Big Central Schedule for Week Six: Four games will determine the final division winners, and still more bubble teams need wins to get into the playoffs

As we get down to the final two weeks of play in the Big Central Conference, it’s also the close of divisional play in Week Seven. And while eight of the 12 divisions are already decided, there are still four up for grabs, and all those titles will be decided Friday night.

Among those to be decided is the American Silver Division, and you can hear that game on Central Jersey Sports Radio as No. 6 Bridgewater-Raritan travels to No. 4 Phillipsburg. Should the Panthers win, they will take the title outright, but if it’s the Stateliners, there are two scenarios at play. A win and a No. 3 Ridge loss at Hillsborough and P’burg would claim the title, finishing tied with the Panthers, and winning out on the head-to-head victory. But if heavily-favored Ridge wins, there will be a three-way tie at 2-1 in the division between Phillipsburg, Bridgewater and Ridge, and all three teams split against the other two.

Other games to determine divisional titles include Highland Park at Dayton for the Freedom Gold championship, A.L. Johnson at Perth Amboy to determine the Patriot Silver winner, and No. 7 Cranford at Carteret for the United Gold crown. All three are winner-take-all contests.

And then there are the teams trying to make playoff moves, like South Brunswick, which is sitting at No. 17 in South Group 5, but has a tiebreaker over Monroe, which is tied for 16th but loses that tiebreaker to Freehold Twp., which has a better OSI than the Falcons.

Linden has a big game at Woodbridge, with the Tigers sitting at 16 in North 5; so does Plainfield, which hosts Watchung Hills and is positioned at 15, despite being 2-5, the minimum number of wins needed for playoff qualification. The Warriors also need a win, currently 17th in North 4, one full UPR point behind 16th-place Hackensack.

South Plainfield is at 16 in North 3, and the Tigers could really use a win at Governor Livingston Saturday afternoon to help their cause. There’s a shot the Highlanders – 20th in North 2 – could make it, but they would have to beat South Plainfield this week and New Providence next Friday night.

In North 1, Brearley – sitting in 16th – could use a win this Thursday at home against Roselle Park, and still might need to beat North Plainfield to stay in the field. South Hunterdon, meanwhile, is 18th in South 1, and still might not make it if they win out against Dunellen this week and Lyndhurst next weekend, since both of those teams have just one win each. They would need to sweep and likely need a lot of teams above them to drop, being 1.6 UPR points behind 16th-place Asbury Park.

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

THURSDAY SCHEDULE

• Roselle Park (3-4) at Brearley (5-2), 6 pm

FRIDAY SCHEDULE

• 6:00 PM
  • East Brunswick (3-4) at #2 Old Bridge (6-1)
  • #3 Ridge (4-2) at Hillsborough (1-6)
  • #8 Sayreville (5-2) at North Brunswick (1-6)
  • #9 Rahway (6-1) at Colonia (2-5)
  • #10 Union (5-2) at St. Joseph-Metuchen (2-4)
  • Johnson (4-2) at Perth Amboy (6-1) (Follow Marcus Borden on Twitter for updates)
  • New Providence (5-1) at Spotswood (3-4)
  • Watchung Hills (3-4) at Plainfield (2-5)
  • Middlesex (1-5) at Bound Brook (1-6)
  • Somerville (4-3) at Hunterdon Central (1-6)
  • South River (0-7) at JP Stevens (2-5)
  • Linden (3-3) at Woodbridge (4-3)
  • Bernards (5-2) at JFK (0-7)
  • Franklin (2-5) at South Brunswick (3-4)
  • Roselle (0-6) at Metuchen (2-4)
• 6:30 PM
  • #5 Piscataway (6-1) at Monroe (4-3)
• 7 PM
  • #6 Bridgewater-Raritan (6-1) at #4 Phillipsburg (4-2) (LISTEN LIVE on CJSR)
  • #7 Cranford (6-0) at Carteret (4-3)
  • Highland Park (7-0) at Dayton (5-2)
  • North Plainfield (4-3) at Delaware Valley (5-2)
  • Dunellen (1-5) at South Hunterdon (4-3)
  • Montgomery (4-3) at North Hunterdon (0-7)
  • New Brunswick (0-7) at Voorhees (1-6)
  • St. Thomas Aquinas (4-3) at Edison (2-5)
  • Belvidere (6-1) at North Warren (2-5)
  • Summit (5-2) at Scotch Plains-Fanwood (2-5)
  • Hillside (6-1) at Manville (5-2)

SATURDAY SCHEDULE

• #1 Elizabeth (7-0) at Westfield (1-6), 1 pm
• South Plainfield (4-3) at Governor Livingston (3-4), 2 pm