For veteran Cedar Grove coach Rob Gogerty, it’s not a matter of looking at this season’s team as being a primarily, run-first unit following the weekly aerial show that was ever-present last fall when prolific passer Stephen Paradiso and his favorite receiver Jackson Morrice were part of a frequent 90-10 or 95-5 pass vs. run attack in terms of percentages which paved the way to a strong 13-1 Group 1 state sectional playoff championship season.
What it’s simply all about is continuing to adjust to one’s personnel, which is something Gogerty and his coaching staff have done a superb job once again this season as the Panthers (4-1) are off to an excellent start now more than midway through the 2025 regular season.
“I am not really a huge stat guy looking for balance or stuff like that,” said Gogerty. “We try to implement our system each season and adjust to our players and I think our guys know we want to be able to move the ball and score points.
“The guys are doing a really nice job of taking what the defense gives us our players are doing a great job of making plays throughout the games.”
The senior class is a strong one with standouts such as quarterback Pierce Asfalg (88-of-118 for 1,148 yards, 9 TDs, 2 Int. and 69 carries for 368 yards and 7 TDs) who exemplifies the balanced attack, running back Thomas Cannataro (team-leading 411 yards on 36 carries and 3 TDs) and top receiver Xavier Andjuar (36 receptions for 411 yards, 3 TDs) helping to lead the way.
“This senior group got some really good experience last season and they have played with a chip on their shoulder a bit,” continued Gogerty. “They are a very competitive group of guys and I think the most important thing is that despite making some mistakes in the first few weeks our guys have played really hard and that's all you can ask for as a coach.
“Our skill-position players like Andujar, Asfalg, (WR Michael) Ruggiano and (RB Jerry) Targia, along with their teammates are all really unselfish and have stepped up in a big way thus far.
“We are looking to continue to clean some stuff up and improve each week as we are moving on.”
The Panthers have received strong performances from their O-Line of junior left tackle Evan Skabich, junior left guard Bryce Kent, senior center Jake Sariava, senior right guard Chris Ferrera and senior right tackle Mikey Leno with solid depth provided by junior Matt Giordano.
Defensively, among the standouts have been Leno (32 tackles, 2 sacks) and Cannataro (49 tackles, including 30 solo stops, 3 TFL, 1 FF, 2 sacks) and Targia (24 tackles, 1 Int.) at linebacker and junior Jake Catanzarite (23 tackles) at DB.
Cedar Grove is also fortunate to have an outstanding veteran placekicker in senior Sebastian Kovacs, who has converted two of three field goals so far this season and has made 19 of 21 extra points along with helping to establish good field position with his terrific kickoffs.
