NJSIAA announces Non-Public H.S. Football playoff seedings: Aquinas to host for second year in a row, while St. Joe’s heads up North

Round one of the public state playoffs for high school football is in the books, and this coming weekend, the non-public schools will suit up for the postseason, though some won’t for another week.

The NJSIAA has announced its seeding for Non-Public Groups A and B, with St. Joseph of Metuchen playing on the road in two weeks, getting a seven-seed in Group A, while St. Thomas Aquinas earned a first round home game with a five-seed in Group B.

Non-Public seedings are done by an NJSIAA committee, rather than directly by standings, though UPR, power points and OSI are considered during the process.

Non-Public A

Only eight teams are in this bracket, so it’s as straight up a tournament as they come. Bergen Catholic (8-1) earned the overall No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Don Bosco Prep (6-3), which the Crusaders beat back on September 28th, 24-20.

The Ironmen will welcome in St. Joseph-Metuchen – the seven-seed – on Friday, November 15th. The Falcons are 5-4 but have lost four straight heading into the playoffs, all to playoff teams: at Phillipsburg, to St. Thomas Aquinas, at Woodbridge, and this past weekend, to St. John Vianney at home, 33-29.

St. Joseph will be looking for its first playoff win in program history, though that program only played its first varsity season in 2011.

Here’s are the matchups in the section:

(8) Seton Hall Prep at (1) Bergen Catholic
(7) St. Joseph-Metuchen at (2) Don Bosco Prep
(6) St. Augustine at (3) Delbarton
(5) St. Peter’s Prep at (4) St. Joseph-Montvale

Non-Public B

DePaul (8-1) got the overall No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Red Bank Catholic (6-3) as part of a 14-team field, meaning both of them will get byes, while the other 12 play down to six.

St. Thomas Aquinas (7-2) – which was sixth in the UPR standings at the conclusion of last week’s play – got the five-seed overall, putting them at home in North Edison Friday night against 12th-seed St. Mary-Rutherford (7-3). The Trojans will be looking for their first playoff victory since 1986.

The Gaels have lost two of their last three, the most recent a 49-42 home defeat at the hands of Immcaulata (8-1), which received a nine-seed and will visit e8-seed Paul VI (6-2) Friday night.

Here are the matchups in that section: