CEDAR GROVE- Kyle Mercorelli wasn’t sure what might be in store for him after his sophomore year at Hudson Catholic in Jersey City where he threw for 1,553 yards as a scholastic quarterback on the rise.
Then, after his coach Lamar McKnight was killed in a terrible auto accident in December of 2024, he decided to head over the Hudson River and attend Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx for his junior year.
There was still be one more stop for the talented 6-foot-4 signal caller as his next high school would be one of New Jersey’s quick-ascending Group 2 programs back in Hudson County.
In his first game being eligible to play after having to sit out the first four games of the season in accordance with NJSIAA rules for senior transfers Mercorelli had a definite breakout performance for the Red Wings (4-1, 3-1) as he threw for 255 yard and 3 touchdowns to propel a fast start by his team en route to a 28-20 victory at Cedar Grove (3-1, 1-1) on a warm and windy, pre-storm Friday evening in a game that decided the Super Football Conference-National Red Division champion.
Cedar Grove, in dropping their first game to Hoboken since 2019, showed their usual never-say-die attitude while battling back from a 28-7 third-quarter deficit after having to adjust their game plan after losing sophomore starting QB Daniel Lastella who was forced to exit the contest with an injured ankle after absorbing a hit on his team’s first offensive play of the night.
The Panthers persisted with a solid effort from backup QB Andrew Loftus, who is a wide receiver by trade, and they closed the gap to 28-20 with 3:05 remaining before the Red Wings were able to run out the clock.
With the arrival Friday night of an impact transfer QB to combine with other top talents such as running back Devin McMillan (TD reception and TD run) and wide receivers Jaedon Wright and Samond Waker (each with a TD catch), Hoboken appears to be a definite team to watch in the upcoming North, Group 2 playoffs.
Winning a key regular season road clash against a first-rate program like Cedar Grove is another big step in the process.
“This win feels amazing,” said McMillan, who helped set the tone of the contest with a number of key runs on his team’s first half TD drives. “We had marked this one on our schedule and really wanted Cedar Grove, knowing they were going to give us a great look.
“This is just a statement to prove to the state that Hoboken is not done and we’re determined to make this a very special season!”
For Mercorelli, being back at school in Hudson County never felt so good.
“It feels so good coming back to Jersey and being at a great school and with such a tremendous football program as Hoboken,” he said. “We have weapons everywhere on this team which is headed only up this season!”
Hoboken was able to capitalize on its first four drives of the contest in opening up what proved to be just too big of a lead to overcome for Cedar Grove with a huge offensive first half.
An opening 8-play, 90-yard march culminated with a 28-yard TD swing pass from Mercorelli to McMillan for a 6-0 lead with 7:53 left in the first quarter.
Following a quick 3-and-out for Cedar Grove in which Lastella was tackled while releasing a pass on his team’s initial play and was helped from the field with what appeared to be an ankle or leg injury, the Red Wings struck quickly again as Mercorelli found an open Wright for a 50-yard TD pass play and after a 2-point conversion pass to Chance Rivera took a 14-0 lead with 5:52 still remaining in the opening quarter.
The lead grew to 20-0 with 10:57 left in the second quarter on a 5-yard TD run by McMillan which followed his 23-yard scamper to put his team in position to score again.
Cedar Grove began its comeback as Loftus completed a 17-yard TD pass to Chris Miller on a nifty 3rd-and-13 aerial with 7:02 left in the half; however the Red Wings were able to increase the lead to 28-7 with their fourth TD on as many possessions as Walker made a terrific catch of a strong throw by Mercorelli in the left corner of the end zone for a 33-yard TD reception with 3:09 left before halftime.
The versatile McMillan hauled in a 2-point conversion pass for the 28-7 lead at the intermission.
Cedar Grove’s offense always seems to be creative with its game plan orchestrated by head coach Rob Gogerty and it cut the Hoboken lead in half when Loftus made a backwards flip to Jack Velonas who in turn delivered an 18-yard TD pass to Jake Catanzarite and kicker Julian Cruz’ extra point placement made it 28-14 with 8:42 still showing in the third quarter.
The Panthers took advantage of a pass interference call against Hoboken on a fourth quarter drive that culminated with a 45-yard TD run by the veteran RB Catanzarite. A 2-point conversion run came up short but Cedar Grove was still within the possibility of tying matters in regulation trailing 28-20 with 3:05 left.
Hoboken was able to run out the game’s final seconds and had its biggest victory of the still unfolding 2026 campaign.
Still, it was a valiant effort displayed by the home team which overcame an early knockdown to eventually have the better of play.
“I think we may have waited just a little too long to punch back, but I really believe if we had another six minutes at the end there it might have been a different story,” said Gogerty, who has guided his Panthers to back-to-back Group 1 state finals. “I think to lose Danny going out there on the first play kind of left everyone shell-shocked but I was happy with the way we eventually settled own and I thought we won the game from the middle of it on.
“Hoboken has a nice team, they did enough to win the game and their quarterback made some nice throws although I think we did a good job slowing down their run game.
“Danny injured his ankle and he still has to see the doctor to figure out where we’re at, but if Andrew has to be at quarterback again next Friday night (at home vs. Boonton) then at least he’ll have a week of practice under his belt this time.
“He had a lot on his plate expecting to be at wide receiver where we needed him because of an injury, but then after our first offensive play he finds himself at quarterback.
“I’m super proud of the way he settled in and ran the offense and we’ll see what next week brings for us, but I like the way our kids persisted and bounced back to make a good run at them in the end.”
For Hoboken, which appears to be a definite team on the rise this fall, it may have been the type of breakout win the entire program needed in the spotlight of not only a big Friday night in The Grove, but also with TV lights following their progress against one of the premier Group 1 programs in the state.
“Tonight was a pretty big stage for us,” said Red Wings third-year head coach Joe Borkowski. “We had a state game last year (31-28 loss at Rutherford in the North 2, Group 2 quarterfinals), but other than that there have not been many big stages until tonight with nj.com choosing our game as one of their ‘live’ telecasts.
“Winning the division is our first check mark and in my pre-game speech I had asked the players to make our hard work pay off and it’s great to see that come to fruition with a win like this against a good Cedar Grove team.
“Having Kyle eligible and playing QB is big. He has a high football IQ and a cannon of an arm, we trust him and he had a big-time game tonight.
“Most of all I’m proud of the way we came out tonight. Now we also have to focus on putting teams away. We made mistakes there in the second half, but we’ll get back to work on fixing those areas while continuing to look to control one week at a time moving forward.”
NOTES- Cedar Grove’s first-year placekicker Julian Cruz was impressive, both with his long kickoffs and extra point placements and the senior has been a nice replacement for the graduated all-state kicker Sebastian Kovacs (Southern Connecticut)…Lastella is also the Panthers’ punter and Miller, the junior RB and receiver, had to step into that emergency role…Senior WR AJ Zajack has been recovering from a fractured bone in his hand and still played some on both sides of the ball for Cedar Grove which was already forced to lose Loftus from a wide receiver spot to emergency QB with Lastella leaving the contest with the injured ankle…Hoboken was coming off its lone loss to date, a 28-23 setback at Dunbar of Washington, D.C., which had included a weekend trip to the nation’s capital for the Red Wings…Hoboken has scored 28 or more points in four of its first five games and hosts Dumont 6:30 p.m. this Friday night (Oct. 2) while the Panthers entertain the Boonton Bombers at 7…Borkowski took over the reins at Hoboken in 2024 replacing Keeon Walker, who is a full-time fireman in the city…Borkowski, who had been the head coach at North Arlington in 2023, had also previously coached under present Rutherford head man Steve Dunn when both were at Ridgefield Park. A Hoboken High graduate, Borkowski is also the head girls basketball coach for the Red Wings and guided that team to a 17-8 record and a Hudson County Tournament semifinal appearance in his first season at the helm. In addition he also is head coach for the school’s girls flag football program during the spring season....During pre-game ceremonies Cedar Grove High School along with strong support from Paul Iannicone did a nice job in honoring police officers from town and the Port Authority while recognizing the heroizm of all first responders on 9/11 as the nation observed the 25th anniversary of that awful day in America.
SFC-National Red Division Game:
HOBOKEN (4-1) 14 14 0 0 -28
CEDAR GROVE (3-1) 0 7 7 6 -20
H- Devin McMillan 28 pass from Kyle Morcorelli (pass failed)
H- Jaeden Wright 50 pass from Morcorelli (Chance Rivera pass from Morcorelli)
H- McMillan 5 run (kick failed)
CG- Chris Miller 17 pass from Andrew Loftus (Julian Cruz kick)
H- Samond Walker 33 pass from Morcorelli (McMillian pass from Morcorelli)
CG- Jake Catanzarite 18 pass from Jack Velonas (Cruz kick)
CG- Catanzarite 46 run (run failed)
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