Central Jersey Group 5 Final Preview: Old Bridge Knights vs. Rancocas Valley Red Devils

Central Jersey Group 5 Final:
When: Friday, 6 pm
Where: Lombardi Stadium, Old Bridge
Matchup: #1 Old Bridge (10-1) vs. #2 Rancocas Valley (11-0)
Coverage: LIVE on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko, Max Scheiner (click here to listen)
Weather: 42 degrees, clouds with showers likely, NW wind at 8 mph (gusts to 15)

HEAD COACHES:

Old Bridge: Matt Donaghue (5th season, 35-18)
Rancocas Valley: Garrett Lucas (5th season, 40-15)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Old Bridge:
First Round: def. #8 Lenape, 20-15
Semifinals: def. #4 Williamstown, 35-0

Rancocas Valley:
First Round: def. #7 Jackson Twp., 42-7
Semifinals: def. #3 Sayreville, 42-0

Who’s next? The winner of this game will play the South Jersey Group 5 winner in the state semifinals. That game also is being played at 6 pm Friday, with top-seed and undefeated Washington Twp. (11-0) hosting third-seed Toms River North (8-3). Old Bridge lost to Washington Twp. in last year’s “Central Jersey” Group 4 final, 38-7. Should Old Bridge and the Minutemen both win, the semifinal would be down in South Jersey. But should the Mariners win, the Knights would host their Group 5 semifinal next Friday night.

SERIES HISTORY:

This will be the first meeting ever between the two schools.

PREVIEWS:

• Old Bridge, in return trip to CJ5 title game, faces tough task as unbeaten Rancocas Valley visits Lombardi Field Friday night
• Fresh off shutout of Sayreville, Rancocas Valley brings perfect record to Old Bridge Friday night for Central Jersey Group 5 title game

FINALS HISTORY:

Old Bridge:

Last season, the Knights set a program record with ten wins as they reached just their third sectional final ever, but don’t forget: that’s only since the 1994 merger of Madison Central and Cedar Ridge, so we’re “only” talking about 30 years of history here. And all they did this year was match that total and reach sectional title games in back-to-back years for the first time ever.

The merged Old Bridge has never won a title, but of the two township high schools that formed Old Bridge, Madison Central won two championships – in 1987 and 1988 – after falling in its first appearance in 1980. Cedar Ridge never appeared in a sectional final.

Playoff Berths: 18
Playoff Record: 12-17
Previous Finals Berths: 3
Sectional Titles: none

Central Jersey Group 4
2001: #1 JP Stevens 14, #6 Old Bridge 7 (at Rutgers)
2015: #1 South Brunswick 42, #3 Old Bridge 0 (at Rutgers)
2025: #1 Washington Twp. 38, #3 Old Bridge 7

Rancocas Valley:

The Red Devils have been around much longer, but also have a light history in the postseason, at least until recently. They made their first appearance in a sectional final in 1977 – just the fourth year of the playoff era in New Jersey, which began in 1974 – and lost, but won a decade later in their next trip, shutting out Pt. Pleasant Boro. Both those appearances were in South Group 5.

The Red Devils have had much more success in the postseason over the last decade plus, reaching four sectional title games since 2014. Yet, they have not won a title, losing to the top-seed in each of their last three trips, in 2017, 2018 and 2024.

Playoff Berths: 17
Playoff Record: 14-15
Previous Finals Berths: 6
Sectional Titles: 1

South Group 4
1977: Pemberton 9, Rancocas Valley 7 (seeds not revealed by NJSIAA)
1987: #4 Rancocas Valley 26, #3 Pt. Pleasant Boro 0
South Group 5
2014: #4 Cherkoee 30, #2 Rancocas Valley 10
2017: #1 Lenape 10, #2 Rancocas Valley 7
2018: #1 Williamstown 56, #2 Rancocas Valley 20
2024: #1 Toms River North 42, #2 Rancocas Valley 27

2026 OLD BRIDGE COVERAGE:

• INSTANT REPLAY:  Central Jersey Group 5 Semifinals: (1) Old Bridge 35, (4) Williamstown 0
• Old Bridge dominates mistake-prone Williamstown, 35-0, to earn second straight sectional final trip, behind 3 TD passes from Rios, 2 TDs from Rizzo
• Old Bridge guns for second straight CJ5 finals berth when Knights host Williamstown Friday on Central Jersey Sports Radio
• NJSIAA releases official H.S. Football Playoff Brackets: 29 teams qualify, 11 will open at home as Elizabeth, Old Bridge earn No. 1 seeds
• Here are Central Jersey Sports Radio’s UNOFFICIAL NJSIAA state playoff bracket projections: 29 teams appear to qualify; Elizabeth, Old Bridge projected to earn top seeds
• Cutoff Weekend Playoff Analysis: Old Bridge very much alive for top-seed in South 5; Sayreville should open at home; Monroe, South Brunswick, Hillsborough all have a shot from the bubble
• Old Bridge is the new No. 1 in Marcus Borden’s Week 6 Big Central Top Ten; plus rankings for BCC West, Middlesex and Union Counties
• INSTANT REPLAY:  No. 3 Old Bridge 14, No. 8 Sayreville 12
• Rizzo saves the day for No. 3 Old Bridge with late pick to down No. 8 Sayreville, 14-12
• No. 3 Old Bridge has been through the wringer, but still passed nearly every test as No. 8 Sayreville visits Lombardi Field Friday night
• No. 4 Old Bridge scores 27 unanswered points to come back and stun No. 4 Piscataway, 27-26
• No. 4 Old Bridge builds early lead, hangs on to edge out No. 8 St. Thomas Aquinas, 26-24
• Rizzo, big plays key No. 4 Old Bridge past South Brunswick, 21-0, in BCC National Gold opener
• No. 4 Old Bridge travels to South Brunswick looking to limit mistakes, continue growth
• Marcus Borden’s Camp Caravan 2026: Old Bridge entertains Red Bank Catholic in scrimmage
• Early look at Big Central Football 2026: Old Bridge, Piscataway will try to hold off South Brunswick, East Brunswick, Monroe in National Gold

NOTES & NUGGETS:

Just hangin’ out at home…

Last year in the playoffs, Old Bridge was a third seed, so the Knights got to play their opener at home against Freehold Township, then took a short trip over to Sayreville before heading to South Jersey to play the “Central Jersey” Group 5 final at Washington Township.

While they could very well play them again down here, it wouldn’t be until the state semifinals, so Old Bridge will get to make the entire run in Central five playing on their home field. And should they win, and the Minutemen get upset by Toms River North, the Knights could play four home playoff games before having to leave Lombardi Field. The state finals are set for the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving at Met Life Stadium in the Meadowlands.

BCC vs. WJFL…

The West Jersey Football league is a mix of leagues, formed in 2010 as a merger between the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, Tri-County Conference, the Colonia Conference, and the Cape-Atlantic League.

And as far as all those teams now being in the WJFL, Old Bridge hasn’t played many of them. Of the nearly 100, the Knights have played eleven in 16 total games over the years. And they’ve only beaten five of them, including Williamstown for the first time this year. (Pennsauken, Trenton, Cedar Creek and Lenape are the others.)

Overall, the Knights are 5-11 vs. the WJFL, but 2-1 this season. They lost their opener, 43-35, against Shawnee in the Battle at the Beach in Ocean City. But both of their “Central Jersey” Group 5 playoff rounds have come from the WJFL, all well south of Route 195, for many a dividing line between Central and South Jersey (or North and South Jersey, for the non-believers). That includes Lenape and Williamstown.

Meanwhile, the Red Devils are 8-2 all-time against BCC teams, and 4-0 since the formation of the league. They’re 3-0 against Hillsborough, and 2-0 against Metuchen (albeit in the late 1920s), while they are 1-1 against Sayreville (including last week’s semifinal win) and 1-0 each against Edison and Union, with the game against the Farmers coming in the 2024 Battle at the Beach. The only Big Central team they have a losing record against is South Brunswick, a 7-6 loss in a 2009 consolation game.

Following Franco…

Rancocas Valley head coach Garrett Lucas grew up in the Pittsburgh area, which naturally would make him a Steelers fan, and he had a poster of Franco Harris in his bedroom. So while he never figured he’d leave his post as Delsea head coach anytime soon, he took the opportunity to jump to Rancocas Valley.

Of course, that’s the high school alma mater of Steelers’ great Franco Harris, a Hall of Famer and the MVP of Super Bowl IX, who scored one of the game’s most iconic touchdowns, the so-called “Immaculate Reception,” giving Pittsburgh its first-ever playoff win in 1972.