It was a fairly busy Saturday afternoon in the Big Central Conference, with a half-dozen games on tap.
Only two were truly competitive and both came down to the wire, as Dunellen snapped a 24-game skid with an 8-6 win at South River where the Destroyers had to keep the Rams at bay, while Bernards scored two unanswered touchdowns in the second half to hand Hillside its first loss of the season.
Read on for recaps, audio, scores, Notes and Nuggets, and all scores from Week Five in the Big Central.
Down 19-7? No problem for Bernards…
Well, let’s dial that headline back a moment.
It sure wasn’t easy, but Bernards – which led after scoring on the game’s first possession – trailed 19-7 in the third quarter Saturday afternoon against Hillside at Conant Street Park before rallying late to win it, 20-19. It was their fourth straight victory after starting the season 0-2, while Hillside took its first loss and fell to 5-1.
It wasn’t easy, but they might have made it look that way
Behind by a dozen, the comeback started with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Nolan Walsh to Zach Favreau with 2:47 to play. Favreau then recovered a fumble on Hillside’s next possession, and Walsh then ran in a score to cap to give his team the lead for good, before Favreau again came up big. This time it was an interception that gave his team the ball back, allowing the Mountaineers to run out the clock in victory formation.
Bernards is now 4-2 on the season, while Hillside drops to 5-1.
Click below to hear Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau talk about Saturday’s win over the Comets with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:
Notes and Nuggets…
- Not only was Dunellen’s victory the first for new coach Kyle Baach, it snapped a 24-game losing streak, which was the longest active streak in the state. Their last win gad come on October 19, 2023, a 34-28 win over Brearley at home. It was their first road win since September 29th of that year, a 28-0 shutout over Manville. That leaves Gloucester Catholic – the school that almost had Jalen Parker, or did, for a hot minute – with the longest active losing streak in New Jersey – now at 17 games – as the Rams (0-5) lost at home to Pitman Saturday afternoon, 48-8. Morristown is next up at eleven losses in a row, heading into Saturday’s 2:30 game at Bayonne.
- Back to Bernards for a moment, it was somewhat ironic that the Mountaineers were the first team to beat Hillside this season. Bernards had a 32-game Big Central win streak snapped – the second longest in league history, behind St. Thomas Aquinas’ 35 – in Week One when they lost to still-unbeaten Cranford. The last BCC team Bernards had lost to, all the way back in 2022, was Hillside.
- All that being said, there are now just four undefeated teams left in the Big Central. Elizabeth and Highland Park are both 6-0, while Cranford and New Providence are both 5-0. All have three games remaining to run the table in the regular season. Here’s who they all have left
- The Minutemen host Hillsborough (1-5) this Friday, then travel to Westfield next Saturday (1-5), before closing out on the Friday night of Cutoff Weekend at home against Somerville (4-2).
- The Owls’ next two games may be their toughest stretch all season, both Freedom Gold Division contests that will determine the division. First up is Brearley (5-1) at home this Friday, whose only loss is to Dayton (4-2), which is Highland Park’s next game after the Bears, on the road. A win could set up a winner-take-all scenario in that game on October 16th. (Dayton is at South River this coming Saturday.) Highland Park closes at home against Metuchen (2-3), their longtime former Thanksgiving rival.
- The Pioneers are home next week against Perth Amboy (5-1), but New Providence may be the toughest team they’ll play all year. Then they travel to Spotswood (2-4) before closing out at home against Governor Livingston (3-3).
- The Cougars may have the toughest three-game closing stretch to the season of them all. First up is a Friday night trip to South Plainfield (4-2), which they’ve beaten each of the last two seasons. Then they have to go to Carteret (3-3) before closing on the Friday of Cutoff Weekend at home against Hillside (5-1).
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
- Delbarton 56, #5 St. Joseph-Metuchen 24
- Dunellen 8, South River 6 (Recap and Video via Marcus Borden)
- Union 24, Plainfield 0
- Johnson 26, Governor Livingston 0
- #4 Piscataway 46, Franklin 6
- Bernards 20, Hillside 19
FRIDAY SCORES
- #10 Ridge 14, #1 Phillipsburg 13 (Recap with Audio)
- #2 Elizabeth 39, Linden 18
- #3 Old Bridge 14, #8 Sayreville 12 (Recap with Audio)
- #6 Bridgewater-Raritan 35, Hunterdon Central 18
- #7 Cranford 13, Montgomery 12
- Somerville 42, #9 St. Thomas Aquinas 26
- Highland Park 35, Bound Brook 7
- Woodbridge 13, Westfield 7
- New Providence 41, Dayton 21
- Colonia 31, Hillsborough 13
- South Hunterdon 30, JP Stevens 14
- Perth Amboy 42, New Brunswick 14
- South Plainfield 28, Scotch Plains-Fanwood 14 (Recap and video via Marcus Borden)
- Brearley 48, Roselle 13
- Carteret 33, North Brunswick 14
- Summit 21, Watchung Hills 0
- North Plainfield 28, Spotswood 27 (OT)
- Belvidere 34, Manville 28
- Edison 21, East Brunswick 0
- Monroe 28, North Hunterdon 20
- Metuchen 35, JFK 28
- Delaware Valley 35, Voorhees 0
THURSDAY SCORES
- Roselle Park 29, Middlesex 28 (OT)
- Rahway 38, South Brunswick 20
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