Woodbridge captains come out for the coin toss before the Barrons’ regular season finale at home against Sayreville on October 20, 2023. (Source: @WhsBarronsFB on Twitter)
Woodbridge has been here before.
Last year, the Barrons fell in the opening round of the state playoffs, 49-19 to Ramapo. The year before, they fell 38-0 to Ridge in 2021.
This year’s edition finished the regular season with an overall record of 6-3, Big Central Liberty Division champs having swept its four divisional games, and closed having won four of their last five games. But none of that matters, the playoffs are here and now for the seventh-seeded Barrons.
Woodbridge’s defense will be the key against a high-octane Ridge offense that has scored 25-plus points in seven of their eight games. No. 2 seed Ridge finished the year 7-1 with its one loss coming to Phillipsburg, who’s also 7-1 this season, 21-14 back on Sept. 8. Ridge finished a perfect 4-0 at home, while Woodbridge is just 1-3 on the road. Those three road losses are by a combined 13 points.
Beating Ridge may be a steep hill to climb, but with quarterback Derek Anderson, who has 25 total touchdowns and only one interception, anything is possible. Woodbridge will need him to be on his A-game. A win would put the Barrons in the sectional semifinals next week visiting either 6th-seed Randolph or 3rd-seed Northern Highlands.
A win for Woodbridge would be the first in the postseason since 2019, when they went to the North 1 Group 4 title game but lost at Northern Highlands, 37-7.
You can hear Friday night’s game on Central Jersey Sports Radio with pregame starting at 6:45 and kickoff at 7. Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen will call all the action; click here to listen.
Click below to hear Dylan Allen talk with Woodbridge head coach Joe LaSala ahead of the North 1 Group 4 Quarterfinal matchup vs. Ridge.