Brearley, Hillside fall in Saturday sectional title games

While North Hunterdon earned the Big Central its section sectional championship Saturday – and fourth in two seasons for the fledgling league – both Brearley and Hillside lost their title tilts up in North Jersey.

North 1, Group 1 Final: #1 Mountain Lakes 16, #4 Brearley 8

Mountain Lakes struck first in the game, with a five-yard TD run from Jordan Hernando late in the first quarter, but Brearley almost got it back near the midway point of the second quarter, on a Matt Sims-to-Brendan Fitzsimmons 15-yard touchdown pass. But they missed the game-tying two-point conversion.

And when Mountain Lakes responded on the next drive with a Gavin Anderson 45-yard touchdown catch, few could have predicted it would be the last score of the game. But it would be, and Brearley would suffer its first loss of the season.

Matt Sims closed his Brearley career with his best year: 1,706 rushing yards (including 173 Saturday) and 1,131 passing (including 68 Saturday). He also threw 11 TD passes, but just one interception.

Brearley finishes the season 11-1.

Click below for postgame reaction from Chris Tsakonas with Brearley head coach Scott Miller:

North 1, Group 3 Final: #1 Old Tappan 28, #2 Hillside 14

Old Tappan got three touchdown runs from Aidan Heanay to beat Hillside 28-14 at home to win its first sectional title since 2017.

A Caleb Salters touchdown for the Comets with just under four minutes left got them to within two scores, but unlike in the first two rounds of the playoffs, a comeback was not in the offing for Hillside, which tried an on-side play on the ensuing kickoff, but saw the ball go out of bounds.

Syracuse-bound Mu Parkman scored the first Hillside touchdown, to get them within 21-7 with just over four minutes to go before halftime.

The Comets’ season ends at 9-2. Their only other loss came to St. Thomas Aquinas in Week Five.

Who’s left?

The only Big Central teams remaining in the playoffs are Edison and North Hunterdon.

The sixth-seeded Eagles won at top seed Lenape Friday night to take the Central Jersey Group 5 title. They will play in the South Group 5 semifinals against unbeaten Toms River North (12-0). The top-seed and South Jersey Group 5 champion next Saturday or Sunday at Cherokee High School in Medford – just a 15-minute drive from Lenape – with the day and time to be announced this weekend by the NJSIAA.

The top-seeded Lions won the North 2, Group 4 title Saturday at home, 49-35 over 2nd-seed Randolph, and move on to the North Group 4 semifinals at Franklin High School next Saturday or Sunday, again with the day and time to be announced by the NJSIAA this weekend. They will face North 1 Group 4 champion Northern Highlands (8-3).