Phillipsburg coach Frank Duffy talks to his team after a 41-20 home loss to Ramapo in the Group 4 semifinals on November 21, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
The Big Central Conference’s two sectional champions finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Conference Rankings, with North 2, Group 4 winner Phillipsburg taking the top spot, and Bridgewater-Raritan – the North 2, Group 5 winner – finished second.
For Phillipsburg (10-3), it was the Stateliners’ tenth state sectional title – and second in a row – for a program that just wrapped its 120th year of football. Phillipsburg – which graduated several key players from last year’s title team – made it right back to the final, beating Montgomery to bring home another piece of hardware. They also won the American Silver Division title, sweeping the group.
Bridgewater-Raritan, meanwhile, won the North 2, Group 5 title, it’s first-ever sectional title in school history in their fourth all-time trip to the finals. The Panthers were the No. 1 seed in the section, and beat Bayonne to bring home the trophy.
Coming in third was St. Joseph-Metuchen (8-2), which ran the table in Big Central play, including a win over eventual sectional champ Phillipsburg during the regular season, 21-0. They won the American Gold Division, going 3-0, but were knocked out of the Non-Public A playoffs in the opening round by Bergen Catholic.
In fourth is Old Bridge (10-2), which reached the Central Jersey Group 5 finals, losing to Washington Twp. The Knights’ only other loss came to Piscataway in the regular season, in a Big Central crossover game.
Checking in at No. 5 – its first ranking this season – is Summit (9-3). The Hilltoppers took two regular season losses, both with QB Alex Schwark out of the lineup, but reached the North 2, Group 3 finals, falling to undefeated West Morris in the title game.
At No. 6 is Montgomery (8-4), which had an astounding turnaround in Year One under first-time head coach Sean Carty, who had previously served under Zoran Milich as Offensive Coordinator. The Cougars won eight games after going 1-9 last year, and made their first sectional final in program history, falling at Phillipsburg in the title game.
Sayreville (9-2) checks in at No. 7, having won the National Silver Division. They lost to Old Bridge in the Central Jersey Group 5 semifinals, with their only other defeat coming to Montgomery.
National Gold Division Champion Piscataway (8-3) comes in eighth. It was the highest win total for the Chiefs since the COVID pause – one of two teams, along with Carteret, not to play in 2020 – and they took just two regular season losses: to Sayreville and to eventual North 2, Group 5 champion Bridgewater-Raritan. They missed a rematch with the Panthers, falling to Bayonne in the sectional semifinals.
At No. 9 is New Providence (10-1), which was the last undefeated team remaining in the Big Central Conference until the Pioneers lost at home to Cedar Grove in the North 2, Group 1 title game, a rematch of last year’s sectional final. They were the Patriots Silver Division champions, and will carry an eleven-game win streak against Big Central competition into next season.
And two other teams tied for tenth place: Bernards (9-1) and Somerville (8-2), in no particular order. The Mountaineers were Patriot Gold Division champions and ran the table this season until a first-round, 22-21 playoff loss to Madison in the opening round of the North 2, Group 2 playoffs. The Pioneers were three-way Co-Champions in the Liberty Silver division with Montgomery and Rahway – beating the Indians, but falling to the Cougars – and their only other loss was a 14-13 home loss to Matawan in the opening round of Central Jersey Group 3.
Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Final High School Football Top Ten for the 2025 season:
Discover more from Central Jersey Sports Radio
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.