Somerville looking to finish strong, facing a “Win and In” game at South Brunswick Friday night

At 2-5, having a season-opening victory taken off the board, and going through the gauntlet of a mostly Group 5 schedule for Group 3 Somerville, the Pioneers season had come down to two games. But one at a time.

In rolled Hillsborough, ranked No. 3 in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten. Banged up to be sure, with its first two quarterbacks out due to injury, but a team whose only loss came at the hands of Phillipsburg, the top-ranked team in the league.

And with a coaching change less than 48 hours before kickoff at Brooks Field, Must-Win Game No. 1 could have gone a lot of different ways.

That kickoff was the difference. Terrell Mitchell took it to the house, and before Hillsborough could blink, the Pioneers were up 14-0, en route to a 35-14 win.

Now, the second of those two must-win games, as Somerville (3-5) visits South Brunswick (3-4) in a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, where the winner will make the playoffs, and the loser may have to do some scoreboard watching.

You can hear Friday night’s game with Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe calling the play-by-play starting with pregame at 6:15, and kickoff at 6:30 pm from Mike Elko Field in Monmouth Junction. Click here to listen.

Somerville appears to have a new fire in its belly since offensive line coach Matt Bloom – the only holdover from the Dallas Whitaker/Jeff Vanderbeek era – was handed the reins, with Ian Pace no longer coaching the team. School administrators have not publicly commented on the change.

It wasn’t a distraction last week, and you can bet it won’t be this week.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Somerville head coach Matt Bloom: