North 2, Group 1 Final Preview: New Providence Pioneers vs. Cedar Grove Panthers

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 Final:
When: Friday, 7 pm
Where: Cedar Grove HS
Matchup: #2 New Providence (9-2) at #1 Cedar Grove (11-0)
Coverage: Follow Dom Savino on Twitter.
Weather: 50 degrees, clear, wind NNW 7 mph (crosswind toward press box side of the field)

HEAD COACHES:

New Providence: Chet Parlavecchio, Jr. (8th season, 51-30)
Cedar Grove: Rob Gogerty (9th season, 71-25)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

New Providence:
First Round: def. #7 Boonton, 49-24
Semifinals: def. #3 Hasbrouck Heights, 21-14

Cedar Grove:
First Round: def. #8 Wallkill Valley, 38-6
Semifinals: def. #4 Verona, 42-14

Who’s next? The winner of this game will play the North 1, Group 1 winner in the Group 1 semifinals. That game is Friday night at 7:00 up in Morris County. That’s where top-seeded Butler (10-0) will entertain No. 3 seed Mountain Lakes (6-4) for a title. If New Providence wins, they would play in the semis at Butler if the Bulldogs win, since they finished ahead of the Pioneers in the North Group 1 supersection. Should Mountain Lakes pull the upset, New Providence would host.

SERIES HISTORY:

These two teams have played quite a bit over the years, with the most recent meeting coming in 2011. That was in the North 2, Group 1 semifinals, with New Providence the 2-seed and Cedar Grove the No. 3 seed, and the Pioneers lost 20-14. That was also New Prov’s last trip to the sectional semifinals, until this year.

Overall, the series is tied 7-7 with two ties, and there’s some odd symmetry in their meetings. The two ties came in the first two years’ of New Providence’s program, in 1965 and 1966. The Pioneers then won three straight over the next three years (1967-1969), then lost two straight (1970-71).

They wouldn’t meet up again until 1983, the first of nine straight playoff meetings. The first was a 3-0 New Providence loss in the North 2, Group 1 title. The Pioneers also lost to the Panthers in the 2000 sectional final, 12-0.

The Pioneers lead the regular season series 3-2-2, while Cedar Grove owns a 4-5 advantage in the playoffs.

PREVIEWS:

• New Providence looks to pen latest championship chapter in North 2, Group 1 title bout Friday at Cedar Grove
• Petses paves the way for New Providence’s first trip to sectional finals in 14 years

FINALS HISTORY:

New Providence:

New Providence is in the finals for the first time since 2010, when they were the top seed in North 2, Group 1 and beat sixth-seed Lincoln 21-8 at Met Life Stadium. Before that, they had lost in their last eight finals appearances since winning three in a row from 1987 to 1989. They then lost six more in the ’90s, and again in 2000 and 2004.

New Providence also won a title in 1976, and in the first year of the playoffs, 1974, they were declared champions.

Overall, they have been to 19 prior finals, going 6-13 in those title games.

Playoff Berths: 40
Playoff Record: 34-33

North 2, Group 2
1974: declared champions
1975: #2 Madison def. #4 New Providence, 35-6
1976: #1 New Providence def. #2 Butler, 20-17
1979: #1 Madison def. #3 New Providence, 13-6
North 2, Group 1
1982: #1 Glen Ridge def. #1 New Providence, 28-14
1983: #3 Cedar Grove def. #1 New Providence 3-0
1984: #2 Chatham def. #1 New Providence, 20-14
1987: #2 New Providence def. #1 Mountain Lakes, 29-0
1988: #2 New Providence def. #1 Brearley, 30-14
1989: #1 New Providence def. #2 Governor Livingston, 24-0
1990: #2 Butler def. #1 New Providence, 19-13
1993: #1 Roselle Park def. #2 New Providence, 10-7
1994: #2 Butler def. #1 New Providence, 35-21
1996: #3 Butler def. #4 New Providence, 16-8
1998: #6 Madison def. #1 New Providence, 19-13
1999: #2 Belvidere def. #4 New Providence, 6-0
2000: #2 Cedar Grove def. #4 New Providence, 12-0
Central Group 1
2004: #2 Florence def. #4 New Providence, 35-7
North 2, Group 1
2010: #1 New Providence def. #6 Lincoln, 21-8

Cedar Grove:

The Panthers won their first title five years into the playoff era, declared champions in 1978. They won their first title game in 1983, and it took another 17 years for them to get to another, which they also won in 2000, the first of five titles in six trips to a championship that decade. This will be Cedar Grove’s third trip to the finals in the four years since COVID, including 2021, when they also won the North Group 1 Regional Championship.

Playoff Berths: 25
Playoff Record: 35-24
Previous Finals Berths: 13
Sectional Titles: 8

North 2, Group 1
1978: declared
1983: #3 Cedar Grove def. #1 New Providence, 3-0
2000: #2 Cedar Grove def. #4 New Providence, 12-0
2001: #6 Verona def. #1 Cedar Grove, 15-14
2004: #3 Cedar Grove def. #3 Hoboken, 6-0
2007: #3 Cedar Grove def. #1 Belvidere, 17-0
2009: #2 Cedar Grove def. #1 Secaucus 30-14
2011: #3 Cedar Grove def. #4 Weequahic, 34-21
North 1, Group 1
2012: #3 Pompton Lakes def. #1 Cedar Grove, 28-13
2015: #4 Verona def. #3 Cedar Grove, 21-14
2019: #4 Boonton def. #2 Cedar Grove, 34-21
North 2, Group 1
2021: #2 Cedar Grove def. #1 Mountain Lakes, 15-7 (Cedar Grove def. Park Ridge in North 1 Regional Championship, 13-12)
2022: #2 Weequahic def. #4 Cedar Grove, 21-10

2024 NEW PROVIDENCE COVERAGE:

• Three more TD runs from Munn send New Providence into first sectional title game since 2010, with 21-14 win over Hasbrouck Heights
• INSTANT REPLAY – North 2, Group 1 Semifinals: (2) New Providence 21, (3) Hasbrouck Heights 14
• New Providence seeks first finals berth since 2010 when Hasbrouck Heights visits Friday
• Munn runs it! New Providence takes out Boonton, 49-24, in North 2, Group 1 first round
• New Providence pounds the rock, tops Delaware Valley, 28-21, to head into playoffs with a win
• Marcus Borden’s 2024 GMC/BCC Camp Caravan: Monday Morning quad scrimmage kicks off Week Two with JFK, Dayton and New Providence

NEWS & NOTES:

The Big 5-0!

Now in his eighth season, head coach Chet Parlavecchio, Jr., picked up his 50th with with the Pioneers in their playoff-opening home win over Boonton. He’s now 51-30 in that span, and making his first title game appearance.

T.J. and A.J. …

The bulk of the New Providence comes from two players, and while it may seem like stopping one of them would be the key to a win, you pretty much have to stop both, and it hasn’t been easy.

New Providence has passed for just 627 yards while running for 2,316 this season. Senior quarterback T.J. Munn accounts for 1,057 of those and 16 touchdowns, while junior runningback A.J. Whitehead is responsible for 1,041 of those, and 12 scores. That means they have accounted for 91 percent of the team’s yards on the ground. Of 298 run plays, it’s been those two 85 percent of the time.

And of course, Munn can throw the ball, though he hasn’t done it a lot, going 46-for-70 for 3 TDs and 4 interceptions. (He hasn’t thrown one in the last four games.) Still, factor in the 76 passing plays, and Munn or Whitehead have been involved in 88 percent of every play.

Repping Union County…

While Union has won the most titles in the playoff era, taking home eleven trophies since 1974, it’s New Providence that actually leads the county with 40 playoff berths in 50 postseasons (none in 2020 due to COVID) and 20 finals berths overall. This is their first finals trip, however, in 14 years.

Cedar Grove run…

The Panthers are one of eleven undefeated teams left in New Jersey, but are no Johnny-come-lately. Cedar Grove is 11-0, but also was 8-2 last season, and 9-3 two seasons ago and 12-1 in 2021 with a win in the last North 1 Regional Championship (group champs started the next year) over Park Ridge, 13-12 at Met Life Stadium. Add it all up, and they’re 40-6 since the COVID season, and they weren’t too shabby that year either, going 7-1.

Two teams won in 1987, but while Franklin beat West Windsor for the Central 3 title, Ridge’s Central 2 title was “declared,” as no other teams qualified in that section. (Teams had to be .500 by the Cutoff to qualify.)