Two more multipliers drop to NJSIAA’s “D” category; St. John Vianney no-longer in the mix

As the high school football season in New Jersey continues, a second team has dropped from the ranks of the multipliers, non-public teams the NJSIAA considers stronger and are worth bonus points for losses in the OSI part of the playoff formula.

St. John Vianney’s 36-26 loss at Wall Friday knocked the lancers out of the multiplier entirely. They were a “Tier D” multiplier; a win over them for a public school would still be worth full value, but a loss would have been worth 70 percent of the OSI, instead of the typical 50 percent.

But a new wrinkle this year states that if a Tier D multiplier loses to a public or non-public non-multiplier during the year, they are no longer considered a multiplier. That means Vianney is out, and all teams who lost to them only get 50 percent of their OSI value.

That would affect Carteret, which lost to the Lancers in Week Zero, 34-0. With an SI of 75.37, the Ramblers would have gotten 70 percent of that toward their OSI as a multiplier, or 52.76 points. Now, they will receive 37.69, a number that will continue to change until the week before the cutoff.

Meanwhile, St. Augustine is a loss away from losing its multiplier status. They were in Tier B, but NJSIAA rules say a first loss by any Tier A, B, or C multiplier moves them directly down to Tier D, with a second loss taking them out of the multiplier category entirely. The Hermits lost 21-7 at Winslow this past weekend.

Other teams “on the brink” include Donovan Catholic and Holy Spirit, both of whom already have one loss. Paul VI and St. Joseph-Metuchen began the season as Tier D multipliers, but both are undefeated so far.

Notre Dame was the first to lose its multiplier status. And that loss affects Bridgewater-Raritan, which took a 40-38 loss to the Irish on the road in Week Zero. With a 68.82 SI, the Panthers will get 34.41 OSI points (as of now), whereas they would have had 48.18 if Notre Dame had still been a multiplier.