Phillipsburg is the No. 1 team in the final Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten of 2024. (Photo: Christian Sanchez)
The 2024 high school football season has come to a close, and the Phillipsburg Stateliners will close it out as the No. 1 team in the final Central Jersey Sports Radio rankings of the year.
Not only did Phillipsburg win its ninth New Jersey state sectional title in the playoff era, but the Stateliners became the first Big Central Conference team to make the state finals, in the third year of the event.
Phillipsburg finishes the year 11-3, after a loss to Winslow in the Group 4 final at Rutgers Wednesday night.
Somerville (12-1) finished second, the only other league team to win a sectional title this year. The Pioneers beat Delsea to win the Central Jersey Group 3 title, but fell to Mainland in the Group 3 semifinals for their only loss. They also were Liberty Silver Division champions in the Big Central.
Checking in at No. 3 is Woodbridge (10-1), which also had a perfect regular season, and won the Liberty Gold Division in the Big Central. The Barrons went to the sectional semifinals in North 2, Group 4, bowing out to finalist Northern Highlands.
Fourth is St. Thomas Aquinas (8-3), which won the National Silver Division and will head into 2025 with a league-record 31-game Big Central Conference winning streak. The Trojans won their first playoff game since 2001, beating St. Mary-Rutherford, before bowing out to Holy Spirit in the Non-Public B quarterfinals.
Checking in at No. 5 is Bernards (11-1). The third Big Central team to go undefeated this regular season, a trip to the North 1, Group 2 finals might have been a dream in the preseason, after losing key players to graduation following last year’s sectional title win, but they ended up running the table in the regular season and got right back there, falling to eventual Group 2 finalist Shabazz.
Ridge (8-2) clocks in at No. 6, the American Silver Division Champions. They were the only Big Central school to beat Phillipsburg this year, handing them a touchdown loss back on September 20th.
In seventh is Rahway (7-3), which had a big win over Watchung Hills in early October.
The eighth-place team was one that was recognized all year, but never ranked: New Providence. The Pioneers finished 9-3, and were consistent all year, making it all the way to the North 2, Group 1 title game, where they fell to Cedar Grove, which ended up a state finalist, falling to Glassboro in the Group 1 title game.
Checking in at No. 9 is Hillsborough, which finished 7-4, coming on straight to win four straight heading into the playoffs. They bowed out in the second round to Rancocas Valley.
And in tenth is Piscataway, which also finished 7-4, but behind the Raiders because they lost to Hillsborough late in the season.
Also considered in the final rankings were the Freedom Gold and Freedom Silver champions, respectively – Spotswood (8-2) and Belvidere (8-2) – along with Cranford (7-3).
Below is the complete 2024 Final Central Jersey Sports Radio High School Football Top Ten:
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