Andy Steinfeld of East Brunswick High School was honored at halftime of the Marisa Rose Bowl as the Middlesex County Football Coach of the Year.
After dropping their opener to crosstown rival Old Bridge last season, the Bears reeled off eight consecutive victories to secure the program’s first winning campaign in more than a decade.
What made the Bears success more impressive is East Brunswick didn’t have any home games. Their field was damaged in an early season storm, forcing them to have “home” games at Franklin, Old Bridge and Sayreville.
Steinfeld played linebacker at East Brunswick under then head coach and current Marisa Rose Bowl founder and game director Marcus Borden, helping the Bears reach a sectional final as a senior in 1984. He went on to be an assistant coach at his alma mater for 25 seasons. He was named head coach in 2019.
“It’s something special to coach for your alma mater,” said Steinfeld, who teaches physical education at East Brunswick. “Being able to play there and go to school there and then being able to coach, I always said the only head coaching job I would ever want would be at my alma mater.”
Steinfeld even coached three of his current assistants when they played at East Brunswick including Matt Pazinko and Allen Grosholz, both of whom coached along Steinfeld in the Marisa Rose Bowl for the victorious Team Marisa, which won the inaugural charity all-star game 14-7 over Team Rose at North Brunswick High School on Thursday night.
“That’s a special thing for me to have those guys working hard for their alma mater,” said Steinfeld, also referring to current assistant Daniel Pike. “So I’m very grateful to have those guys. They do an excellent job to prepare our kids. Our coaching staff puts in a lot of time and they care about East Brunswick.”
East Brunswick entered the season with some question marks. Junior Ben Solimini stepped up at quarterback as a first-year starter and Noriano Smith emerged at running back after getting switched from receiver in the preseason. Captains Romeo Diaz, Franco Deguida and Jason Soliman helped provide leadership.
“Going into each week, the kids worked hard,” Steinfeld said. “They had goals. They wanted to be known as a playoff team. Once they got there, obviously, we wanted to win the playoff game (a 28-14 loss to Toms River North).
“We came up a little bit short of our goals, but I thought we had a successful season.”
All proceeds from the Marisa Rose Bowl benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which assists pediatric patients and underserved children throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
Since its inception less than five years ago, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has donated a quarter of a million dollars to fulfill its mission.
The nonprofit has also donated thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter jackets, baby supplies and other items upon which it has placed no monetary value.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has awarded $26,500 in academic scholarships to 38 high school graduates and an additional 13 scholarships for middle school and elementary school students to attend a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.
Marisa Rose Tufaro survived six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant before succumbing to a rare form of cancer in 2017 following a valiant battle.
Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctor’s appointments, Marisa was an honor roll student involved in myriad extracurricular activities who lived a vibrant life that inspired.
STORY WRITTEN BY ANDY MENDLOWITZ