North Brunswick senior quarterback Frankie Garbolino (Source: @FrankieGarbs10 on Twitter)
If North Brunswick is going to get another crack at that elusive championship for its most successful head coach ever, the road will go through the Big Central.
The 2nd-seeded Raiders will face Edison – which they already beat this year – in the Central Jersey Group 5 semifinals next week after beating 7-seed Hunterdon Central 45-31 Friday night in the playoffs’ opening round. The 6th-seeded Eagles knocked off defending CJ5 champion and 3rd-seed Hillsborough on the road Friday night in another first-round game, 10-7.
A win puts North Brunswick in the title game for the second year in a row, and the third time in five playoff seasons. (There were no playoffs in 2020.)
The Red Devils’ fell to 4-6 with the loss, which came in their first playoff appearance since 2016, and first under head coach Casey Ransone.
North Brunswick – which suffered its first loss of the season last week to Cranford – was leading by just a touchdown with a few minutes to go when Willie Wilson sealed the deal with a pick-six to put the Raiders up two scores in a game that saw see-saws in momentum and went back and forth all night.
Next week’s game between the Raiders (8-1) and Eagles (7-3) will be in North Brunswick, with kickoff set for 7:00 pm.
Click below for postgame reaction from North Brunswick head coach Mike Cipot: