It is Sept. 15. Football camp has barely ended. School has just begun. Labor Day parties have just broken up. We have just gotten off the beach for the final time. Leaves aren’t even turning brown yet.
So can a football team dare to make a statement this early in the season?
If you are Chatham, the answer is … absolutely yes!
And the Cougars just did.
Did you hear it? Coach Evan Picariello’s team sounded an alarm that should have been heard all around the SFC-Liberty Blue, Morris County, and, dare we say it, North Group IV.
The Cougars wouldn’t say it publicly, nor should they. But they made a massive statement Saturday night and the Liberty Blue championship will now go through them.
Chatham’s 30-18 victory over defending champion Montville was THAT impressive.
Consider: Montville was coming off a pair of big wins to begin 2025: a 38-22 win over Sparta, and a 38-13 win at Warren Hills.
Not bad, huh?
The Mustangs were one of Morris County’s shining lights to kickoff this season – until Chatham came along.
What a night it was to be a Cougar – and what a season this could turn into.
“I loved our energy,” said DB Mike MacAniff, who had two INTs against Montville. “It was Senior Night, our Friday Night Lights game. The atmosphere was amazing and everyone was amped up and ready to go to war.”
Chatham earned a safety to start off the game (Montville’s punt snap sailed out of the end zone) and then the Cougars took control on both offense and defense.
Quarterback Ryan Hogan led a terrific passing game (even though standout receiver Nick Lagunowich has just returned after limited practices) and Shep Boyd continued to breathe life into the running game.
Hogan connected with Sonny Arden for a 50-yard touchdown pass and Milo Semioli booted his first of PATs and the Cougars were ahead to stay in the first quarter, 9-7.
Hogan (13 for 18 for 126 yards with two touchdowns and an INT) also hit tight end Hunter Bigham with an 8-yard TD pass to make it 14-6 early in the second quarter.
“Ryan Hogan had a great night,” Picariello said. “Other than the interception and missed exchange (fumble), he had a very good night. He distributed the ball nicely (five Chatham receivers caught passes). That was a really good touchdown pass to Sonny. Ryan managed the game well. That is big for us. We rely on our quarterback to do that.”
With stellar QB Will Allen at the controls for Chatham last year, Hogan bided his time on the JV, where he gained a lot of experience. He also put his time in in the weight room.
“He is a student of the game who wants to play and works insanely hard at his craft,” Picariello said. “You knew he was going after it after watching him work so hard.”
The passing game figures to perk up with the return of Lagunowich, who just verbaled to Notre Dame for lacrosse. Lagunowich (53 receptions, 757 yards, 6 TDs last year) was one of the very best receivers in all of Morris-Sussex last year.
Lagunowich is just getting into the flow after having been out on his South Bend visit but was still able to haul in three passes for 38 yards against Montville after just two days of practice. Arden led the receivers with five catches for 82 yards.
Running back Shep Boyd, meanwhile, has already shown himself to be one of the best running backs in the area. He used his speed and quickness to go 24 for 118 against Montville. He was a big contributor on the Chatham freshman team three years ago but stressed lacrosse and was good enough to earn a lax scholarship to Michigan before deciding to return to football as a senior.
He was 18 for 137 and four TDs in a 34-0 win over Morris Hills on opening day.
“Our running game is huge,” MacAniff said. “Shep Boyd has been a real weapon. He is a hidden gem that people didn’t see coming. And it’s great to have Nick back. He was our best receiver last year and having him back is another weapon.”
“It’s so great to have Shep back,” Bigham added. “He gets to the hole and he can really move and that gives us a huge advantage.”
The Chatham O-Line looked strong against Montville and was expected to be a strong point this year with the return of three starters (Ryan Bailey, Penn-bound Jase Catullo, and Dylan Abernathy) and has newcomers Cooper Pizzonia and Charlie Murray, a starter on defense last year. Plus Bigham (3 for 31, TD) was imposing at tight end against Montville.
The Chatham defense, meanwhile, shut down what had been a high-powered Montville offense that was averaging 37 points per game coming in.
The Cougars put together a strong pass rush against talented QB Jackson Gering, the latest in a long line of strong QBs at the school. He finished 6 of 18 for 70 yards and was picked off twice. He was also sacked four times by four different defenders.
“We put a bunch of pressure on him,” Bigham said. “He’s had a good past two games so we blitzed a lot and trust our guys in the secondary. Mike two great INTs. Four
different kids got a sack. That helps when you are getting to the quarterback. You want to get in his face and make it harder.
“One of our coaches (Pat DeMartino) looked at film of Montville and Gering was never hit. And when he was hit, it was an inaccurate pass.”
“We knew that their QB was young and in his first varsity season, and our defensive schemes were to throw everything imaginable at him,” MacAniff added. “On one play, we’d blitz six guys and the next play we’d drop eight. I think we got into his head early.”
Chatham was constantly in the Montville backfield with Murray (1 ½ sacks, 1 ½ tackles for loss), Caden Gabriele (½ sack), Bigham (1 tackle for loss), Tyler Alvarez (1 ½ tackles for loss), Will Richie (1 sack, 1 tackle for loss), Daton Loftin (½ sack, 1 ½ tackles for loss), and Arden (1 tackle for loss) doing much of the damage.
The defense is loaded with college-level talent. Arden has committed to Carnegie-Melon. Murray has committed to Denison. Gabrielle will either be a preferred walk-on at Bucknell or will play in the NASCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference). Catullo will play at Penn.
All of them had a hand in toppling Montville.
“The QB has great arm talent and we had to defend that and we did a great job,” Picariello said. “Our coaches tried to confuse them with different looks and we put the pressure on when we needed to.”
What a difference a year makes. Last year, Montville routed Chatham, winning 34-13. Chatham was able to recover, surprising Mount Olive a week later and advancing to the sectional semifinals in North 2, Group IV by winning at Wayne Valley (24-7) before losing at Phillipsburg (31-7).
“Last year, we lost to Montville and it cost us,” Bigham said. “Beating them was a stepping stone to win the league because they were the team to beat. If we keep rolling, we have a chance to host a playoff game and it’s been awhile since we have done that (host Chatham beat West Essex in 2015). We lost to Phillipsburg in the state semifinals last year and we’d like to get past that.
“But we had some sloppy plays against Montville and hopefully we can clean that up.”
“Beating them was definitely a statement,” MacAniff said. “I think we are the two best in our conference and I think the way we beat them is huge right now.
“They were really good and beat us last year and were itching to get back at them. Their running back (Anthony Feaster) was really good and he tore us apart and made everyone frustrated and it was one of our worst games.Everybody was so ready to get back at them.”
Oh, Chatham got back, all right – with a shot heard all around Morris County and beyond.
