Carteret High School's 2024 Football Preview

CARTERET, NJ — The Carteret High School Ramblers football team will open its 2024 season on Friday night in Holmdel against St. John Vianney at 6 p.m.

Three years after canceling the program's entire football season due to COVID, Carteret reached the playoffs with a 7-3 record under head coach Kevin Freeman in 2023.

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Senior back Ja'Kir Thomas returns to head up the Ramblers' ground game out of the Wing-T formation after rushing for over 1,800 yards the last two seasons. Senior wingback Darius Armstrong gained 5.0 yards a carry and scored three TDs last year, when he carried the ball 52 times.

Thomas and Armstrong will have the benefit of working behind an experienced offensive line with three returning starters: left tackle Yani Miranda, right tackle Akeem Jubrilla and right guard Jacob Bess.

Defensively, Bess begins his third year as a starter at one of the end positions. Thomas will man a spot in the defensive secondary, where senior cornerback Eric Thompson will begin his fourth season as a starter. Thompson came up with a team-leading three interceptions in 2023.

But there are a lot of vacancies left by graduation on both sides of the ball, and those holes to be filled are coupled a schedule that is a step-up in difficulty for Carteret this season.

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"We're going to have a lot of challenges," Carteret assistant coach Nick Hrycuna said candidly. "The schedule is very foreign to us. A lot of tough teams. Every week is going to be difficult. We don't look past any week, and take it one game at a time."

"Coach Freeman has created a culture of showing up every single day, being a part of it not here and there, but every single day, and we have a couple of four-year starters that are a big part of that culture that's been built," Hrycuna said.

"There is a bunch of young talent, but it is inexperienced. Many spots are open and there is a lot of competition. Some of that is because our numbers are up," said Freeman, noting that Carteret had 85 players in the program as of this summer.

CARTERET 2024 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

08-30    @ St. John Vianney
09-06    Perth Amboy
09-13    @ Cranford
09-21    @ Summit
09-27    Scotch Plains-Fanwood
10-04    @ New Brunswick
10-11    Hillside
10-19    @ Linden
10-25    Bernards

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