It’s Week 7 in high school football across the great Garden State, which means after this weekend, we’re up to Cutoff Weekend! The SI numbers lock in, and we see who’s going to make the state playoffs.

On this week’s episode, we look at who’s in position for a top-seed, who looks like they’re solidly in, and who has some work to do to stay – or get – on the right side of the playoff bubble.

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

Click below to listen to the Week 7 edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”:

We just keep barreling toward Cutoff Weekend in high school football in New Jersey, and it’s down to crunch time for a number of teams. Hillsborough took that to heart this weekend. They brought a 1-4 record into Westfield for a Saturday matinee and fell behind 14-0 after six minutes, but rallied to score five straight touchdowns and six of the next seven to win 41-21 in a game that, by the second half, seemed readily in hand.

And yet, other teams are surviving. Highland Park is 2-3, but three spots into the playoffs after not qualifying last year with a 6-3 mark. Whether they make it remains to be seen.

We talk about all of that, go through the eight unbeaten teams left in the BCC, and more, on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes!

Click below to listen to the Week 6 edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”:

It’s official: we’ve reached the halfway point of the season for everyone in New Jersey high school football, and the Big Central still has nine undefeated teams. Five are in the top ten, but the other four are still looking very good.

Elswewhere around the league, Brearley has all of a sudden won two straight after snapping a 14-game skid last week, and Bound Brook is 4-1 for the first time since 2020, but three of their last four opponents are undefeated this season. We also talk about how the playoff formula is working so far, Friday’s “Belllamy & Son Paving Big Central Game of the Week,” and more… on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes!”

Click below to listen to the Week 5 edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”:

The newest coaches in the Big Central Conference continue to get their first wins for their new schools, with four turning the trick this past week, including Zack Gega of East Brunswick, Elliot Platt of Brearley, Mark Ciccotelli at Linden and Isa Abdul-Quddus at Hillside.

There was plenty more going on around the league, as reporter Mike Pavlichko takes a closer look at all that and much more – including a look at this Friday’s Bellamy & Son paving Game of the Week and a peek at how the playoffs will look under the NJSIAA’s newest tweak to the process for 2025 – on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes!”

Click below to listen to the Week 4 edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”:

It was another busy week – especially Friday – on Week 2 in the Big Central, with a few milestones being recorded. There was Phillipsburg’s win over Hunterdon Central giving the Stateliners 750 program wins all time – though remember, not all came in New Jersey. They played a Pennsylvania schedule for a while.

There was Ridge head coach Jeff Sutherland getting his first win as head coach at his alma mater in a road victory against Hillsborough. And Joe Goerge got his 250th career win – or maybe 251 – in a road victory at Plainfield.

There was much more, too, including Piscataway’s upset win over No. 6 Old Bridge, and CJSR veteran reporter Mike Pavlichko takes a closer look at all that and much more – including a look at this Friday’s Bellamy & Son paving Game of the Week on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes!”

Click below to listen to the Week 3 edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”:

Week One – the second week of the season (don’t get Mike started!) – is in the books, and offense reigned supreme, with many Big Central Conference teams putting up huge numbers, including a balanced attack at Voorhees, and Bridgewater-Raritan’s game with Piscataway where both teams lit up the scoreboard.

And there were first wins with new teams for Donald Jones at Plainfield and Gus Kalikas at AL Johnson, even though he’d already been the school’s athletic director. Plus a marathon win for Bernards, which keeps a very long streak going as a result!

CJSR veteran reporter Mike Pavlichko takes a closer look at all that and much more – on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes!”

Click below to listen to the Week 2 edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”:

The first week of high school football is in the books here in New Jersey, and 22 Big Central Conference teams are off to 1-0 starts – four more than last year, incidentally. And of the ten coaches working their first games with their new teams this season, including Montgomery’s Sean Carty and Shamir Bearfield at St. Thomas Aquinas.

CJSR veteran reporter Mike Pavlichko takes a closer look at all that and much more – on this week’s edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes!”

Click below to listen to the Week 1 edition of “The Big Central in Two Minutes”: