Football: All-Middlesex County honors, see who won this year's awards

It was another exciting season for football fans in Middlesex County.

Here is our MyCentralJersey/Home News Tribune All-Middlesex package. Due diligence was taken in every selection evaluating several factors for First and Second Teams.

2023 FINAL MIDDLESEX COUNTY TOP 10

1. St. Thomas Aquinas (10-1)

2. North Brunswick (8-1)

3. Sayreville (8-3)

4. St. Joseph (7-3)

5. Woodbridge (6-4)

6. Carteret (7-3)

7. South Brunswick (5-5)

8. Piscataway (6-4)

9. Colonia (5-5)

10. (tie) Middlesex (7-2)

Spotswood (8-2)

More: Football: Somerset-Hunterdon-Warren all-county honors and final team rankings

More: Football: All-Union County honors, see who earned postseason awards

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Christian Magliacano, St. Thomas Aquinas

In short, the senior linebacker was all over the field for the Trojans, which allowed the fewest points in the Big Central Conference (6.3 ppg). The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder finished with 162 tackles (32 TFL), two sacks, three forced fumbles and two interceptions. As a tight end, he had nearly 500 yards of total offense with five TDs.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Chris Meagher, Spotswood

In 2022, Spotswood made a stunning turnaround going from 1-8 to 7-3 – great job, surely but a couple things were missing. Enter a dedicated offseason program with several seniors leading the way.

“The kids were fueled by missing the playoffs last year,” Chargers third-year coach Chris Meagher said. “They set the goal to win the division and to get to the playoffs and we found a way to eke in. I couldn’t be happier for our kids in that aspect.”

Spotswood finished 8-2 and captured the BCC Freedom Gold Division, the program’s sixth-ever division crown, and reached the postseason for the first time since 2015.

Meagher has been selected as the Coach of the Year for his efforts. For Meagher, he’s appreciative of the recognition but said it feels like a team award and thanked his staff.

Spotswood pitched five shutouts and allowed the 10th-fewest ppg in the 59-team conference. Seniors like Trey Lazar, Noah Rodriguez, Quin Esser, James Curnal, Matt Savarese, Steven Mastrolonardo and Nagee Lewis were among the leaders.

“That’s one thing that I’ve been very proud about is the kids have really bought into the program," Meagher said. "And bought into the offseason more than anything. That’s how we were able to progress forward over the past two years.”

2023 MIDDLESEX ALL-COUNTY TEAMS

(listed by alphabetical order within positions)

FIRST TEAM

OFFENSE

QB: Derek Anderson, Woodbridge, Jr.

QB: Jaeden Jones, Colonia, Sr.

RB: Chiekezie Ogbuewu, Dunellen, Sr.

RB: Zaimer Wright, Sayreville, Sr.

WR: AJ Bosch, Woodbridge, Sr.

WR: Jeremy DeCaro, St. Joseph, Sr.

WR: Sal Marchione, Monroe, Sr.

OL: Ryan Leyner, St. Joseph, Sr.

OL: Frank Paczkowski, Sayreville, Sr.

OL: Matt Pierre, South Brunswick, Sr.

OL: Elijah Thomas, St. Thomas Aquinas, Jr.

OL: Payton Wieczerzak, North Brunswick, Sr.

KR: Ricky Harvey, Edison, Sr.

K: Jack Joyce, St. Thomas Aquinas, Sr.

ATH: Elijah Abass-Shereef, St. Thomas Aquinas, Sr.

ATH: Daniel DeGennaro, St. Joseph, Sr.

ATH: Samaad Hicks, North Brunswick, Sr.

DEFENSE

DL: Antwaun Jackson, Carteret, Sr.

DL: Diego Jesus, Sayreville, Sr.

DL: Cam Robinson, Middlesex, Sr.

DL: Sebastian Vera, Edison, Sr.

DL: Connor Walsh, Sayreville, Sr.

LB: Jack Garbolino, North Brunswick, Jr.

LB: Christian Magliacano, St. Thomas Aquinas, Sr.

LB: Sir Hezekiah Ragland, Carteret, Sr.

LB: Elias Scott, St. Joseph, Sr.

DB: Bryan Anderson, Woodbridge, Jr.

DB: Jahir Dawud, North Brunswick, Jr.

DB: Zacai Manigo, St. Thomas Aquinas, Sr.

DB: Braden Paulmenn, South Brunswick, Sr.

P: Tyler Huseth, St. Joseph, Jr.

ATH: Patrick Smith, South Plainfield, Sr.

ATH: De’Shaun Stephens, Piscataway, Sr.

ATH: Chase Young, St. Thomas Aquinas, Jr.

SECOND TEAM

OFFENSE

QB: Roman Blanks, St. Thomas Aquinas, Jr.

QB: Tyrece Parrott, Carteret, Sr.

RB: Dom Massaro, South Plainfield, So.

RB: Ja’Kir Thomas, Carteret, Jr.

WR: Nygel Hill, Colonia, Jr.

WR: Logan Fotiadis, Monroe, Jr.

OL: Ryan Kuhl, Old Bridge, Sr.

OL: Alan Martinez, North Brunswick, Sr.

OL: Jancarlos Mena, Woodbridge, Jr.

OL: Justin Reid, Edison, Sr.

OL: Greg Sledge, South Brunswick, Sr.

K: Aaron Losada, Sayreville, Sr.

ATH: Ryan Bennett, East Brunswick, Sr.

ATH: Jahmeil Brown, Perth Amboy, Sr.

ATH: Kiandre Dato-Snead, Piscataway, Sr.

ATH: Trey Lazar, Spotswood, Sr.

ATH: Brody Nugent, Old Bridge, So.

DEFENSE

DL: Jacob Bess, Carteret, Jr.

DL: Davon Grant, St. Thomas Aquinas, Sr.

DL: Jose Tejeiro, Woodbridge, Jr.

LB: Bryce Bouchard, Sayreville, Jr.

LB: James Curnal, Spotswood, Sr.

LB: Ah’mer Gibbs, Edison, Sr.

LB: Joseph Perosi, Colonia, Sr.

LB: Josh Stephens, Piscataway, Jr.

DB: Kenley Candil, Piscataway, Sr.

DB: Jahai Johnson, Piscataway, Jr.

DB: Shawn Schneider, South Brunswick, Sr.

DB: Lamar Stevenson, St. Thomas Aquinas, Sr.

DB: Ky’von Mitchell, Sayreville, Sr.

ATH: Cody Cardillo, Metuchen, Sr.

ATH: Tamir Gladden-Boone, North Brunswick, Sr.

ATH: Jax Jarvis, Middlesex, Jr.

ATH: Jahad Thompson, Carteret, Sr.

HONORABLE MENTION

Criteria: All players who were selected to the coaches' All-Division teams and not on our first two teams earned Honorable Mention

Carteret: Jeremiah Serrano, Kayson Smith-Grant, Asi Powell, Jordan Muniz, Darius Armstrong

Colonia: Noah Bone, Joseph Baca, Antonio Pulecio, Brian Freitas

Dunellen: Aidan Sangiray, Jason Scott, Luke Pettersen , Kevin Roberts, Luke Shealy, Elijah Duplesis

East Brunswick: Derick Christie, Vito Tropeano

Edison: Matthew Pazmino, Tori’ahn Rattray, Shaun Garland

Highland Park: Markos Hantsoulis, Jowuan, Daniel Sanchez

J.F. Kennedy: Grant Lorentzen, Miguel Alvarez, Giandiego Mazzara

J.P. Stevens: Hiven Biffot, Marquise Webb, Quadir Johnson

Metuchen: Matt Flood, Kyle Johnston

Middlesex: Nick Jamieson, Dakota Clark, Dan Kannaley, Joey Lawler , Joe Johnson, Dom Parenti, Jack Killian

Monroe: Zack Wallace, Brandon Macaluso, Dylan Degraw

New Brunswick: Omari Williams, Stanford Williams

North Brunswick: Abdul Kargbo, Anthony Walker, Tommy Koroma, Noah Reyes, Ruhan Sriram

Old Bridge: Jaden Griffith, Jared Ruderman, Thomas Kasoff, Aidan Reynoso

Perth Amboy: Laivon Balthazar, Jerome Greene, Shakir Price, Guy Bernadin

Piscataway: Riley Wingate, Horace Thompson, Dajuan Weems, AJ White Jr .

Sayreville: Derek Osae, Xavian Pena

Spotswood: Noah Rodriguez, Quin Esser, Matt Savarese, Steven Mastrolonardo, Stephen Henits, Sebastian Saracino, Nagee Lewis, Douglas Tumundo, Daniel Keelen

South Brunswick: Dason Boateng, Chisom Asonye, Xavier Hullum, Evan Cojocar, Jeylon Billups, Jayden Davis, Matt Grzelak

South Plainfield: AJ Perales, Dylan Oller, Manny White, Nolan Hook, Ryan Balent

South River: Troy O’Connor, Gavin Staffa, Parker Lane

St. Thomas Aquinas: Caden Sternlieb, Tyler Nerges, Khalil Stubbs

St. Joseph: Jahcir Styles, Jason Ridges, Javon Hudson, Ashton Irving

Woodbridge: Jordan Williams-Byron, Jayden Feliciano, Ian Roberts, Dean Fiore, Nadino Joseph, Jahmir Beal

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Football: All-Middlesex County honors, see who won this year's awards