Early look at Big Central Football 2026: Three-way co-champ Somerville seeks third Liberty Silver title; What will Montgomery, Watchung Hills, North Hunterdon have to say as Hunterdon Central joins the fray?

The Big Central Conference’s Liberty Silver Division could be an intriguing one this year.

Somerville – after moving out of the big school divisions a couple of seasons ago and winning the Liberty Silver outright in 2024 – ended up in a three-way tie atop the division last season. The Pioneers, Montgomery and Rahway all finished 3-1, with Somerville falling to the Cougars, Montgomery falling to the Indians, and Rahway losing to the Pioneers.

Got that? There will be a quiz later. (Just kidding.)

This year, Somerville brings a lot back, while North 2, Group 4 finalist Montgomery loses a ton, and Hunterdon Central comes out of the brutal American Silver to join the division, even though their schedule won’t change much. Watchung Hills promoted from within when head coach Rich Seubert left in the off-season, while North Hunterdon will continue to look to make strides to get back to its championship form of 2022, when the Lions won the North 2, Group 4 title.

Here are the preliminary schedules for the Liberty Silver Division teams – in order of 2025 finish – compiled from the official league schedule and other online sources to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication, along with a few notes on each squad. Division games are starred.

Somerville Pioneers (8-2, 3-1, three-way Liberty Silver Co-Champions)
Head Coach: Matt Bloom, 4th full season (26-9)

• Week 0: South Plainfield
• Week 1: at Piscataway
• Week 2: North Hunterdon*
• Week 3: Watchung Hills*
• Week 4: at Montgomery*
• Week 5: St. Thomas Aquinas
• Week 6: Sayreville
• Week 7: at Hunterdon Central*
• Week 8: at Elizabeth

The Pioneers were stunned in the opening round of the playoffs last season, taking a 14-13 home loss to Manasquan a year after winning a Central Jersey Group 3 title. But, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and make no mistake The ‘Ville will be back. While they lose senior Aidan Vesuvio-Bush and his 1,299 rushing yards to graduation, they’ll return No. 2 RB Justin Bowen (446 yards, 7 TDs) for his senior year, and No. 1 receiver James Hampton, who had 467 yards through the air and a touchdown. And their quarterback Dylan Boehm – who threw for 1,449 yards and 10 TDs – was just a freshman. Shyheim Hobbs-Harris had three sacks and 15 TFLs as a junior, and will be a focal point on defense along with other returnees. The non-conference schedule here is a tough one, but if the Pioneers can navigate it, the reward will again be a high playoff seed; they have played their last five playoff games over the last two seasons at Brooks Field.

Montgomery Cougars (8-4, 3-1, three-way Liberty Silver Co-Champs)
Head Coach: Sean Carty, 2nd season (8-4)

• Week 0: Hopewell Valley
• Week 1: Old Bridge
• Week 2: at Watchung Hills*
• Week 3: Colonia
• Week 4: Somerville*
• Week 5: at Cranford
• Week 6: at Hunterdon Central*
• Week 7: at North Hunterdon*
• Week 8: Hillsborough

It’s a manageable non-conference schedule for the Cougars, who lose a plethora of key seniors from a North 2 Group 4 finalist that fell in the title game at Phillipsburg, capped with a Cutoff Weekend matchup of the Carty Brothers, with Kevin Jr. at Hillsborough. QB Jack Kristjanson threw for nearly 1,900 yards last season, Trey McFadden caught 63 passes for 821 yards and 10 touchdowns, Caiden Miller rushed for 941 yards and 14 scores, and even offensive lineman Mike Bellamy scored four times on eleven carries, while logging four sacks playing on the D-Line and being a top-level long snapper. And all have graduated, plus others, like the rangy receiver Obinna Obuba (534 yards, 6 TDs). We’ll see who emerges during preseason camp. Same on the defense, though junior Damien Perone is back (4 1/2 sacks, 4 TFLs.)

Watchung Hills Warriors (3-7, 1-3, 4th place Liberty Silver)
Head Coach: Joe Ascolese, 1st season

• Week 0: at South Brunswick
• Week 1: Union
• Week 2: Montgomery*
• Week 3: at Somerville*
• Week 4: at Hunterdon Central*
• Week 5: Summit
• Week 6: North Hunterdon*
• Week 7: at Plainfield
• Week 8: at Bridgewater-Raritan

Rich Suebert’s reign is done, the New York Giant Super Bowl champion stepping down after ten years (41-57). Now, his Offensive Coordinator Joe Ascolese takes the reins, after spending nearly two decades on the staff over two different stints. Gone are senior QB Liam Morris (1,236 pass yards, 11 TD) and two-way wrecking crew Dillon Nunes, who had 637 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on offense, as well as four interceptions in the secondary on defense. Sophomore Marc Drews was the only non-senior to take a snap at QB last year, and he went 5-of-9 got 102 yards and 2 TD over five games. The defense had a good number of sophomores make a mark last year, but will lose some senior leadership. But we like what Watchung Hills did to keep the consistency in coaching, so it’s now up to the staff to build on Seubert’s work and take the Warriors to the next level.

North Hunterdon Lions (1-8, 0-4, 4th place Liberty Gold)
Head Coach: C.J. Robinson, 4th season (5-22)

• Week 0: at Delaware Valley
• Week 1: at East Brunswick
• Week 2: at Somerville*
• Week 3: Hunterdon Central*
• Week 4: at Scotch Plains-Fanwood
• Week 5: Monroe
• Week 6: at Watchung Hills*
• Week 7: Montgomery*
• Week 8: Voorhees

After graduating a slew of talent from their 2022 title team, North Hunterdon went 0-9 in Robinson’s first season before rebounding nicely with a 4-5 2024 season, but fell to 1-8 last year. But the bright side is, there’s talent back, including junior QB Chase Rochelle, who threw for 785 yards last year as a junior, but will need to cut down on the picks. Sophomore runningback Nicolas Alparone was the leading rusher at 313 yards and two TDs, but the receiving corps will be young and inexperienced. Defensively, they’ll miss defensive lineman Aidan Herlihy, who’s graduated after anchoring the defense with five of the team’s six sacks all year, nine TFLs and two safeties.

Hunterdon Central Red Devils (4-5, 0-4, 5th place in American Silver)
Head Coach: Casey Ransone, 10th season (32-52)

• Week 0: Eastern
• Week 1: at Hillsborough
• Week 2: Ridge
• Week 3: at North Hunterdon*
• Week 4: Watchung Hills*
• Week 5: at Bridgewater-Raritan
• Week 6: Montgomery*
• Week 7: Somerville*
• Week 8: at Phillipsburg

This is an interesting schedule: The Red Devils come out of the American Silver Division, but get all four teams as crossovers this year. Things that make you go “Hmmmm…” Last season, of their five losses, three came to sectional finalists, in Old Bridge, Bridgewater-Raritan, and Phillipsburg, with those final two winning North 2, Group 5 and North 2, Group 4, respectively. The only one they escape this year is Old Bridge. And Central will lose senior QB Drew Cella (1,481 yards, 16 TD) to graduation, as well as top receiver James Mongno (50 catches, 762 yards, 11 scores). Two underclassmen took snaps last year: sophomore James Hendrickson and junior Odin Potynsky. Top rusher Reggie Osae-Aye is back, having gone for 516 yards and four TDs last season. Defensively, Potynsky logged two sacks, six TFLs and a pick last year, while juniors Jake Freestone and Jayden Civil could be called upon to step up in 2026 as well. And sophomore punter Andrew Fisher (29.2 yards per punt) should be back as well.