Past midway point of regular season, how are Big Central Division races shaping up? We take a look

High school football is different from the college game in many ways, but one in particular is where division games can be scattered all over the schedule.

While in college, the non-conference slate is typically reserved for the first few weeks, often “buy games” by smaller school against bigger-time opponents, in high school, they can be anywhere. And the days of superconferences have brought us smaller divisions, where sometimes a champ is decided after just two division games, with an out-of-conference game and several crossovers thrown in the mix.

In the Big Central Conference, six of the 12 divisions still remain to be decided with just four more weeks to play in the regular season.

First, here are the divisions that have been settled, with notes on tiebreakers.

• American Gold: St. Joseph-Metuchen (swept all three games over Elizabeth, Westfield and Union)
• American Silver: Phillipsburg (With one remaining game at home against Bridgewater-Raritan on Friday, the 24th, even a loss would leave them, at worst, tied with Ridge, if the Red Devils top Hunterdon Central at home on the 10th. Both would be 3-3, but the Stateliners have the tiebreaker based on a 28-6 home win two Fridays ago.)
• Liberty Gold: Woodbridge (The Barrons are 3-0, with Colonia 2-1, and both having a game each left to play. Woodbridge has Perth Amboy home this week, while the Patriots visit Plainfield on the tenth. But Woodbridge won their head-to-head matchup, 34-21, in Week 3, so the Barrons are locked in via head-to-head result.)
• Patriot Gold: Bernards (swept all three games over Delaware Valley, JP Stevens and Bernards)
• Patriot Silver: New Providence (swept all three games over Johnson, Metuchen and Roselle)
• United Silver: Governor Livingston (At 3-0, with New Brunswick at 0-2 in the division the only team left for them to play, even the 1-1 squads, JFK and South Plainfield, can’t catch them because the Highlanders already beat both head-to-head and own the tiebreaker.

Here’s a look at the six divisions yet to be settled:

• Freedom Gold: Spotswood (5-0) leads the pack here at 3-0 in the division, with Dayton and Brearley behind them at 2-1. Spotswood visits Dayton on Friday, the 10th, and already has beaten Brearley. So likely, the only other team with a shot is Dayton. The Bulldogs are 3-1 overall, 2-1 in the Freedom Gold, and host Brearley on Saturday, the 25th, Cutoff Weekend. If Spotswood falls to Dayton, they can clinch with a win on Friday, the 24th and a Dayton loss to Brearley. But if the Bulldogs win in that scenario, they would get the title as both would be 4-1 and Dayton has the tiebreaker. A Spotswood win over Dayton would clinch it, since the best the Bulldogs could do would be a tie, but the Chargers would have the head-to-head tiebreak.
• Freedom Silver: With everyone having played three of their four divisional games, this one is going to come down to Friday, the 24th, cutoff weekend, in a head-to-head as Manville visits Bound Brook, both having 3-0 records. The winner gets the crown.
• Liberty Silver: Montgomery is 3-0, with three other teams behind them at 1-1: Somerville, Rahway and Watchung Hills. They’ve already beaten the Pioneers and Warriors, so the only team that could catch them is Rahway, which would have to beat Watchung Hills at home on the 10th, then beat Montgomery at home on Friday, the 24th – Cutoff Weekend – to claim the title by head-to-head with both having 3-1 division records. The Cougars only have one division game left, the one against Rahway. So, if Rahway beats Watchung Hills, that game will decide the title. If not, that game will be irrelevant, and Montgomery will take the division.

• National Gold: This one is still up in the air between Piscataway and Old Bridge. The Chiefs are 2-0 with two games left, while the Knights are 2-1 with one left. That loss came to Piscataway, but the Knights could still finish ahead of the Chiefs, even though Old Bridge lost to them head-to-head. The only way that scenario works is if Old Bridge beats Monroe on Friday, the 10th at home, and Piscataway drops its two remaining divisional games: Friday, the 10th, against East Brunswick, and Friday the 24th of Cutoff Weekend against Monroe. The Chiefs clinch if they win at least one of those games – a likely scenario – regardless of what Old Bridge does.
• National Silver: Both at 2-0, this one is up for grabs between Sayreville and St. Thomas Aquinas. Sayreville is at Franklin on Friday, the 10th, while St. Thomas is at Edison. If the Bombers and Trojans both win that week, it will set up a winner-take-all between the two on Cutoff Weekend at Sayreville’s War Memorial Stadium. If either or both trip up, things could get interesting, especially if Franklin beats Sayreville. They are 1-1 now, would be 2-1 in that scenario, and could finish 3-1 if they beat North Brunswick (currently (0-5) on the Friday of Cutoff Weekend. A three-way race here is still very much in the mix. Remember, Franklin gave St. Thomas a run for its money two weeks ago, falling 57-45 at home in a game that saw the Warriors score more than any other team has in a regular season game dating back to 2019.
• United Gold: Summit is 3-0 in the division, with wins over Carteret (0-3), Cranford (1-1) and Hillside (1-1). But Scotch Plains-Fanwood also is 1-1 and the two will meet on Saturday, October 25 at Tatlock Field in Summit. If the Raiders can beat Cranford on the road on Friday, the 10th, they’ll be 2-1, setting up a winner-take-all showdown Cutoff Weekend. If that happens, and SPF wins, they’d be tied but would have the head-to-head tiebreaker; a Summit win takes it outright. Alternatively, A loss by Scotch Plains-Fanwood makes the Hilltoppers champs outright.