The 2025 high school football season is upon us.
Teams have already begun their “game week” preparations for their openers, many of whom will kick off the season on Thursday, with more playing Friday and throughout the weekend. In fact, 44 of the 59 teams in the Big Central open in Week Zero, so named by the NJSIAA because playing that weekend was optional.
Now, it’s the standard.
So before we ask again, “Why can’t they just call it Week One?” – oops, guess we just did – here are links to all our coverage from the preseason!
And there’s plenty more to come this week. Monday, we reveal the Central Jersey Sports Radio Preseason Top 10. Marcus Borden has his own Big Central rankings, and new this year, he’ll have three regional top tens, one each for Middlesex and Union Counties, plus a third for the “Big Central West,” consisting of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren County teams.
The preseason Big Central and New Jersey Power Rankings will be out Monday as well. Additional stories will be out Tuesday and Wednesday, including our season-opener preview stories on Middlesex and Spotswood, as they open Thursday at 7 pm in Spotswood, plus the return of “Gameday” with Marcus Borden, which will drop every Thursday during the season right through into the playoffs.
DIVISION PREVIEWS:
- Freedom Gold (Brearley, Dayton, Highland Park, Roselle Park, South River, Spotswood
- Freedom Silver (Belvidere, Bound Brook, Dunellen, Manville, Middlesex, South Hunterdon)
- Patriot Gold (Bernards, Delaware Valley, JP Stevens, Voorhees)
- Patriot Silver (Johnson, Metuchen, New Providence, Roselle)
- United Gold (Carteret, Cranford, Hillside, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Summit)
- United Silver (Governor Livingston, JFK, New Brunswick, North Plainfield, South Plainfield)
- Liberty Gold (Colonia, Linden, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, Woodbridge)
- Liberty Silver (Montgomery, North Hunterdon, Rahway, Somerville, Watchung Hills)
- National Gold (East Brunswick, Monroe, Old Bridge, Piscataway, South Brunswick
- National Silver (Edison, Franklin, North Brunswick, Sayreville, St. Thomas Aquinas)
- American Gold (Elizabeth, St. Joseph-Metuchen, Union, Westfield)
- American Silver (Bridgewater-Raritan, Hillsborough, Hunterdon Central, Phillipsburg, Ridge)
MARCUS BORDEN’S CAMP CARAVAN 2025
Week 1 (Practices)
- Monday, August 11: Perth Amboy
- Tuesday, August 12: Montgomery
- Wednesday, August 13: Old Bridge
- Thursday, August 14: St. Thomas Aquinas
- Friday, August 15: Hunterdon Central
- Saturday August 16: Bernards
- Week 1 Notebook
Week 2 (Scrimmages)
- Monday August 18 at Colonia with North Brunswick, Carteret and Rahway
- Tuesday August 19 at Metuchen with Spotswood, Manville and Point Pleasant Beach
- Thursday August 21 at Union with Edison
- Friday August 22 at North Plainfield with Dunellen
- Saturday August 23 at Hillsborough with Elizabeth
- Marcus Borden’s 2025 Camp Caravan: Mike and Marcus wrap up two-weeks and eleven stops!
STORIES FROM BIG CENTRAL MEDIA DAY
- Expectations are high in Flemington as Hunterdon Central returns depth, veterans
- Sutherland looks to seniors, returning staff in first years leading Ridge football
- What do you do for an encore? In Phillipsburg, the answer is “Keep winning, beat Easton”
- Another reset for New Brunswick, as Chrisman looks to turn Zebra football around in ’25
- Last year, Joe Goerge adapted his offense to the Andersons; now, Barrons will see more “options”
- St. Joseph-Metuchen’s goal: finish strong in ’25
- Highland Park broke out in 2024, now Owls look to keep it going with one more goal in mind
- Belvidere’s big year deserves an encore; can the County Seaters make it even bigger in 2025?
- It’s a family affair in southern Somerset County as Carty family leads Hillsborough, Montgomery
- Big Central leadership pleased with parity, growth of league heading into Season No. 6
- On the heels of a ’23 sectional title, and two straight finals berths, Bernards looks to keep momentum going
- Coming soon: Bridgewater-Raritan and Roselle Park
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE
- Gridiron New Jersey unveils official 2025 starting Strength Index Numbers
- More Big Central teams will start 2025 in league’s “middle class” than among the elite or struggling
- 2025 Central Jersey Sports Radio’s High School Football Broadcast Schedule features key matchups and big rivalries
- Spotswood keeps it in the family, as ex-EB coach Andy Steinfeld joins his son, Matt, as assistant with the Chargers
- Who’s got the toughest schedule in the Big Central? Here’s what the numbers say…
- The road to the playoffs: We tell you how many wins every Big Central team needs to qualify for the postseason in 2025
- As expected, no real changes to NJSIAA football classifications in 2025, but non-public multipliers see changes
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