There was little surprise at the top of the North Group 3 standings after Friday night’s games, as Cranford – now 7-0 after a 42-13 win over Linden – held on to the top spot, according to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s exclusive unofficial UPR calculations.
The Cougars – who maintain a 1 UPR, tops in both power point average and OSI, with their regular season finale at Montgomery next week – remained firmly in place, with West Morris in second at 2.4 UPR, but with a Saturday game at Morris Knolls this week still pending. Both teams are 5-2, but a West Morris win shouldn’t bump them up enough to overtake the Cougars, and third place River Dell remains there, even with a Friday night win.
Summit dropped a spot on the bye wee, jumped by Wayne Valley, which won Friday night.
At the bottom, North Plainfield’s 35-13 win over Johnson – coupled with Demarest’s 49-28 home loss to Westwood – climbed into the 16th spot in the standings with a UPR of 17. But the lead over Morris Hills is narrow. Still, they already played this weekend, losing big Friday night to Sparta, so it’ll likely come down to next week.
The Canucks are at 3-4 South River next Saturday afternoon. Morris Hills (3-5, 17th) is at Randolph (5-2) next Saturday. Demarest (3-5, 18th) is at Bergenfield next week, not a huge pickup for the Norsemen, should they win.
But let’s put it plainly: we believe the Canucks will clinch a postseason berth with a win at Bill Denny Stadium next Saturday afternoon.
