St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Joseph-Metuchen learn their NJSIAA state playoff draws

The NJSIAA has unveiled the playoff brackets for Non-Public Groups A and B, following its seeding meeting at the state athletic association’s headquarters in Robbinsville.

Non-public brackets – due in part to the wide-ranging nature of scheduling and few common opponents, other than the North Jersey powers – are seeded by committee, rather than by the UPR, which is how public schools are seeded. However, UPR, OSI and power points are among several factors in the process.

In Non-Public Group A, St. Joseph-Metuchen (3-6) earned the No. 8 seed, and will visit top-seed Don Bosco Prep (7-2) in the opening round, with a date to be determined. The Ironmen got the top-seed over St. Peter’s Prep, which had been ranked No. 1 in the most recent NJ.com Top 20, even though they los to the Marauders 13-10 on October 23.

St. Peter’s (7-2) got the four-seed, having losses to Bergen Catholic and St. Joseph-Montvale. Bosco also lost to Bergen Catholic but beat Joe’s of Montvale 23-10 in late September.

As for the Falcons, they started the season 2-0 but lost four straight before a win over Union, 34-19 on October 16. They have since lost two straight: at St. Thomas Aquinas last week, 37-13, and to Donovan Catholic this week, on Saturday, 45-28, despite leading by a touchdown at halftime against the No. 16 team in the state.

A game date and time has not yet been announced, and the same can be said for St. Thomas Aquinas (6-3), which received a ten-seed in the Non-Public Group B bracket. The Trojans will play at seven-seed Holy Spirit (4-4) of Absecon. Aquinas had finished tenth overall in the UPR standings, while the Spartans were two spots higher.

St. Thomas was knocked out last year in the first round by Immaculata. Those Spartans (6-4) – which had their membership application to the Big Central Conference rejected last Monday by a 59-0 vote – earned a five-seed and will host 12-seed Hudson Catholic (4-6) at Torpey Athletic Complex in Bridgewater.

Out of 22 teams in Non-Public B, ten opted out or did not play the minimum 60 percent of their games against New Jersey schools, leaving just a 12-team field.

Following are the brackets for both non-public sections, as released Sunday by the NJSIAA:

Non-Public Group A