Hard work has never been an issue for Pierce Asfalg, who in his first season as a varsity starting quarterback for Cedar Grove, has certainly found his groove, and is playing his best football of the season at the perfect time as Panthers are making another strong run in quest for a state playoff sectional title.
The strong 6-foot-2, 178-pound senior, coming off splendid back-to-back efforts in leading his team to playoff victories vs. Glen Ridge and Mountain Lakes, is the latest Parisi Fairfield/Sideline Chatter Athlete of the Week.
Asfalg’s dual production as the team’s leading rusher and proficient passer has fourth-seeded Cedar Grove (8-3) looking to defend its North 2, Group 1 title as it will visit third-seeded and undefeated New Providence (10-0) in the state sectional final, 6:30 p.m., Friday, at Lieder Field.
With Group 1 all-stater Stephen Paradiso completing his third straight season as the Panthers’ starting QB in 2024, Asfalg saw limited action behind center as both a sophomore backup (10-of-18 for 97 yards and 3 TDs) and as a junior (1-of-2 for 7 yards) when he was a mainstay in the defensive secondary last fall as Paradiso put up all-time passing numbers for a high school QB with 3,713 yards and 41 TDs.
Asfalg has stepped in this fall and has done quite well as the QB for the Panthers, excelling both through the air while completing 167 of 251 passes for 2,383 yards, 18 TDs and with 7 Int. and also leading the way on the ground with 136 carries for 767 yards and 13 TDs.
“Having that run option as a QB puts another layer that the defense has to worry about, and Pierce being a really good athlete makes the offense click even more,” said Cedar Grove head coach Rob Gogerty, himself a former standout Panthers QB. “Throughout the year he has gotten more comfortable with his reads and decision making which has been vital to our success lately.”
All told, it’s been a very solid all-around senior football season for the latest talented Cedar Grove signal caller who has continued working hard in order to reach the level of being a high-quality high school QB.
“Pierce has improved and has worked to get better every year within our program,” continued Gogerty. “As a sophomore in 2023 he stepped in to finish a drive in our playoff game against Shabazz (32-26 Panthers’ first-round setback) and he capped it off with a TD pass to keep us in the game.
“He has waited his turn and is very coachable. When he plays with confidence like he has done the past few weeks it is such a pleasure to watch!”
Among those recent standout performances saw Asfalg account for all five of his team’s TDs vs. Glen Ridge in a N2G1 first round contest on Oct. 31 when he passed for three first half TDs and ran for two more scores in the second half in the 35-20 Panthers victory.
He was again both proficient and clutch in this past Friday night’s thrilling 21-14 victory at top-seeded Mountain Lakes when he completed 18 of 28 passes for 272 yards and a TD, plus added 47 yards on the ground capped by bolting 10 yards for the game-winning TD with just 49 seconds remaining.
Trailing 7-0, Cedar Grove proceeded to score on all three of its fourth-quarter drives in its grand finish vs. the homestanding Herd before a good size crowd at Wilkins Field. A key play to get it all jet-started was when Asfalg hooked up with fleet-footed senior Michael Ruggiano on a 89-yard pass play as the talented wide receiver displayed his great speed on the play as he took advantage of key blocks from teammates Michael Cantarelli and Jerry Targia to make it all the way down to the 2-yard line to set up senior running back Thomas Cannataro’s 2-yard TD burst followed by a successful 2-point conversion for an 8-7 lead with 10:18 to play.
Asfalg and Ruggiano combined again through the air for a 33-yard TD for a 14-7 lead with 7:12 remaining.
Mountain Lakes (7-3) then took a 15-14 lead with 2:10 to play when running back Massimo Corvelli took a direct snap and dashed into the end zone for a 2-point conversion following Ty Plotts’ 18-yard TD catch from Lawson Fagan one play earlier. A serious situation almost occurred next for the Panthers on the ensuing kickoff when a Mountain Lakes squib kick took an odd hop, but Cedar Grove junior up-man John Kukuch managed to take possession of the ball, a play which would turn out to be huge after what occurred as the Panthers mounted a monumental scoring drive.
Asfalg started the march to pay dirt with a quick outside completion to Ruggiano (7 catches, 157 yards) for 11 yards, then followed with a long pass down the left sideline to Ruggiano which resulted in a defensive holding penalty.
Asfalg then demonstrated his strong running ability as he scrambled for an 18-yard gain to the Mountain Lakes 21. After a short gain on a rush by Targia which also saw the time remaining move inside the final minute, Asfalg delivered the ball to his other favorite target, senior WR Xavier Andujar (8 catches, 97 yards) for eight yards and another first down.
The Panthers might have been able to settle for a field goal by star kicker Sebastian Kovacs to try and earn the win, but Asfalg removed that possibility as on the next play he reached the end zone on a QB keeper as Cedar Grove had the final lead of the game with just 49 seconds left.
The dramatic TD run climaxed what was quite the exciting evening for the Cedar Grove football program which is now back competing for a second straight sectional crown.
“We started out a little slow at the beginning of the season when we were edged in a close game (37-31) by a Group 4 team (Wayne Valley),” said Asfalg “And, we had a rough patch there in the middle (including home losses to Newark Central and Caldwell), but we have figured it all out at the right time.
“When we trailed Mountain Lakes at halftime everyone was hyped up in a good way as we got together at halftime, and we were all determined that we would win the game!
“We had big plays when we needed them most. Coach Gogerty is really good at calling plays and I think he’s the best coach in Group 1!
“We were a No. 4 seed and an underdog coming in, and a lot of people didn’t give us much of a chance, but I knew that we were definitely capable of getting to this point with the strengths we have in a number of areas on this team, and our mission has remained the same which is to get back to MetLife (Stadium) and hopefully get another shot at Glassboro!”
The South Jersey team, which finished last season in nj.com’s statewide Top 20, rolled past the Panthers last fall, 56-14, in the overall Group 1 final after Cedar Grove entered the contest with a perfect 13-0 record, including a group semifinal 52-21 triumph over North 1 champ Butler.
The Bulldogs are even stronger this fall and are a perfect 10-0 as they host Kinnelon in this Friday night’s N1G1 final.
Over in New Providence, the Panthers will look to defeat the Pioneers for a second straight season in the N2G1 title tilt after defeating the Union County team, 35-14, in last fall’s sectional final in the Grove in a contest that was closer than the final score would indicate.
In all it’s been a different type of journey in 2025 for the Panthers, but they’ve stayed the course and their senior QB has stepped up big-time in the course of helping lead his team continue to find a way to keep playing one more week while facing as formidable a complete schedule as any Group 1 program has seen this fall.
“Every year our schedule challenges us and puts both the coaching staff and our players in adverse situations to hopefully grow from,” said Gogerty. “The quarterbacks in our system have to make 50-70 decisions in a game for us to be successful so I am proud of the way Pierce has accepted that responsibility and how he is responding to both the highs and the lows of the season.
“We are all excited for the challenge ahead at New Providence this Friday night as we get back to work this week and prepare for another tough opponent.”
NOTES- Asfalg, who said he would like to play college football if the opportunity arises, is also a standout wrestler for Cedar Grove and excelled in the 157 pound weight class last winter when he finished as a runner-up in District 7 and sixth in Region 2 along with placing fifth in the Essex County Tournament while going 28-13 and earning All-Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division honors. He was also second-team All-SEC in track…Asfalg said he is enjoying his English and pottery classes this fall at Cedar Grove High School and that he may look to enter the police academy or get involved in some way in the business world after college. He has an uncle who was a police officer….Asfalg’s parents are both graduates of Lodi High School where dad Phillip was a baseball player and mom Michelle was a cheerleader. A younger brother Chase, who is the eighth grade, plays junior football in town where he is a two-way end.
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