Group 2 Playoff Chase for Week 7: Bernards battles with Westwood and Shabazz for overall top seed in North; Spotswood likely needs to win out to qualify

With the NJSIAA’s Cutoff Weekend for high school football next week in New Jersey, Central Jersey Sports Radio is taking a closer look at the race for the playoffs, including who’s in the running for top seeds, who’s in, who’s jockeying for position, and who has some work to do just to get in, or stay in the hunt.

We’ll break down each supersection, with individual team analysis for all Big Central Conference schools. Much will change this week, and we’ll have a clearer picture after Week 7 once Strength Index numbers lock in for next week.

We’ll have an unofficial update this weekend after Friday’s games, and another look after Saturday’s contests as we speed toward Cutoff Weekend. And don’t forget to tune in to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s “2025 Playoff Projection Show” at 6 pm on Saturday, October 25, with host Mike Pavlichko and analyst Marcus Borden.

Please note, we have not done any UPR tiebreakers – other than putting higher OSI teams first – and no top-down head-to-head changes either. Section standings are based on the Top 16 as shown here.

NORTH GROUP 2

• Bernards: This is a tight race at the top, with Westwood holding a 2 UPR and Bernards and Shabazz tied at a 2.2 UPR. Nevermind Hoboken just two points back of them at 4.2, but this race is likely going to come down to next week. Westwood closes with two road games, at Ramsey (5-1) and River Dell (5-2). The Mountaineers have Governor Livingston (3-4) and Carteret (3-3), both at home. Shabazz has two at home: Kinnelon (7-0) and Verona (2-5). The difference-maker here is Bernards has a better schedule, so assuming everyone ins out, the Bulldogs could be the odd man out here.
• Dayton: With 4.2 UPR points separating Dayton at 14 from 17th place Lyndhurst (5-2), The Bulldogs should be in unless something crazy happens. And both are winnable games, at Dunellen this week, Brearley the next. Two wins here should lock it up. A split, and they could need some help.

SOUTH GROUP 2

• Johnson: The Crusaders are in good shape, sitting in eighth overall, fifth in the Central Group 2 section, behind fourth-place Bordentown, which is in sixth overall. Still, they’re only 1 UPR point behind the Scotties, so making a move isn’t out of the question, except for their schedule, which includes a road game at 2-4 North Plainfield this Friday, then a home game with 0-7 Perth Amboy. Even two wins might not be enough, but we’ll see how it plays out, and know much more after this weekend.
• Spotswood: The Chargers are tied for 16th with Point Pleasant Boro, both with a 16.4 UPR, but that’s the bad news. The good news is the schedule seems to favor the Chargers. Not that it will be easy. They visit South Hunterdon (0-6) this week, and have Roselle Park (4-2) at home next week. We plugged in two wins for them, and they could get up to 13 not counting any other games if Point Beach drops both their games, but even if they win, the Chargers still may be able to make it. They may be doing some scoreboard watching, but the teams around them have matchups the last two weeks we think favor the Chargers: no upsets needed. Then again, anything can happen, so we’ll be watching this one closely.
• Governor Livingston: This is going to be a tough one. For now, we think they only way they get in is if they win out, and that includes knocking off unbeaten Bernards this Friday night at Olcott Field. If that happens? Then we can talk.