Big Central Schedule for Week Three: A trio of Top ten matchups highlight the slate

Week Three will feature some pretty big games in the Big Central Conference, with three Top Ten matchups on the slate.

We’ll have one of them live right here on Central Jersey Sports Radio Friday night at 6 pm, as No. 2 St. Joseph-Metuchen (2-0) travels to Williams Field to take on No. 7 Elizabeth (3-0) in a battle of unbeatens. The Falcons have won ten straight Big Central games – sweeping the BCC slate last season – while the Minutemen are 3-0 for the first time since 2015, when they began the year with four straight wins over Watchung Hills, Hunterdon Central, Franklin and Union.

Elsewhere, No. 4 Old Bridge (2-1) heads back home after a shutout win over South Brunswick to host No. 8 St. Thomas Aquinas (3-0) at Vince Lombardi Field for a 6 pm kickoff, while No. 5 Bridgewater-Raritan (2-1) – fresh off its first win over Hillsborough since 2017 – entertains No. 9 Ridge, which has beaten the Panthers eight straight dating back to 2018.

Bridgewater’s last win over the Red Devils also was a long time ago, in 2015, a year they beat Ridge twice: 47-27 on Cutoff Weekend, and two weeks later, 30-29, in the North 2, Group 5 semifinals. That was the first of three years Bridgewater-Raritan went to the North 2, Group 5 title game, losing all three years to Westfield, which never lost a game in that span.

Below is a look at the Week Three schedule in the Big Central Conference:

THURSDAY SCHEDULE

• North Plainfield (1-2) at New Brunswick (0-3), 6 pm

FRIDAY SCHEDULE

• #2 St. Joseph-Metuchen (2-0) at #7 Elizabeth (3-0), 6 pm (LIVE on CJSR)
• South Brunswick (1-2) at #3 Piscataway (3-0), 6 pm
• #8 St. Thomas Aquinas (3-0) at #4 Old Bridge (2-1), 6 pm (Follow Marcus Borden on Twitter for updates)
• #9 Ridge (2-0) at #5 Bridgewater-Raritan (2-1), 6 pm
• Johnson (0-2) at Roselle (0-2), 6 pm
• Woodbridge (1-2) at Plainfield (1-2), 6 pm
• Highland Park (3-0) at Roselle Park (1-2), 6 pm
• South Hunterdon (2-1) at Bound Brook (0-3), 6 pm
• Colonia (1-2) at Montgomery (1-2), 6 pm
• Watchung Hills (1-2) at #6 Somerville (2-1), 6:30 pm
• North Brunswick (1-2) at Edison (0-3), 6:30 pm
• East Brunswick (2-1) at Monroe (2-1), 6:30 pm
• Metuchen (1-1) at New Providence (2-0), 6:30 pm
• Hillsborough (1-2) at #1 Phillipsburg (2-1), 7 pm
• #10 Rahway (3-0) at Linden (2-0), 7 pm
• Summit (2-1) at Cranford (2-0), 7 pm
• JP Stevens (2-1) at Dayton (2-1), 7 pm
• Hunterdon Central (0-3) at North Hunterdon (0-3), 7 pm
• Carteret (1-2) at Scotch Plains-Fanwood (0-3), 7 pm
• Hillside (3-0) at Voorhees (1-2), 7 pm
• Perth Amboy (2-1) at Spotswood (2-1), 7 pm
• Warren Hills (1-2) at Delaware Valley (2-1), 7 pm
• South Plainfield (2-1) at Bernards (1-2), 7 pm
• Westfield (1-2) at Union (2-1), 7 pm
• Franklin (0-3) at Sayreville (2-1), 7 pm
• Middlesex (0-2) at Belvidere (2-1), 7 pm
• Dunellen (0-2) at Manville (2-1), 7 pm

SATURDAY SCHEDULE

• Brearley (2-1) at South River (0-3), 1 pm
• JFK (0-3) at Governor Livingston (1-2), 2 pm (LIVE on CJSR)