Group 5 Semifinal Preview: Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers vs. Passaic Tech Bulldogs

Group 5 Semfinal:
When: Friday, 6 pm
Where: Basilone Field, Bridgewater, NJ
Matchup: Passaic Tech (9-3; North 1, Group 5 champion) at Bridgewater-Raritan (9-3; North 2, Group 5 champion)
Coverage: Follow Marcus Borden on Twitter
Weather: 49, little to no wind, 50% chance of rain by 9 pm

HEAD COACHES:

Bridgewater-Raritan: D.J. Catalano (3rd season, 16-17)
Passaic Tech: Matt Demarest (14th season, 113-45)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Bridgewater-Raritan (North 2, Group 5 Champions):
First Round: def. #8 Linden, 35-6
Semifinals: def. #4 Union City, 22-7
Finals: def. #6 Bayonne, 21-14

Ramapo (North 1, Group 5 Champions):
First Round: def. #3 Elizabeth, 44-14
Semifinals: def. #2 Piscataway, 27-13
Finals: def. #1 West Orange, 56-42

Who’s next? The winner of this game will play the winner of the other Group 5 semifinal. That game features third-seed South Jersey champion Kingsway (10-2) at top-seeded “Central Jersey” champion Washington Twp. at 6 pm Friday. While the Minutemen hail from southeast of Philadelphia (just North of Glassboro and Rowan University), they were the Central Jersey top seed due to being further North than the other No. 1 seed, Atlantic City, which got knocked off by Kingsway, 38-21, in the finals last Friday .

SERIES HISTORY:

This is just the second meeting between the Panthers and Bulldogs, with their only other matchup coming in the 2022 season opener in the one year Rick Mantz coached the team, with current skipper D.J. Catalano working under him. PCTI won that game, 32-7, and Bridgewater-Raritan finished 4-6, with Catalano taking over when Mantz stepped down after the season due to health reasons.

BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN PREVIEW:

• With first NJSIAA hardware in hand, Bridgewater-Raritan hungry for more with Passaic Tech coming to town for Group 5 semis

PLAYOFF HISTORY:

Bridgewater-Raritan:

The Panthers have been to four sectional finals in their history, which only dates back to 1992 and the merger of Bridgewater East and West into the one high school that exists today.

Besides this year’s trip, the others all came in a stretch from 2015 through 2017, and all three were losses at Met Life Stadium to a juggernaut Westfield team that finished that run a combined 36-0. The Panthers were undefeated themselves heading into the first two finals, finishing 2015 and 2016 at 11-1. They finished 9-3 in 2017.

This is their first time beyond the sectional finals.

Playoff Berths: 17
Playoff Record: 13-16
Previous Sectional Finals Berths: 4
Sectional Titles: 1
State Championships: 0 (first finals appearance)

North 2, Group 5
2015: #2 Westfield def. #1 Bridgewater-Raritan, 10-7
2016: #2 Westfield def. #1 Bridgewater-Raritan, 15-13
2017: #1 Westfield def. #3 Bridgewater-Raritan, 20-7
2025: #1 Bridgewater-Raritan def. #6 Bayonne, 21-14

Passaic Tech:

Playoff Berths: 25
Playoff Record: 32-19
Previous Sectional Finals Berths: 11
Sectional Titles: 6
State Championships: 0 (2 finals appearances)

North 1, Group 4
1998: #4 Passaic Tech def. #3 Union Hill, 48-6
2001: #6 Passaic Tech def. #5 Emerson, 40-8
North 1, Group 5
2014: #1 Montclair def. #3 Passaic Tech, 26-14
2015: #2 Passaic Tech def. #1 Ridgewood, 27-0
2016: #1 Ridgewood def. #3 Passaic Tech, 14-13
2019: #1 Ridgewood def. #2 Passaic Tech, 10-7
2021: #1 East Orange def. #3 Passaic Tech, 35-7
2022: #1 Passaic Tech def. #2 Union City, 14-7
def. West Orange, 21-7, in Group 5 semifinals
lost to Toms River North, 28-7, in Group 5 Final
2023: #1 Passaic Tech def. #3 Montclair, 34-27
def. Union City, 14-0, in Group 5 semifinals
lost to Toms River North, 23-13, in Group 5 Final
2024: #1 Union City def. #3 Passaic Tech, 34-29
2025: #2 Passaic Tech def. #1 West Orange, 56-42

2025 BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN COVERAGE:

• Friday Night Big Central Championship Roundup: Bridgewater-Rartitan claims first-ever title while Phillipsburg drops Montgomery to win 10th; Old Bridge, Summit, New Providence fall
• Fourth time’s the charm! Bridgewater-Raritan wins first sectional title, topping Bayonne 21-14 in North 2, Group 5 final
• North 2, Group 5 Final Preview: Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers vs. Bayonne Bees
• It’s been a while for the Panthers, as Bridgewater-Raritan hosts North 2 Group 5 finals against Bayonne, seeking first-ever state title
• Phillipsburg drops a spot in NJ Power Rankings, but stays atop BCC as Bridgewater-Raritan, Montgomery move into league’s Top Ten
• Bridgewater-Raritan tops Union City at home, 22-7, to clinch first sectional finals berth since ’17
• Friday Night Big Central Playoff Roundup: Phillipsburg, Bridgewater-Raritan win big; Somerville, Bernards upset; seven BCC teams move on to sectional semifinals next week
• Both Big Central top-seeds advance, as Bridgewater-Raritan cruises past Linden, Phillipsburg blows out Newark Central; Woodbridge, Montgomery and Colonia also win in North 2, Group 4
• NJSIAA unveils 2025 football playoff brackets; Phillipsburg and Bridgewater-Raritan get top seeds as 25 qualify from the Big Central
• Group 5 Playoff Chase for Week 7: Bridgewater hangs on to top-seed spot in North 5 despite loss, six teams have likely clinched berths
• INSTANT REPLAY:  No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan 35, No. 7 Hunterdon Central 7
• Bittersweet win for No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan as Panthers top No. 7 Hunterdon Central, but Kurdyla goes down to injury
• Off to 3-0 start, No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan looks to keep it rolling when Hunterdon Central visits
• Old Bridge moves up; Bridgewater-Raritan, Hunterdon Central, St. Joseph-Metuchen join Marcus Borden’s Week 1 Top Ten… plus rankings for BCC West, Middlesex and Union Counties
• Friday Night Big Central Roundup: Elizabeth, Piscataway, Bridgewater-Raritan, Montgomery among big winners in season openers
• Now in third year, Bridgewater-Raritan knows expectations from Catalano; Panthers want to make it pay off in 2025

NEWS & NOTES:

Going South?

The state finals will be at either Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford or SHI Stadium at Rutgers University in Piscataway, but if the Panthers get there, it will be against a school that will be their most South Jersey opponent ever.

In Bridgewater-Raritan’s short history since the 1992 merger, the Panthers have only played two teams that hail from South of Middlesex County. They played a home-and-home this year and last with Notre Dame, losing down there – in Lawrenceville – last year, 40-38, but returning the favor at Basilone Field in Week Zero this season, 35-20.

They also played a home-and-home with Cherokee in 1992 and 1993, splitting that series as well. Cherokee is in Marlton, part of the Lenape Regional School District, which also includes Shawnee and Lenape High Schools.

Washington Township is about another 18 miles and 32 minutes to the South, just north of Glassboro and Rowan University, where they beat Hillsborough in the Battle at the Beach back in August.

Kingsway is even further away, only a 20 minute drive Northeast of the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

With the NJSIAA hosting championships next weekend on Black Friday at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands and two days later on Sunday at Rutgers, we think that game might be in Piscataway, since it would be quite the haul all the way up to the Meadowlands for either South Jersey team – but wait, didn’t Washington Twp. win Central 5? – and the NJSIAA typically likes to assign sites based on geography.

Kingsway is over two hours from MetLife Stadium, bur Rutgers is just over an hour away. But you can bet the traffic will be even worse on Black Friday at Met Life, right next door to the American Dream mall.

Lacrosse influence…

People talk about teams that play smash mouth football, but there are few sports as physical as lacrosse. And when you get those guys in your football program, it’s something special.

The Panthers have had a very successful program over the years, and have a set of brothers on the Rutgers squad: Brady Kurdyla will be a senior this year, and Colin Kurdyla a junior. Both are midfielders.

Next year, Bridgewater quarterback Declan Kurdyla will join Colin for his senior season on the Banks.

But he’s not the only lacrosse athlete on the football team. There are four others on the offensive side of the ball, including receivers Jack Winne, Mikey Bratus and James Locrotondo, along with tight end Jack Cifuentes. Defensively, LoCcrotondo is at cornerback, Winne is at safety, and Cifuentes sees time at outside linebacker along with Nick Crovello.

And there’s another connection. Catalano also played lacrosse, as did his father at the Naval Academy, while his uncles played at Penn State. He says he eventually “got too big” for the sport.

“When you think Bridgewater-Raritan, you think Bridgewater-Raritan lacrosse,” Catalano says. “To get those kids to bring that culture to us is awesome.”

The Panther lacrosse team reached the North Group 4 finals last year and in 2023, after winning it in 2022. They also reached the SCT finals and the now-defunct Tournament of Champions that year, and won the Somerset County Tournament back in 2018.