Braden Negro
Sport: Football
School: Wood-Ridge
Class: Senior. Age: 17
Accomplishment: Negro sent the Blue Devils to the NJIC final after logging 17 carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns in the semifinal. He finished 9-for-16 in the air with 126 passing yards and a touchdown.
Also nominated: Jalen Powell of Becton, Van Weber of Rutherford, Cormac Smith of Hawthorne, Dominic Campanile of Bergen Catholic, and Damir Stone of St. Mary for football; Younes Abada of Secaucus and Tadael Mihret of Rutherford for cross-country; and Brandon Gjekjaj of Becton for soccer.
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Story by: SEAN FARRELL / NorthJersey.com
Braden Negro was one of the first to call it. Something special was about to happen at Wood-Ridge, even if no one else believed it.
That was clear to Negro long before the Blue Devils became the darlings of North Jersey football with their best start in five decades.
Before the social media videos of locker room dances, WWE belts and playful jabs at the media.
The Blue Devils built up their program behind the scenes, filing into the weight room after the 2021 season ended with the intention of pushing each other to be the best versions of themselves.
“Everyone gets to see the fun parts on social media, but we’re real serious when it comes to practice,” Negro said. “We put in a lot of work in the offseason and I knew that wasn’t going to waste.
Now the secret is out on Negro and the 7-0 Blue Devils.
The senior quarterback has been at the front of their evolution from a middling Group 1 program to an unbeaten powerhouse.
The Blue Devils captured their first division title in 36 years, then went a step further last week by beating Waldwick/Midland Park, in overtime, in the NJIC’s semifinal round.
Negro deflected credit to his receivers for getting open and his line for creating holes. All that’s on his mind now is getting past Rutherford on Friday night to give the Blue Devils their first conference title.
“It would be amazing,” Negro said. “It would be a huge, huge morale boost for the town. Wood-Ridge needs a big win like this.”
While Negro has turned his focus to Rutherford, it’s hard not to appreciate what he’s accomplished in the past.
Negro scored a touchdown in the air and two on the ground to complete the comeback over the Warriors after being shut out at the half.
As usual, the Blue Devils captain barely came off the field. He doubled as the free safety (five tackles) and punt returner (two for 35 yards) as well. His workload is back to normal after being limited by a tweaked knee in September.
“He’s a very smart player,” coach Joe Cutrona said. “He does everything right. He’s very coachable. So I knew he had it in him to pull out the second half like he did.”
Negro comes from a football family. His dad, Tom, was a linebacker for Becton who once threw passes to Cutrona on their title-winning flag football team about a decade ago.
That experience rubbed off on Braden, who filled in at QB as a sophomore before a temporary move to receiver a year ago.
Cutrona describes him as the “centerfielder of the defense” – a fitting label for a player who starts in right for the Wood-Ridge baseball team.
“He sees everything perfectly,” Cutrona said. “So he’s lights out on defense and he comes out there and hits you.”
“As a safety, you want to know what the quarterback is thinking,” Negro said. “It’s the same thing as a quarterback: you want to know what the safety is thinking and what are the responsibilities. It’s helped to go both ways.”
Negro said he’s starting to notice bigger crowds and a “huge shift” in town as the Blue Devils continue to surpass expectations. The fact that one media outlet picked them to finish fourth in the division turned into fodder for a recent postgame video.
Going up against the reigning NJIC champion Bulldogs is another chance to change the perception.
“We’ve been the underdog all year, so it’s nothing new to us,” Negro said. “We’re focused. We’re determined. We want this one bad.”
