The Mountaineers are division champs once again. For a sixth straight season, the Bernards football team has clinched the Big Central Conference Patriot Gold Division title with a 31-21 victory over Voorhees.
At Voorhees’ home turf, the home team got off to a solid start, with three of the first four drives resulting in touchdowns. However, the Mountaineers kept pace, with three touchdown runs between Logan Stevens ’26 (2) and Nolan Walsh ’27. Kicker Daniel Nagy-Lewis ’27 capped the first half with a 31-yard field goal to put the Mountaineers ahead 24-21.
On the other side of the ball, Rylan Benitez of Voorhees had a strong offensive performance, posting 209 receiving yards and adding three receiving touchdowns. However, the Mountaineers’ defense flipped the script in the second half, making key adjustments to calm the Vikings’ offensive attack. Zach Favreau ’27 came down with two clutch interceptions that sealed the fate of the game. Speaking to Zach after the game, here’s what he had to say about his performance: “The first half was rough. Coming out in the second half, we knew we had to make adjustments. I knew I had to prevent the deep ball, and just had a good read on the throws and made the plays.”
A third quarter run from Logan Stevens was all the Mountaineers needed to secure a 31-21 victory over Voorhees, with Stevens finishing with 249 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns.
The Mountaineers didn’t hold a lead in this game for the first 23 minutes and 49 seconds, but they scored the final 17 points to collect the victory.
Bernards Football has captured six straight division championships, dating back to the 2020-21 season. Favreau says, “[Sixth straight division championship] is great, but we can’t stop there. We have to keep moving and looking ahead.”
Since the inception of the Patriot Gold Division in 2020, the Mountaineers have lost the division just once. Additionally, the Mountaineer football program has never captured six consecutive division titles in their 121-year history.
Andrew Tropp ’26, a student at BHS, said the programs dominance over the past six years has been “impressive to watch”, making “going to the games that much more enjoyable”.
Next Friday, the Mountaineers will wrap up their divisional schedule in a clash with J.P. Stevens at 7:00 p.m. on Olcott Field.
