Granted, they graduated many….Top performances that jumped out at me, courtesy of nj.com: Passing: Trey Tagliaferro of Bergen Catholic: 30-35-419-3, Zach Merhar of Rancocas Valley: 12-16-301-5, A’rique Fleming of Elizabeth: 17-23-270-3, Zachary Concepcion of East Orange: 12-24-392-4, Kevin Reilly of New Providence: 13-18-210-3, Gavin McCrone of Ridgewood: 13-18-207-3, James Farrell of Haddonfield: 4-6-198-2, and Josh Colella of Egg Harbor: 13-16-221-3….…Rushing: Lamar Smith of Gateway: 30-344-3, Nymir Daily of Camden Catholic: 31-305-4, Jaivon Thomas of Penns Grove: 12-290-3, Zaire Young of Piscataway: 37-268-3, Xavier Wilson of Monroe: 16-261-2, Demi Adenuga, Newark West Side: 19-233-3, Matt Heras of Bogoota: 21-232-3, Kenneth Bartee of Schalick: 14-227-4, and Brayden Longo of Mount Olive: 10-208-2 ….Receiving: Jake Schultzel of Freehold Township: 10-219-2, Ethan Martinez of Weehawken: 11-211-2, Je’zi Lewis of East Orange: 6-165-1, Nehki Martin of Paramus Catholic: 3-155-2, Nasir Doughty of West Orange: 5-147-2, Don’Taye Thompson of Atlantic City: 7-145-1, Bryan Porter of Bergen Catholic: 10-144-1, Liam Rickett of Glen Rock: 8-139-2, and Mikey McQueen of Rancocas Valley: 5-137-3….That’s all for this week! I will be back soon with more bull!