Football: All-Union County honors, see who earned postseason awards
With the 2023 high school football season behind us, here's a look at the best from this past year.
2023 FINAL UNION COUNTY TOP 10
1. Summit 4-3
2. Westfield 6-5
3. Linden 6-3-1
4. Plainfield 6-5
5. Hillside 6-3
6. Union 5-6
7. Cranford 4-5
8. A.L. Johnson 6-3
9. Governor Livingston 6-4
10. Elizabeth 3-8
More: Football awards: Central Jersey and Big Central Conference postseason honors index
UNION COUNTY PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Max Cho, Westfield
The senior joins a long line of impact varsity quarterbacks Westfield has boasted in recent seasons, as the first-year starter led the Blue Devils to some huge wins. That was especially true down the stretch, where Westfield (6-5) collected impressive lopsided wins over Hillsborough in the regular-season finale, and a 36-0 blasting of Clifton in the first round of the state tournament.
Cho completed 149-of-236 passes for 1,913 yards and 20 touchdowns, throwing just four interceptions. He added 244 rushing yards and five scores, capping his career with a three-touchdown performance in a blowout win over rival Plainfield on Thanksgiving.
UNION COUNTY COACH OF THE YEAR
James Williams, Plainfield
The Cardinals finally shook off nearly two decades of futility to claim their first winning season in 18 years, as the third-year head coach led Plainfield to a 6-5 campaign. Williams, who is 16-16 in three seasons with the Cards, and is the seventh head coach the program has had in the past 15 seasons, previously coached at Roselle for eight seasons, winning two conference titles and taking the Rams to two sectional semifinals. That included a 2016 campaign where his team was the top scoring squad in the state.
Led by senior lineman Josue Cordoba, junior quarterback/linebacker Ala-Meen Watkins and junior receiver/DB Joel Cordoba, Plainfield also made the playoffs for the first time since 2010 and hosted a playoff game for the first time since 2001.
2023 ALL-UNION COUNTY TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
QB: Max Cho, Westfield, Sr.
QB: Te-Quan Thomas, Linden, Sr.
QB: Al-Ameen Watkins, Plainfield, Jr.
RB: Talibi Kaba, Hillside, Jr.
RB: Gavin Marranca, Brearley, Sr.
RB: Carter Shallcross, Summit, Sr.
WR: Joel Cordoba, Plainfield, Jr.
WR: Enzo Ferrero, Westfield, Jr.
OL: Leo Haselmann, Summit, Sr.
OL: Sean Joy, A.L. Johnson, Sr.
OL: Zach Menon, Union, Sr.
OL: Diego Rodriguez, Hillside, Sr.
OL: Max Romano, Westfield, Sr.
KR: Marquis Diggs, Rahway, Sr.
K: Seamus Browne, Summit, Sr.
ATH: Adrian Palacios, Roselle Park, Sr.
ATH: Ajani Phillips, Roselle, Sr.
DEFENSE
DL: Josue Cordoba, Plainfield, Sr.
DL: Darren Ikinnagbon, Hillside, Jr.
DL: Julian Montez, Westfield, Sr.
DL: Kevin Taylor, Linden, Jr.
LB: Alex Altemus, Dayton, Sr.
LB: Jack Dally, Governor Livingston, Jr.
LB: Myles Hamilton, Linden, Sr.
LB: KordA.L. Hinton, Union, Sr.
LB: Tyler Kessel, Summit, Sr.
LB: Timothy Porter, Roselle, Sr.
DB: Matt Botvinis, New Providence, Sr.
DB: Renick Dorilas, Union, Jr.
DB: McNaully Erminal, Hillside, Sr.
DB: Ibn McDaniels, Elizabeth, Sr.
PR: Imad Canty, Elizabeth, Sr.
P: Ryan Carracino, Cranford, Sr.
ATH: Noah Ricca, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Sr.
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
QB: John John DeSarno, Dayton, Jr.
QB: Arique Flemming, Elizabeth Fr.
QB: Robert Gallagher, A.L. Johnson, Jr.
RB: Andrew Avent, Rahway, Sr.
RB: Owen Chait, Governor Livingston, Sr.
RB: Davon Chavis, Linden, Sr.
WR: Brandyn Bernknopf, Dayton, Sr.
WR: A.L. Jamir Davis, Hillside, Sr.
OL: Sam Henry, Summit, Jr.
OL: Kristian Janeczko, Brearley, Sr.
OL: Joe Mesko, Linden, Sr.
OL: Babadara Olowe, Union, Jr.
OL: Aaron Tapia, A.L. Johnson, Sr.
KR: Jack Bronikowski, Summit, Sr.
K: Ryan George, A.L. Johnson, Jr.
DEFENSE
DL: Shahad Brown, Linden, Jr.
DL: Owen Delice, Roselle, Sr.
DL: Sean Donnelly, New Providence, Sr.
DL: Donea Fish, Rahway, Jr.
LB: Trevor Delapara, Rahway, Sr.
LB: Justin Hoeffler, Cranford, Jr.
LB: Mike Kollarik, Brearley, Sr.
LB: Emilio Menicucci, A.L. Johnson, Sr.
LB: Chris Rossetti Westfield, Sr.
DB: Callum Fynes, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, So.
DB: Michael Geertsma, Governor Livingston, Sr.
DB: Dylan Jones, Cranford, Jr.
DB: Luke Jordan, Westfield, Sr.
PR: Matt Shaffer, Governor Livingston, Sr.
P: Ryan Obidzenski, Brearley, Sr.
THIRD TEAM
OFFENSE
QB: Anthony Romano, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Sr.
QB: Lucciano Santamaria, Governor Livingston, Jr.
RB: EJ Brown, Plainfield, Jr.
RB: Nick Salas, Roselle Park Fr.
WR: Al-Khabir Bethune, Plainfield, Jr.
WR: Nahjae Smith, Elizabeth Fr.
OL: Alijah Burnett, Plainfield, Sr.
OL: Vittorio DeMartinis, A.L. Johnson, Sr.
OL: Sam Morris, Summit, Jr.
OL: Rahkeim Sheppard, Roselle, Sr.
OL: Jake Swriz, Roselle Park, Sr.
ATH: Xavier Padilla, Roselle Park, Sr.
ATH: Jackson Zarinko, New Providence, Sr.
DEFENSE
DL: James Campbell, Governor Livingston, Sr.
DL: Mark Hansen, A.L. Johnson, Sr.
DL: Alexander Ramirez, Elizabeth, Sr.
DL: Mikai Stephenson, Rahway, Sr.
LB: Bryan Accinot, Union, Jr.
LB: Isaiah DeRosa, Elizabeth, Sr.
LB: Tyrone Hinton, Linden, Jr.
LB: Keiwan Kirkland, Plainfield, Sr.
LB: Jack Verbaro, New Providence, Sr.
DB: Lucas Caldwell, Cranford, Sr.
DB: Davon McClintock, Linden, Sr.
DB: Nireese McDougald, Elizabeth, Sr.
DB: Shane Walsh, Summit, Jr.
Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997. He can be reached at SPincus@GannettNJ.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Football: All-Union County teams, player of the year, rankings
