Cutoff Weekend Playoff Analysis: Johnson’s in, Governor Livingston faces do-or-die at neighbor New Providence Friday in South 2

A.L. Johnson senior QB Vincent Cilento heads for the end zone after breaking a tackle in the first quarter of a 41-28 win at Perth Amboy to claim a share of the Patriot Silver Division title on October 16, 2026. (Photo: Marcus Borden)

Football Notebook

October 23, 2026 at 11:48 amOctober 23, 2026 at 11:48 am by Mike Pavlichko

It’s Cutoff Weekend in New Jersey, and with just under a half-dozen Thursday night games in the books, we’re taking a section-by-section look at every Big Central team in the playoff hunt.

Our pre-Cutoff analysis estimates 22 BCC squads have unofficially clinched a playoff berth, with eleven more still on the bubble.

You can find all our unofficial standings here.

This season’s playoff coverage – both leading up to and in the postseason – is proudly presented by Dayton Collision on Route 130 in South Brunswick! That includes all our analysis today, as well as our LIVE Playoff Projection Show, scheduled for Saturday at 6 pm with Mike Pavlichko and Marcus Borden.

SOUTH GROUP 2:

Scheduling gets a lot of attention at the end of the regular season, and whether it’ll help or hurt you, but in reality, a game against a winless team could come at any time of the year; it’s just more noticeable when it happens on Cutoff Weekend. Such is the case for A.L. Johnson (5-2), which has JFK (0-8) this week, but could even drop with a win. Luckily, the margin won’t affect the outcome, just wins and losses. The Crusaders should win this game, but if they don’t, Raritan and Overbrook already lost, and we think they drop no lower – or at least, not much lower – than 13. They’re in, and they’ll be in the bottom eight either way, which means they should start on the road.
Governor Livingston (4-4) started off the week at 18, moving up to 17 after getting a big hand from Neptune (2-7), which knocked off Raritan (4-5) at home Thursday night. The Highlanders may have been able to get in with a win over New Providence (6-1) Friday night, but this certainly helps boost not only their chances, but their potential standing. It looks like Governor Livingston gets in with a win, but a loss likely keeps them out, so this is another win-or-go-home game. But if they do win, and things break the right way, including an A.L. Johnson loss, they could end up as high as 12.