Group 3 Semifinals Preview: Somerville Pioneers vs. Mainland Mustangs

Group 3 Finals:
When: Friday, 7 pm
Where: Brooks Field, Somerville
Matchup: Mainland (9-3, South 3 champions) at Somerville (12-0, Central 3 champions)
Coverage: LISTEN LIVE on cjsportsradio.com (Mike Pavlichko, Nick Kosko)
Weather: 37 degrees, clear, 84% chance of rain, wind South 4 mph (from scoreboard end of stadium, end zone to end zone)

HEAD COACHES:

Somerville: Matt Bloom (2nd full season season, 19-6)
Delsea: Chuck Smith (9th season, 59-37)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Somerville:
First Round: def. #8 Absegami, 40-0
Semifinals: def. #4 Ocean City, 30-14
Central Jersey Group 3 Final: def. #7 Delsea, 24-6

Delsea:
First Round: def. #2 Burlington Twp., 29-12
Semifinals: def. #3 Cedar Creek, 28-14
South Jersey Group 3 Final: def. #4 Seneca, 42-14

Who’s next? The winner of this game will play the winner of the other Group 3 semifinal between North 2 winner Old Tappan (10-1) and North 1 winner Pascack Valley. That game also is Friday night, but starts an hour earlier, at 6 pm. The title game could be any one of a number of dates after Thanksgiving at either Rutgers University’s SHI Stadium in Piscataway, or at MetLife Stadium up at the Meadowlands.

SERIES HISTORY:

Despite playing varsity football since 1903, Somerville’s history with South Jersey teams is pretty thin. Last week’s Central Jersey Group 3 title game against Delsea was the first time those two teams had met.

This will be the first meeting between the Pioneers and Mainland. In fact, of the four playoff teams they’ve played already and will play Friday, Absegami is the only one Somerville played before, beating the Braves 37-7 in the South Group 3 first round in 2019, before falling to Woodrow Wilson in the title game two weeks later.

PREVIEWS:

FINALS HISTORY:

Somerville:

Friday’s title win over Delsea in the Central Jersey Group 3 Final continues their long and storied playoff history; it was the Pioneers’ ninth sectional title in their 16th appearance – both Somerset County records.

They won their first championship in 1976, then won two more more in 1977 and 1979. After the Kevin Carty era in the 1990s – which saw them win the title over Manasquan in 1994 – there was a big downturn, but the program was rejuvenated by Jeff Vanderbeek, who delivered the Pioneers’ eighth and most recent title before this season’s in 2017, topping Rumson-Fair Haven at Rutgers. They went to two finals in between, losing both times: in 2018 to Rumson again, and in 2019 down at Woodrow Wilson, now Camden Eastside.

*Somerville celebrates its 2024 Central Jersey Group 3 title at Brooks Field on November 15, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)*

Playoff Berths: 30
Playoff Record: 35-20
Finals Berths: 16
Sectional Titles: 9

Central Group 2
1976: #1 Somerville 27 def. #2 Red Bank 6
Central Group 3
1977: #3 Somerville def. #1 Hightstown, 28-6
1979: #1 Somerville def. #2 Manasquan, 27-14
1981: #2 Ewing def. #4 Somerville, 21-18 (OT)
Central Group 2
1983: #1 Somerville def. #3 West Windsor, 30-6
1984: #1 Asbury Park def. #2 Somerville, 16-0
1985: #2 Somerville def. #1 Freehold Boro, 27-25
1986: #1 Somerville def. #2 Manasquan, 10-0
1990: #1 Manasquan def. #2 Somerville, 35-0
1994: #2 Somerville def. #4 Manasquan, 21-14 (Giants Stadium)
1999: #1 Manasquan def. #2 Somerville, 26-19
2000: #2 Manasquan def. #1 Somerville, 7-3
Central Group 3:
2017: #2 Somerville def. #1 Rumson-Fair Haven, 20-15 (at Rutgers)
2018: #2 Rumson-Fair Haven def. #1 Somerville, 42-35
South Group 3:
2019: #1 Woodrow Wilson def. #2 Somerville, 54-30
Central Group 3:
2024: #1 Somerville def. #7 Delsea, 24-6

Mainland:

The Mustangs playoff history has been somewhat streaky. They’ve been to the playoffs 23 times, with a 32-14 record. They’ve won eight titles in just ten tries, making them 8-2 in sectional title games.

Some of those titles have come in bunches. Their first came in 1980, and while they didn’t win another for 16 years, they won back-to-back in 1996 and 1997, and made it to the 199 final, losing to Ocean City. They won another in 2002, then went to consecutive finals in 2007 and 2008 – winning in the second of those trips – before going on another long drought of 14 years without a finals berth.

Chuck Smith arrived on the scene in 2016, and in year seven got the Mustangs back to the finals, winning Central 4 in 2022, South 4 in 2023 and South 3 this year. They reached the group semi stage in 2022, and won all of Group 4 last season.

Playoff Berths: 23
Playoff Record: 32-14
Finals Berths: 10
Sectional Titles: 8

South Group 3:
1980: #4 Mainland def. #2 Overbrook, 15-12
1996: #2 Mainland def. #1 Pennsauken, 14-7
1997: #1 Mainland beat #3 Toms River South, 21-7
1999: #6 Ocean City def. #1 Mainland, 21-18
2002: #3 Mainland def. #1 Delsea, 21-7
South Group 4:
2007: #1 Toms River North def. #3 Mainland, 22-19
2008: #1 Mainland def. #6 Southern, 21-14
Central Group 3:
2022: #3 Mainland beat #1 Middletown South, 34-24 (
2023: #2 Mainland beat #1 Millville, 35-13 (Mainland def. Winslow, 41-0, in Group 4 semifinals) (Mainland def. Ramapo, 56-0, in Group 4 Championship Game at Rutgers, finished 14-0)
2024: #2 Mainland def. #4 Seneca, 42-14

2024 SOMERVILLE COVERAGE:

STAT LEADERS:

Somerville

Passing: QB Brendan Pacheco (102-171 for 1,512 yds, 24 TD, 3 INT)
Receiving: WR Brady Scheier (37-547 yds, 8 TD); WR Josh Rodriguez (23-456 yds, 6 TD)
Rushing: RB Terrell Mitchell (158-1,317 yds, 18 TD)
Tackles: LB Max Nuzzi (87, 48 solo); LB Justin Bowen (50, 24 solo)
Sacks: LB Max Nuzzi, LB Justin Bowen (3)
TFLs: LB Max Nuzzi, DE Giovanni Ippolito (7)
INT: S Brady Scheier (4), CB Josh Rodriguez (3)

Mainland

Passing: QB John Franchini (89-163 for 1,914 yds, 19 TD, 10 INT)
Receiving: WR Jake Blum (39-1,061 yds, 13 TD); RB Lucas DiBiaso (20-364 yds, 1 TD)
Rushing: RB Rocco DiBiaso (141-913 yds, 13 TD)
Tackles: LB Chase Hoag (101), LB Rocco DiBiaso (82)
Sacks: DE Matt Muits (9); LB Rocco DiBiaso (5)
TFLs: LB Chase Hoag (20)
INT: CB Khaleeb Foster (5, 2 for TDs)

NEWS & NOTES:

Offense/Defense…

This year’s Somerville football team is putting a lot of points on the board, and not giving up many at all. At 12-0, they have scored 415 points for an average of 34.6 per game. On defense, they have pitched three shutouts, holding eight opponents to fewer than ten points – including Delsea last week – allowing a total of 98 points, edging their average down to 8.2 allowed per game.

How does that compare to the more recent Somerville success? The 2016 squad that lost in the sectional semifinals to Rumson scored 46.7 per game overall, allowing 16.2. The 2017 title team scored 39.8 overall, and allowed 20.2, the fewest points they scored and most they allowed per game in the four-year run that saw The ‘Ville go 43-4 over four seasons, reaching three sectional finals.

But the 8.4 points allowed a game is not a record. It’s only the best since Kevin Carty was head coach in 2004. That team lost in the opening round of the Central Group 2 playoffs to Carteret, 28-8, but only allowed 72 points all year for a 7.2 points per game average. Take out the playoff loss, and they allowed just 4.9 a game during the regular season. This squad allowed 8.6 per game in the regular season.

Disciplined vs. Delsea …

Somerville knew it would be in for a stiff test last week with Delsea, which re-installed its Wing-T in the middle of the season.

Surprisingly, the Crusaders – with a methodical offense, not built to come from behind – won the opening toss, but deferred to the second half, giving the Pioneers the ball first. And when they scored, it left Delsea playing from behind.

They answered on their first possession with an 89-yard scoring drive to even the game up at 6-6, but they wouldn’t manage that many yards the entire rest of the game, as Somerville’s defense locked down.

Undefeated, but more to play…

Since the playoffs expanded to eight teams per section in 1998, there have been seven state sectional title winners from Somerset County. (Middlesex has had 28 in that time period.) Five of them won titles undefeated. That includes Hillsborough in 2021 (13-0), Ridge in 2013 (12-0), Immaculata in 2006 (12-0), and of course, the Pioneers this year, 12-0. But unlike two of those other teams, the road does not end here.

Wait, where’s the fourth?

Well, Ridge and Immaculata finished their seasons undefeated. Hillsborough played one more game, the South 5 Regional Championship, and beat Kingsway to establish a new Somerset County record for wins with 13. Bernards also was undefeated when the Mountaineers won their title last year, but they finished with a loss in the Group 2 semifinals to Westwood.

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.)