Friday Night Big Central Roundup: Sayreville bounces back, hands Aquinas second straight defeat; Rahway, Hillsborough, Plainfield, appear to lock up playoff berths, did Voorhees and Spotswood, too?

Nothing will be known officially, for real, until Sunday, when the NJSIAA announces the seeding for the high school football playoffs some time late Sunday morning or early in the afternoon.

But as of Friday night, it appears three Big Central teams that were on the bubble – or at least just not sure if they had clinched a playoff spot, like in the case of Hillsborough – clinched or solidified their postseason futures.

Sure, that sounds like a hedge. That’s because it is. But the Raiders left no doubt after a road win at Hunterdon Central, and Plainfield and Rahway look solidly in as well. The question left is: did Spotswood make it, after beating Roselle Park and finishing the regular season with an 8-1 record.

If they did, they shouldn’t have to sweat it out with that record, in our opinion. And if they did, it’s even more of a travesty. All our opinion, and there will be more talk about it either way Saturday evening at 6:00 on the 2025 Playoff Projection Show hosted by Mike Pavlichko with analyst Marcus Borden. Bookmark this link to listen!

We also think Voorhees made it with a win in the Milk Can Game at North Hunterdon.

And on a non-playoff note, congratulations to South Hunterdon, which got its first win of the season, picking up a road win at Dunellen.

Also of note, No. 8 Sayreville bounced back nicely from its first loss of the season, beating No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas at home, 33-26, to hand the Trojans their second straight loss. It was their first set of back-to-back defeats in the same season since the COVID-shortened 2020 year under the late Brian Meeney.

That year, STA fell to St. John Vianney on the road, 31-0 on November 6th, then came back six days later and lost to Bernards 41-6 before closing out the season with a two-point win over Colonia, the first of 35 straight Big Central wins, a streak that was ended last week by St. Joseph-Metuchen. Incidentally, Bernards now has the longest active Big Central winning streak, now at 32 games, three away from tying the Trojans’ conference record, which they likely won’t get a chance to snap until next season.

Playoff Implications…

In an effort to crunch the numbers, we’re going to keep this roundup short, with links to CJSR’s in-person coverage Friday night from Mike Pavlichko (at Montgomery-Rahway) and Marcus Borden (at Manville-Bound Brook). Look for a playoff update later in the evening on the Central Jersey Sports Radio site, and follow us on Twitter for the very latest.

Here’s the Friday evening scoreboard from the Big Central for Week Three, with links to individual game stories:

• No. 2 Phillipsburg 36, Bridgewater-Raritan 13
• Rahway 28, No. 3 Montgomery 7 (game recap and audio)
• No. 4 Somerville 35, Watchung Hills 15
• No. 6 Bernards 22, Carteret 0
• No. 8 Sayreville 33, No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas 26
• No. 9 Piscataway 36, Monroe 0
• No. 10 Old Bridge 42, Colonia 22
• Manville 49, Bound Brook 7 (coverage from Marcus Borden)
• Elizabeth 28, Union 23
• Spotswood 26, Roselle Park 16
• South Plainfield 42, JFK 14
• Roselle 40, JP Stevens 6
• South Brunswick 43, East Brunswick 18
• Paterson Eastside 20, Edison 18
• Johnson 34, Perth Amboy 8
• Hillsborough 33, Hunterdon Central 8
• South Hunterdon 26, Dunellen 0
• Plainfield 28, Linden 27
• New Providence 32, Delaware Valley 7
• Voorhees 27, North Hunterdon 7
• Belvidere 42, Middlesex 6
• Franklin 64, North Brunswick 15

Here’s a look at Saturday’s brief Big Central Conference slate:

• No. 5 Woodbridge at No. 1 St. Joseph-Metuchen, 1 pm
• Ridge at Westfield, 1 pm
• Scotch Plains-Fanwood at Summit, 1 pm
• Cranford at Hillside, 1 pm
• North Plainfield at Metuchen, 1 pm
• New Brunswick at Governor Livingston, 1 pm
• Highland Park at South River, 1 pm
• Brearley at Dayton, 1 pm