Bull Session Week Zero 

September 16, 2026

There is a special feeling watching small, Group 1-2 schools play. The small-town community supports the team, and it feels like the whole town is at a big home game. I had that feeling watching Butler host New Milford last Friday. Other schools such as Hasbrouck Heights and Lyndhurst have given the same vibe. A Wood-Ridge playoff game against Cedar Grove a few years back felt similar. And the quality of play is better than some people give them credit for….Another smaller school I went to last Saturday was Manasquan. It is another small-town feel, and the field is primitive. But it is a great place where a lot of good history has been played….Glassboro lost its first game in some time Friday night to Winslow, and they have a tougher schedule this year. I didn’t think they would get through the schedule undefeated, and they lost their first game last weekend. They have a tough game coming up soon against Burlington Township. Luckily, Holy Spirit and Cedar Creek are down from last year….Speaking of Winslow, a tip of the hat goes to them. With a new coach, they lost several returning players to transfer. But they are off to a good start at 3-0….Last Thursday, I attended Pascack Valley at River Dell, and River Dell went up 34-0 in the third quarter, starting up a running clock. At that point, I went home less than ten minutes away. I surfed through some games live on YouTube, and settled on two Shore Conference games: Rumson-Fair Haven at Holmdel and Manalapan at Wall. Both were competitive games; one was high-scoring and the other a defensive battle….In recent years, many Giants fans hoped their team would lose late-season games because they wanted a higher draft pick. While it is helpful at draft time, the key is to draft good football players, something the Giants did not always do. The players don’t care where they draft: they want to win, which they did late in the year. And in the last two years, the Giants have drafted Abdul Carter and Arvelle Reese, two very promising players. Just draft well, and the rest will take care of itself…..Uniform front: The Good: Toms River North has a simpler look this year with block numbers.  The Bad: St. Joe’s (Montvale) has gold numbers on white jerseys; people can’t see the numbers more than twenty feet away. Two teams have home uniforms that are hard to read: Northern Highlands with black jerseys with red numbers. Westwood has the same look on an alternative jersey. Try reading those numbers from a distance: it’s hard…..A traditional college uniform that has always looked great is the home UCLA uniform with light blue jerseys, gold helmets, and gold pants…..Princeton begins its season this Saturday, visiting Bryant, while 1-2 Monmouth visits Albany….This Friday night, I will be in Group 1 heaven for the second straight week: Cedar Grove at Hasbrouck Heights….Back to the Giants, they looked good against Dallas. They have a tough game on Monday against the Rams, but I will take my chances with them….Top performances that jumped out at me, courtesy of nj.com: Passing: Lukas Prock of Hun: 23-29-507-8, David Ciliento of Wood-Ridge: 18-26-360-4, Carson Abbato of Southern: 16-20-308-4, Zach Miceli of Old Tappan: 10-15-303-4, Troy Naylor of Livingston: 13-17-303-4, Caleb Shores of Camden Eastside: 10-14-281-4, Dylan Dallancoe of St. Augustine: 8-11-250-5, Derek Grasso of Middletown North: 9-13-245-3, Jake Enderley of Belvidere: 4-7-233-3….…Rushing: Aiden Binns of Burlington Twp.: 25-315-1, Cole Anderson of Shawnee:  24-284-3, Frankie Falco of Roxbury: 14-246-2, Ryan Mallon of Lower Cape May: 18-240-3, Nick Haines of Hasbrouck Heights: 18-221-3, Landon Peddicord of Atlantic Tech: 16-217-2, Nick Salas of Roselle Park: 8-179-4, Quinyon Simmons of Steinert: 9-176-3, Justin Rosato of Middletown South: 20-195-3….Receiving: Elijah White of Belvidere: 4-233-3, Amir Culbertson of Timber Creek, Vinny Culbertson of Pemberton: 11-201-0, Anthony Serini of Holmdel: 12-179-2, Aaron Erb of Hunterdon Central: 6-161-0, Brandon Howard of Trenton: 10-139-2, Sean Arcelay of Bernards: 8-131-1, Kyron Dubose of DePaul: 6-130-1, Christakis Nicolaou of Old Tappan: 3-177-2….That’s all for this week! I will be back soon with more bull!