There are 23 undefeated teams left in New Jersey high school football, and the Big Central has three of them: St. Thomas Aquinas, Hillsborough, and Cranford. And all three have challenging games coming up the next two weeks.
Overall, there are 23 high school football teams in the Garden State with unblemished records. Only three are non-public schools; Aquinas (6-0) is joined by Bergen Catholic and Red Bank Catholic, both of which are 7-0.
Overall, the Shore Conference has four undefeated teams: including Middletown South at 5-0, while Long Branch and Point Pleasant Boro are both 6-0.
The West Jersey Football League has six. Gloucester City is 5-0, Nottingham is 6-0, and Ocean City, Woodbury and Delsea are all 7-0. Cedar Creek leads the state with the most wins, at 8-0.
The North Jersey Super Football Conference has eight teams unbeaten. East Orange, Caldwell and Dumont are all 6-0, but Dumont isn’t eligible for the playoffs, being in one of the Ivy “relief” divisions. Ramsey, Newton, Northern Highlands, Ramapo and Bergen Catholic are all perfect through seven games.
The North Jersey Interscholastic Conference has two perfect teams. Park Ridge is 6-0. Bogota is 4-0, and like Dumont, ineligible for the postseason, being in a “relief” division.
Hillsborough, No. 2 in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten, plays at winless Piscataway this Friday night, then comes back home for a date with No. 8 North Brunswick at Noonan Field on cutoff weekend, the Raiders’ last big challenge before the playoffs.
No. 4 Cranford plays the last two games of a three-game road stretch, continuing this Friday at Linden, and next week at Montgomery, which has won two straight after an 0-4 start and in striking distance of the playoffs in North Group 4.
St. Thomas Aquinas – in a three-way tie for tenth in the latest rankings – is 6-0 and hasn’t allowed a point all year. Whether the shutout streak reaches seven games will be determined Friday night, when the Trojans welcome Governor Livingston (0-6) to North Edison. But next week, they face a much stiffer challenge when they welcome a really talented Delaware Valley team to Trojan Country.