Category: Football

by Mike Pavlichko

We’re not done yet, but here’s a look at the NJSIAA playoffs through the sectional finals, by the numbers

Numbers don’t lie.

And sometimes statistics don’t tell the whole story, or even the current story, but they can tell an interesting story, too.

For example, while JP Stevens has struggled in recent years, did you know they have the best overall winning percentage in the playoffs of any Big Central Conference school, with a .714 mark (15-6). That might not stand for long however, as Phillipsburg – which has more playoff game wins than any other BCC team – is right behind them at .710, with a record of 49-20.

A victory over Ramapo this Friday in the Group 4 semifinals would tie the Stateliners with Stevens, but the Hawks still would lead Middlesex County – and by a lot – with the next closest team behind them being Piscataway at .682, though the Chiefs have a lot more overall wins, with 45.

Here are some other noteworthy stats on the Big Central and the state playoffs, which are now in their 51st season, having first come on the scene in 1974. (Remember, there were no playoffs in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Who’s got the most titles?

While no BCC team has won a group championship yet – the NJSIAA only started that three seasons ago, in 2022 – Union leads the Big Central Conference in sectional titles with eleven, followed by Piscataway and Phillipsburg with ten each, and Somerville with nine. The next closest are Sayreville, JP Stevens, Highland Park, Franklin and Hunterdon Central with six each.

Here’s a look at where the Big Central stands statewide, among public schools. *Won title in 2025; BCC schools in bold.

  • 1. Paulsboro – 19
  • 2. Delsea – 16
  • 3. Ramapo* – 15
  • 4. Glassboro* – 13
  • 5. Cherokee*, Manasquan – 12
  • 6. Union, West Morris* – 11
  • 7. Butler*, Cedar Grove*, Hoboken, Madison, Middletown South, Phillipsburg*, Piscataway, Wayne Hills, West Essex – 10
  • 8. Mainland, Rumson-Fair Haven, Shawnee, Somerville, South River, Summit, Toms River North – 9
  • 9. Elizabeth, Glen Rock, Montclair, Woodbury – 8

Who’s made the most finals?

Among public schools, which are more difficult to qualify for, especially in the last decade or so where essentially any non-public that doesn’t opt-out gets in the playoffs, New Providence leads the BCC with 21 trips to the finals after making its second straight appearance this season. But a few teams aren’t far behind. Phillipsburg has made 19 sectional title games, while Piscataway has made 17 and Somerville 16.

Here’s the statewide look again. *Made sectional final in 2025; BCC schools in bold.

  • 1. Paulsboro – 30
  • 2. Middletown South – 23
  • 3. Delsea, Glassboro*, Montclair – 22
  • 4. New Providence* – 21
  • 5. Ramapo*, Wayne Hills* – 20
  • 6. Manasquan, Phillipsburg* – 19
  • 7. Hammonton, Hoboken, Mountain Lakes, West Essex – 18
  • 8. Butler*, Cherokee, Piscataway – 17
  • 9. North Bergen (SFC Ivy), Shawnee, Somerville, South River, West Morris* – 16
  • 10. Rumson-Fair Haven, 15

What about playoff berths?

It’s New Providence leading the BCC at 41 appearances in 51 seasons. The next highest total also comes out of Union County, with Union at 36m, while Summit and Elizabeth each have 32. Piscataway has made 31, while South River and Somerville have made 30. Immaculata – a non-public – has 38.

Here’s a look at statewide playoff berth leaders among public schools. *Made playoffs in 2025; BCC schools in bold.

  • 1. Paulsboro* – 43
  • 2. Mountain Lakes* – 42
  • 3. New Providence* – 41
  • 4. Manasquan* – 40
  • 5. Glassboro*, Hammonton – 39
  • 6. Lenape Valley – 38
  • 7. North Bergen (SFC Ivy), West Morris* – 37
  • 8. Union – 36

Here are a few other statistical notes of interest around the Big Central and the playoffs:

  • Somerset County saw history and milestones: Not counting Pingry, which opted out of the playoffs, ten of 12 Somerset County football programs made the finals, including Immaculata. Franklin (5-4 at the cutoff) and North Plainfield (3-6) were the only ones to miss. Meanwhile, Manville picked up its first playoff win ever in six appearances. Montgomery – in just its ninth – made its first ever sectional final, falling back on Friday in the North 2, Group 4 title game at Phillipsburg. The Cougars went 2-1 in the postseason, doubling their previous postseason win total; they had been 1-8, and now are 3-9. And laurels to Bridgewater-Raritan, which won its first-ever sectional title – in its fourth trip to the finals – beating Bayonne to win the North 2, Group 5 championship.
  • Middlesex saw its fewest playoff qualifiers in the modern era, but still made history: Only seven “GMC” schools – five public – qualified for the postseason: Colonia, Woodbridge, Old Bridge, Sayreville and Piscataway. By the way, those are three Group 5 schools and two Group 4s. Not a single Group 1, 2 or 3 school from Middlesex County made the postseason – despite Spotswood being 8-1. Either way, it’s the smallest number of schools from Middlesex since the playoffs expanded to eight teams per section in 1998. The previous low was eight, in 2002 and 2003, and the best was 2014, a year when 13 GMC schools (at the time) qualified. And all five teams won their opening round games, the first time the county has gone perfect in the opening round – 5-for-5 – albeit without that many teams in action to begin with. Old Bridge was the only one to make a sectional final, falling to Washington Twp. Since the playoffs expanded, at least one Middlesex County school had made the sectional finals every year until 2013. And while that was only a temporary blip, Middlesex County has only had two sectional finalists since the playoffs resumed in 2021 after the COVID season with no playoffs in 2020. Edison won Central Jersey Group 5 over Lenape in 2022, and then Old Bridge made it this year, leaving the GMC with just one sectional title trophy since 2018.
  • Far West BCC did well, but it didn’t pay off: There are seven “outpost” schools, if you will, in the Big Central, including five Hunterdon County schools (Voorhees, Delaware Valley, and the three Hunterdons – North, South and Central) and two from Warren (Phillipsburg and Belvidere). While South Hunterdon and North Hunterdon each struggled through one-win seasons, all the others had very respectable seasons. Besides Phillipsburg – which is 10-1 and playing this Friday in the Group 4 semifinals against Ramapo – Belvidere went 5-5, Delaware Valley 6-4, Voorhees 8-2 and Hunterdon Central 4-5. But only the Stateliners and Voorhees made the playoffs, the Vikings falling in the opening round to Camden. Hunterdon Central’s miss – along with that of Hillsborough – breaks a string of three straight years where all five schools in the American Silver Division had made the playoffs.
  • Union had a so-so year, but those that did well… The Union County schools saw 10 of 17 football teams qualify for the postseason. And while only two of them advanced past the first round, those two went to the sectional finals. New Providence made it for the second straight year, falling for a second straight time to Cedar Grove, this time at home in the North 2, Group 1 final. Summit made the North 2, Group 3 title game, but lost at West Morris.
by Mike Pavlichko

Last ride at Maloney for Phillipsburg seniors, looking for another trip to Rutgers

In 2024, Phillipsburg became the first Big Central Conference team to make the NJSIAA’s state football finals, in the third year sine the playoffs expanded.

In 2025, they’re looking to make the return trip.

To do so, they’ll need to beat the same team they did last year, North 1 Group 4 champion Ramapo. That’ll be the last game at Maloney Stadium this season for Phillipsburg, as the North 2, Group 4 champion Stateliners take on the Raiders at 7 pm this Friday night in the Group 4 semifinals. Both teams are 10-1.

You can hear that game Friday on the “Big Central Game of the Week,” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas calling all the action. Pregame is set for 6:45 pm. Click here to listen.

Phillipsburg – though they have one loss this season, coming at the hands of St. Joseph-Metuchen – has maintained a steady focus on the prize – or should we say prizes, plural – this year.

That includes winning a sectional championship (already done, their tenth overall), beating Easton on Thanksgiving (that’s next week) and winning a state title. A win Friday gets them there, and then they’ll have to beat either defending champ and 2025 South Jersey Group 4 champ Winslow, or Central 4 champ Brick Memorial.

Last week, in the North 2, Group 4 title win over Montgomery, everyone played a role. Four different players scored, including the usual suspects like Sam Dech and Dominic Bracco, but so did Shane Moore – on a big TD pass – and tight end Donovan Samson in the second half.

Defensively, there were big plays at key moments, including a first-half safety after an Montgomery interception down near the goal line. And special teams recovered an early kick that Montgomery couldn’t.

Now if Phillipsburg likes to run they rock – and they do – Ramapo likes to toss it. Senior quarterback Casey Grusser has thrown for 2,100 yards this season, and he has three receivers who’ve caught 30 or more passes: Sal Livoti, Joseph SantoYessis, and Michael Ballan.

Click below to hear Phillipsburg coach Frank Duffy talk about the Stateliners and Friday’s Group 4 semifinal against Ramapo with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Gameday with Marcus Borden: State Semifinals Edition!

We are down to just two Big Central Conference teams left in the NJSIAA state playoffs, with Phillipsburg and Bridgewater-Raritan each just a win away from the state finals, and it’s time to talk about it all with Central Jersey Sports Radio analyst Marcus Borden!

Mike and Marcus first take a look at tough losses in the sectional finals for Old Bridge, Summit and New Providence, then look back at title wins in North 2, Group 5 for the Panthers and North 2, Group 4 for the Stateliners before looking ahead to the state semifinals, where Phillipsburg hosts Ramapo and Bridgewater-Raritan will take on Passaic Tech, both on Friday.

Click below to listen to the state semifinals edition of “Gameday with Marcus Borden”:

by Mike Pavlichko

“The Big Central in 2 Minutes” – State Semifinals!

Championship Weekend is behind is – the Big Central won two titles with Bridgewater-Raritan and Phillipsburg claiming titles – and Mike Pavlichko look back on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in 2 Minutes!”

On this week’s episode, Mike recognizes Old Bridge, New Providence and Summit on their excellent seasons that ended with title game defeats, as well as Montgomery, which made its first ever appearance in a sectional final, then looks at the wins for the Panthers and Stateliners!

All on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes!

Click below to listen to the State Semifinal Playoff edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bridgewater-Raritan wins first sectional title, moves up in Big Central Power Rankings; Winslow Twp. holds on to top NJ spot with near-record rating

Phillipsburg’s win in the North 2, Group 4 title game kept the Stateliners atop the Big Central Power Rankings in Week 11, while Bridgewater-Raritan’s win in the North 2, Group 5 final moves them further up, and well into the Top 50 statewide.

New Providence held in second, despite falling to Cedar Grove in the North 2, Group 1 final, while Old Bridge dropped from fourth to seventh after a loss in the Central Jersey Group 5 title tilt. Summit edged down from 13 to 11 in the BCC rankings with a loss in the North 2, Group 3 final. Montgomery held at ninth in the league after falling to Phillipsburg.

The power rankings are simply based on the state’s Strength Index formula, which helps determine a team’s OSI, which is 60% of the UPR playoff formula. SI values and will change each week as games are played. See methodology at the bottom of this page.

A table displaying the Big Central Power Rankings for Week 11 of 2025, listing schools, their Strength Index (SI) values, and states.

Statewide, Winslow is back at No. 1 for a second straight week, after the Eagles won the South Jersey Group 4 title, 53-14 over Millville. Their SI shot up to 111.61, slightly higher than the SI they finished with last year, at 111.39.

It’s also just 4.80 points behind the highest finishing Strength Index value since the formula first was used in 2019, set by Mainland following the 2023 season, when they went 14-0 and won the state Group 4 championship. Their SI that year finished at of 116.41, and Winslow potentially has two games to go to catch them: this week against Brick Memorial in the Group 4 semifinals, and the state final – should they beat Brick – against either Ramapo or Phillipsburg.

Winslow’s highest SI ever came last year, when they peaked at 112.03 after Week 10 play.

Speaking of the Stateliners, Phillipsburg remains the lone Big Central team in the statewide Top 25, as Bridgewater-Raritan’s win moved them from 50 to 41 statewide. Elsewhere, Don Bosco Prep dropped from two to four, while Bergen Catholic – which beat St. Joseph-Metuchen in the Non-Public Group A semifinals/first round – took their place, moving up from fourth. Old Tappan held in third, and St. Joseph-Montvale moved from eighth into the top five.

A table displaying the New Jersey Power Rankings for 2025 Week 10, with schools listed alongside their Strength Index (SI) values.

Strength Index Methodology: Team A and Team B are compared to find the difference between their rankings, which provides the Expected Result. The margin of the final score is figured in positive or negative terms compared to the Expected Result. The difference is divided by five, and the teams increase or decrease by the resulting number.

Example #1: Team A has an SI value of 80, while Team B has an SI value of 60. The Expected Result is +20 for Team A. When the game is played, Team A wins by 30. That is 10 points higher than the expected result. Than number is divided by 5, meaning Team A increases by 2 (Team A now has an SI of 82) while Team B decreases by 2 (Team B now has an SI of 58).

Example #2: In the same scenario, Team A defeats Team B by 20. That is the same as the Expected Result, no there is no change. Team A remains with an SI value of 80, while Team B retains its 60 SI value.

Example #2: Team A defeats Team B by 10. That is 10 points fewer than the expected result. Divide by 5 to get 2, but in this case, Team A drops by 2 points to 78 (because Team A “underperformed”) while Team B increases by 2 points to 62.

Out-of-State Opponent SI: Strength Index ratings for non-New Jersey teams are calculated by finding their MaxPreps national ranking, then averaging the SI ratings of the next New Jersey team above and below them in the MaxPreps rankings.

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – North 2, Group 4 Final: (1) Phillipsburg 41, (3) Montgomery 21

Six different players scored for Phillipsburg as the top-seeded Stateliners won their second straight sectional title – the first time they’ve gone back to back since 2013 and 2014 – beating third-seed Montgomery 41-21 in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 Final.

Logo for Bellamy & Son Paving, promoting the Big Central Game of the Week, featuring bold text in red and yellow colors.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play live from Maloney Stadium in Phillipsburg, NJ, on November 14, 2025:

1st Half
2nd Half

by Mike Pavlichko

Friday Night Big Central Championship Roundup: Bridgewater-Rartitan claims first-ever title while Phillipsburg drops Montgomery to win 10th; Old Bridge, Summit, New Providence fall

Two of the six Big Central Conference teams playing in five NJSIAA sectional finals Friday won championship trophies, with Bridgewater-Raritan and Phillipsburg advancing to state semifinal action next week.

The Panthers – the top-seed in North 2, Group 5 – beat sixth-seed Bayonne 21-14 Friday night at Basilone Field to take their first title in just their fourth finals berth ever. The previous three came back-to-back-to back from 2015 to 2017, falling to Westfield all three years. Read a recap from Chris Tsakonas here, complete with postgame reaction from Bridgewater players and head coach D.J. Catalano. Bridgewater-Raritan will face Passaic Tech, the North 1, Group 5 champ, in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, top-seed Phillipsburg won the North 2, Group 4 title with a 41-21 victory over third-seed Montgomery at Maloney Stadium Friday night. It was the tenth title in Stateliner history, and their second straight, in their fourth straight finals appearance. They are the first consecutive titles for the porgram since beating Mendham in 2013 and Colonia in 2014 in North 2, Group 4. Read a recap from Mike Pavlichko here, complete with postgame reaction from Alec Crouthamel with head coach Frank Duffy, QB Dominic Bracco, and RB/LB Sam Dech.

Meanwhile, three other Big Central schools lost in their finals.

In Central Jersey Group 5 – a term we’ll use loosely since it featured a deep South Jersey team from past Philadelphia – third-seed Old Bridge lost 38-7 at top-seed Washington Twp., as the Minutemen won their second straight title. They’ll meet South 5 champ Kingsway in the semifinals. Falling behind 17-0 at the half, Old Bridge got on the board with a Brody Nugent to Michael Chiarella 23-yard touchdown, but the Minutemen got it right back, and held off the Knights. Nugent finished his career with a 12-for-41 night for 158 yards, while rushing 17 times for 23. Old Bridge finishes the season 10-2, with a program record for wins.

In North 2, Group 3, top-seed West Morris beat second-seed Summit, 35-14 in Chester. The Wolfpack will now play North 1, Group 3 champ Old Tappan in the Group 3 semis. West Morris won the battle up front, limiting a solid Hilltopper run game all year long top just 98 yards on one carry, though they got 172 through the air. Alex Schwark rushed for 45 yards on eight carries, while the Wolpack amassed 356 yards on the ground. Summit’s season ends at 9-3

Meanwhile, in North 2, Group 1, third-seed New Providence lost at home to fourth-seed Cedar Grove in a rematch of last year’s title game, 37-13, to give the Panthers their second straight title. They’ll play North 1, Group 1 champ Butler next week in the semifinals. Pioneer runningback Jack Fiotzgerals rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, while Mike Petses went for 66 on five rushes. Kevin Reilly had a touchdown catch in the loss, New Providence’s only one of the year; they finish 10-1. Read Marcus Borden’s recap here.

Here’s the Friday evening scoreboard for the Sectional Finals across the state:

GROUP 5:

  • NORTH 1: #2 Passaic Tech 56, #1 West Orange 42
  • NORTH 2: #1 Bridgewater-Raritan 21, #6 Bayonne 14 (Recap and postgame reaction)
  • CENTRAL: #1 Washington Twp., 38, Old Bridge 7
  • SOUTH: #3 Kingsway 38, #1 Atlantic City 21

GROUP 4:

  • NORTH 1: #1 Ramapo 28, #2 Northern Highlands 27 (OT)
  • NORTH 2: #1 Phillipsburg 41, #3 Montgomery 21
  • CENTRAL: #1 Brick Memorial 28, #3 Middletown North 0
  • SOUTH: #2 Millville at #1 Winslow Twp., (Saturday, 1 pm)

GROUP 3:

  • NORTH 1: #1 Old Tappan 42, #2 Wayne Hills 14
  • NORTH 2: #1 West Morris 35, #2 Summit 14
  • CENTRAL: #1 Holmdel 41, #3 Seneca 20
  • SOUTH: #4 Mainland at #2 Cedar Creek (Saturday, noon)

GROUP 2:

  • NORTH 1: #1 Westwood 32, #3 Ramsey 6
  • NORTH 2: #1 Shabazz 26, #7 Madison 16
  • CENTRAL: #1 Camden 43, #2 Wall 7
  • SOUTH: #1 Haddonfield 28, #3 Delran 7

GROUP 1:

  • NORTH 1: #1 Butler 28, #2 Kinnelon 14
  • NORTH 2: #4 Cedar Grove 37, #3 New Providence 13
  • CENTRAL: #1 Burlington City 28, #2 Shore 20
  • SOUTH: #1 Glassboro 47, #6 Shalick 14

Here’s a look at all of next week’s public school state semifinal matchups:

GROUP 5:

  • Passaic Tech (North 1, 9-3) at Bridgewater-Raritan (North 2, 9-3), Friday 6 pm
  • Kingsway (South, 10-2) at Washington Twp. (Central, 12-0), Friday 6 pm

GROUP 4:

  • Ramapo (North 1, 10-1) at Phillipsburg (North 2, 10-1), Friday 7 pm
  • Millville (6-4) /Winslow Twp. (9-2) winner vs. Brick Memorial (Central, 10-2), TBA

GROUP 3:

  • West Morris (North 2, 12-0) at Old Tappan (North 1, 11-0), Friday 6 pm
  • Mainland (7-4)/Cedar Creek (9-2) winner at Holmdel (Central, 9-2), Friday 7 pm

GROUP 2:

  • Shabazz (North 2, 10-1) at Westwood (North 1, 11-1), Friday 7 pm
  • Camden (Central, 9-2) at Haddonfield (South, 9-2), Friday 7 pm

GROUP 1:

  • Cedar Grove (North 2, 9-3) at Butler (North 1, 11-0), Friday 7 pm
  • Burlington City (Central, 11-1) at Glassboro (South, 12-0), Friday 6 pm
by Marcus Borden

Perfect season ends for New Providence as Pioneers take first loss in North 2, Group 1 final in rematch with Cedar Grove

A fired up Cedar Grove team got off the team buses hooting and hollering as they felt disrespected as the defending 2024 North 2 Group 1 Champions, whose only loss last year was to the overall Group 1 title-winner, Glassboro, at MetLife Stadium.

The Panthers beat New Providence last year in the first round of the playoffs, and would do it again Friday night. Fourth-seed Cedar Grove (9-3) topped the third-seeded Pioneers, 37-13, winning the 2025 title in a rematch of last year’s final.

It was the first loss of the season for New Providence, which ends a magical year at 10-1. Cedar Grove will face Butler in next week’s semifinals, as the top-seeded Bulldogs won the North 1, Group 1 title Friday night at home over second-seed Kinnelon, 28-14.

Cedar Grove – which got to the final by upsetting top-seed Mountain Lakes in the sectional semis – would win the coin toss and elect to play defense. Placekicker Sebastian Kovacs would put the ball deep in the end zone forcing the Pioneers to start at their 20 yard line.

New Providence would punt on their first possession setting up the Panthers on their 38-yard line. Mixing the run and pass the visitors marched down the field in nine plays with Senior quarterback Pierce Asfalg hitting Thomas Cannataro on a 16-yard swing pass for a touchdown and the early 6-0 lead after a two-point pass failed at the 6:31 mark in the first quarter.

The Pioneers would run two consecutive running plays with the second one looking like it would go the distance when the runner was hit by two defenders and fumbled the ball deep in Panther territory.

Cedar Grove would once again use the quick passing game, power runs with Cannataro while Asfalg enjoyed some success running to the outside. They would march to the New Providence six-yard line as the first quarter came to a close. Cedar Grove would have to settle for a 26-yard FG and a 9-0 lead at 11:54 in the second quarter.

The Pioneers would go three and out on their next series and a set the Panthers up with good field position around midfield. Cedar Grove would need less than two minutes as Cannataro would score on a six-yard run at 8:37 in the second quarter and a 16-0 lead.

Both teams would trade punts, with New Providence getting the ball with back with Kevin Reilly hitting a deep bomb, setting the stage for a 12-yard touchdown pass from the junior signal caller to Daniel Poretti with 27 seconds before halftime making the score 16-6 after a failed two-point conversion.

Following the intermission both teams would be forced to punt on their initial offensive drives of the second half. It was, however, the home town Pioneers who would close the gap to 16-13, as James Keneally would intercept an Asfalg pass setting up New Providence’s Jack Fitzgerald for a two-yard touchdown run with 2:27 remaining in the third stanza.

Cedar Grove would waste little time as Asfalg would hit Xavier Andujar on a 70-yard crossing pattern with 58 seconds left in the 3rd quarter and a 23-13 lead.

That would be as close as the Pioneers would get as Cannataro would rumble for a 46-yard TD run and Asfalg would score on a double pass making the final score 37-13 for Cedar Grove, giving back-to-back North 2 Group 1 Sectional Championships.

Mike Pavlichko contributed to this report.

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg is all business in 41-21 win over Montgomery to claim back-to-back state titles, tenth NJSIAA crown in school history

If you had just walked into Maloney stadium with a couple of minutes left in the fourth quarter, and stuck around for the ending, if it wasn’t for temperatures in the 40s, you might have thought it was a mid-season game between Phillipsburg and Montgomery.

The Stateliners led by 27, looking to run out the clock. The Cougars got a late touchdown to cut it to 20; too little, too late. The clock ran down to zero, and Phillipsburg celebrated like any other win.

Except, it was the program’s tenth NJSIAA state championship, Phillipsburg’s second in a row in North 2, Group 4, as the top-seeded Stateliners took control in the first half after falling behind 7-3 and never looked back, winning the North 2, Group 4 title 41-21 in a the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, and heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Phillipsburg (10-1) will get to play one more time this season at Maloney, hosting Ramapo in the Group 4 state semifinals at 7 pm next Friday. The Raiders (10-1) beat Northern Highlands at home, 28-27, in overtime Friday, holding off the Highlanders as they went for two on their turn in OT.

For the first time since an early October loss at St. Joseph-Metuchen, Phillipsburg found itself trailing in the game, only the second time they’d been behind in the first half all year – the other to West Orange the week before.

They got on the board first, with a 39-yard field goal off the foot of Alexie Moreira, but went down 8-3 after Montgomery QB Jack Kristjanson connected with Obinna Obuba for a 35-yard touchdown, then got a two-point conversion run.

But Phillipsburg would get the next five scores in the game.

First, sophomore QB Dominic Bracco – who was 7-of-10 passing for 109 yards and three touchdowns – hit Shane Moore out of the backfield for a 67-yard TD strike to make it 11-8 after a two-point run with 1:41 to go in the opneing quarter. Sam Dech scored on the next drive just 1:58 into the second on a one-yard run, and then – after Montgomery interception a yard out of their own end zone, Phillipsburg got a safety to make it 20-8 with 1:41 to go before the half, then added one more for good measure with five seconds to go before the break, a 13-yard touchdown run by Bracco to make it 26-8 going into the locker room.

By that point, Montgomery (8-4) – which had made some good defensive stops up front – had been worn down by a punishing Phillipsburg offensive line.

Senior runningback Sam Dech – who carried 17 times for 136 yards and a score, and also went 24 yards for a first down on a fake punt in the first half on fourth-and-four – scored from one-yard out late in the third to make it 34-8 before Monty could get back on the board again, though by that time, the game was pretty much in hand.

Bracco would hit tight end Donovan Samson with a four-yard TD pass at the 5:27 mark of the fourth to end the scoring.

And that business-like attitude? Well, it’s the reason for that muted celebration. And that muted celebration is part of the Phillipsburg mantra, D.I.G.: Discipline, Ignore The Noise, and Grit.

They just go about their business. This is the standard, what’s expected. And they do it.

They can celebrate later, when the season’s over. After all, there’s still more football to be played at Maloney, against Easton on Thanksgiving, and maybe Rutgers the week after.

Click below for Alec Crouthamel with postgame reaction from head coach Frank Duffy, QB Dominic Bracco, and RB/LB Sam Dech, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Chris Tsakonas

Fourth time’s the charm! Bridgewater-Raritan wins first sectional title, topping Bayonne 21-14 in North 2, Group 5 final

In 2015, the Bridgewater-Raritan football team made its first-ever sectional final – 23 years after the merger of the East and West high schools – with an undefeated record.

They would fall that year to unbeaten Westfield. The same happened the next year. And they would fall to Westfield one more time in 2017.

It took eight more years for the Panthers to get back to that stage, and this time they made it count.

Friday night at Basilone Field, the Panthers clinched the first sectional title in program history with a 21-14 win over Bayonne.

Bridgewater-Raritan started the game on the back foot, as Bayonne went ahead 7-0 off a 20-yard touchdown run from Chance Fisher with 2:56 left in the first quarter. The Panthers marched 77 yards down the field late in the second quarter, but the drive stalled at the nine-yard line with an interception thrown by Declan Kurdyla.

The first turning point came with 1:14 remaining in the first half. On fourth and goal from the 1-yard line, Bridgewater-Raritan’s front seven held up to deny a touchdown for Nico Sampson to keep it at 7-0 entering the second half.

The Bees received the second half kickoff – but the first play of the half went awry as a botched snap led to a fumble that was returned 33 yards for a touchdown by Jamelle Jones to tie the game. 

The Panthers took the lead for the first time with an 11-yard touchdown run for Jahmier Black with 2:56 to play in the 3rd quarter. Bayonne responded quickly, as Fisher punched in a 66-yard touchdown to tie it up at 14 with 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Bridgewater-Raritan went ahead for good late in the fourth, as a fourth-and-one turned into a 58-yard touchdown pass from Kurdyla to Jack Cifuentes to take the lead for good with 2:33 to play. A muffed kickoff was recovered by the Panthers to seal the win.

Black led Bridgewater-Raritan with 15 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown in the win, while Kurdyla completed six of 10 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown through the air. Cifuentes led all Panther receivers with four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.

Next up, Bridgewater will play in the Group 4 semifinals at home next Friday – likely at 6 pm – against North 1, Group 5 champion Passaic Tech. The second-seeded Bulldogs knocked off top-seed West Orange Friday night, 56-42 on the road.

Logo for Sportsplex at Metuchen featuring various sports icons and contact information.

Click below for postgame reaction from Chris Tsakonas with Bridegwater-Rartitan’s Declan Kurdyla, Jahmier Black, Jack Cifuentes, Jamelle Jones and head coach Declan Kurdyla, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Bridgewater-Raritan players
Bridgewater-Raritan head coach D.J. Catalano

-Mike Pavlichko contributed to this report