Eastern Regional Football 2026 Preview, Players and Schedule | Top 25 Public HSFB
Series
2026 Teams to Know Season Preview: Eastern Regional (NJ)
Eastern Regional returns 16 starters from a 6-4 playoff team and has the experience to make a deeper New Jersey run.
Top 25 Public HSFB8/25/20266 min read
Eastern Regional finished 6-4 and reached the New Jersey playoffs last season. The Vikings now bring back 16 starters, which is enough experience to expect more than another respectable finish.
Terry Cook, Kenan Clymer, Jacob Wolf, Brayden Dove and A'Shaad Carter give Lionel Bolen experience throughout the lineup. Newcomers Anthony Salamone and Jonah Lee can strengthen that rotation, while Marcus Nesmith has an opportunity to become a larger part of it.
Team Snapshot
Team: Eastern Regional Vikings
Location: Voorhees, New Jersey
Head Coach: Lionel Bolen
2025 Record: 6-4
2025 Finish: NJSIAA playoff qualifier
Returning Starters: 7 offense, 9 defense
Sixteen Starters Change the Expectation
Nine returning defensive starters should give Eastern its most reliable early advantage. A veteran defense can get lined up, communicate through motion and keep one bad play from turning into an entire bad quarter. That stability is how the Vikings can create better field position for an offense returning seven starters of its own.
Cook and Clymer give Eastern established two-way leaders, while Wolf and Dove help anchor a defense returning nine starters. The summer has added more than continuity. Jonah Lee played his way into the conversation after arriving from Cherokee, and immediately eligible junior Joshua Reyes gives the secondary another 6-foot-1 athlete after transferring from Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn.
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Eastern reached opening week healthy after getting useful work against Old Bridge, Southern, Glassboro and Millville in preseason scrimmages. That matters because the Vikings will have to navigate the opening stretch before Anthony Salamone is expected to be available for the Northern Burlington game. The defense has enough experience to carry that stretch, but the larger question is whether the offense can finish more drives and turn a veteran roster into something more dangerous than a first-round opponent.
Players to Know
Terry Cook, WR/DB, Class of 2027
Cook is a first-team all-conference athlete and one of the clearest reasons Eastern believes this veteran group can take another step. At 5-foot-11 and about 190 pounds, he has the build to work through contact on offense and match physical receivers on defense. The Vikings can move him around, but his biggest value is reliability: he is an established two-way player on a team that should not need many weeks to find its identity.
Kenan Clymer, DB/WR, Class of 2027
Clymer is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound defensive back with the length to contest throws and enough offensive ability to give Eastern another option at receiver. His recruitment now includes verified offers from UConn, Stony Brook, Eastern Michigan and Maine. That attention makes sense, but the immediate value for the Vikings is simpler: Clymer can take on a featured matchup and let the rest of an experienced secondary play faster.
Jacob Wolf, DE/OT, Class of 2027
Wolf already has starting experience on both lines, and that matters on a roster built around continuity. As a sophomore, he was credited with 2.5 sacks and three fumble recoveries across 10 games. He is not the biggest edge defender Eastern will see, but his motor and ability to find the football can make him one of the players who turns all that returning experience into takeaways.
Brayden Dove, LB/RB, Class of 2027
Dove brings a linebacker's mentality and a running back's usefulness in short-yardage situations. The roughly 200-pound three-sport athlete has already earned second-team all-conference recognition on defense. On a unit returning nine starters, he should be free to attack instead of learning the defense on the fly, and Eastern can use that same physicality when the offense needs hard yards.
A'Shaad Carter, RB, Class of 2029
Carter is the youngest player in this group, which makes his place in the early conversation noteworthy by itself. He showed balance and sharp change-of-direction ability before reaching high school, traits that can translate quickly in space. Carter gives the Vikings a different kind of back to develop behind an experienced roster.
Anthony Salamone, QB, Class of 2027, and Jonah Lee, EDGE/LB, Class of 2029
Salamone arrives from St. Joseph after passing for 1,368 yards and 13 touchdowns with only three interceptions last season. He is expected to be ready for the Northern Burlington game, so Eastern first has to work through Hunterdon Central, Cherry Hill East and Atlantic City before adding an experienced senior quarterback. Lee is at the other end of the timeline: the sophomore transfer from Cherokee made 39 tackles as a freshman and has already played well this summer. If he carries that work into the season, Eastern's deep defense becomes even harder to keep off the field.
Joshua Reyes, DB/WR, Class of 2028, and Marcus Nesmith, DB/WR, Class of 2028
Reyes is an immediately eligible junior transfer from Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. At 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, he gives Eastern another long defensive back who can also help at receiver, and his arrival creates useful competition in an already experienced secondary. Nesmith is a returning junior with the same two-way position profile. His next step is turning that versatility into a larger role on defense, at receiver or in the kicking game while the Vikings sort through a crowded rotation.
Schedule Breakdown
Eastern Regional Opens up against Hunterdon Central this Thursday (8/27). The road opener matters because it will show whether the veteran defense is ready to set the tone immediately while the offense works toward full strength.
The league stretch offers few quiet weeks. Lenape, Rancocas Valley and Williamstown all come on the road, while Atlantic City, Paul VI and Pennsauken visit Voorhees. The Oct. 22 trip to Williamstown closes the regular season and could carry direct playoff-positioning weight.
Complete 2026 Schedule
Aug. 27: at Hunterdon Central
Sept. 3: Cherry Hill East
Sept. 10: Atlantic City
Sept. 18: at Northern Burlington
Sept. 25: at Lenape
Oct. 2: Paul VI
Oct. 9: at Rancocas Valley
Oct. 16: Pennsauken
Oct. 22: at Williamstown
Biggest Question
Can Eastern turn 16 returning starters into the consistency needed for a deeper playoff run?
Experience should eliminate some of the weekly volatility, but the Vikings still have to finish. I want to see the offense convert field position into points and the nine returning defensive starters create short fields of their own. That is how a 6-4 team becomes a real postseason threat.
Bottom Line
Eastern has enough experience to expect a meaningful step forward. The Vikings do not need a new identity. They need the returning one to become sharper, deeper and more dependable when the schedule tightens.
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7-2 regular season. Playing in the Group 5 South section in New Jersey is no easy task. I like this team to win a playoff game and could be one to keep an eye at to make a run at dethroning Washington Township.
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