The Green Knights football team is preparing for week 3 of their 2026 season.
On Friday, SJR matches up against the DePaul Spartans, away in Wayne. The match up features the two defending state champions in their respective non-public groups. The 2026 Green Knights football team has officially found their groove, as they are coming off a hard-fought 24-17 road win against Delbarton.
So far, through the first three games, the SJR offense has shown talent on offense. This season QB Ralph Tristani has led the offense, throwing for 336 yards, and 3 touchdowns. Last week at Delbarton, freshman quarterback William Mitchell also contributed at the quarterback spot. Mitchell threw for 158 yards, and completed 2 touchdown passes. So far this season, Mitchell has thrown for 199 yards, and has a 70% completion rate.
Senior Co-Captain Stalin Knowlden leads the passing game with 6 touchdowns and 228 receiving yards. Knowlden has also been a huge asset for special teams. Through 3 games, he has racked up 176 yards on kick returns. On the ground, junior running-back Andrew Wilson Jr. has run for 135 yards, and scored 3 touchdowns.
On the defensive side of the ball, SJR has a very talented group. The "D" has racked up 190 tackles, and 18 tackles for loss. Junior Tahj Gray leads the team in tackles with 23. The defense has 8 sacks on the season, with sophomore Jonah Parker individually leading with 2.
SJR is looking for a repeat performance from a year ago in Wayne, when to took care of the Spartans 31-14
"I think DePaul is a good team, but all we are worried about right now is executing our job," said Coach Augie Hoffmann.
At 2-1 on the year, DePaul is led by head coach Nick Campanile. The Spartans are coming off of a 21-18 road loss against Monsignor Farrell. To open the season, the team had two home games, winning both against Red Bank Catholic and Seton Hall Prep.
Leading the Spartans offense is junior quarterback Frank Morano. Morano has racked up 668 passing yards and has thrown 6 touchdown passes to go along with 4 interceptions and a 62% completion percentage. DePaul's biggest assets on offense are senior running-back Sean Nevers and senior wide receiver Kyron Dubose who have each scored 3 touchdowns, and have combined for 423 yards.
Kickoff is set for 6pm Friday night in Wayne.
