Category: Football Top Ten

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg, Aquinas remain No. 1 and 2; Watchung Hills joins CJSR Top Ten

There were no changes in the top two spots in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Week 0 rankings, but several teams in the middle shuffled.

Phillipsburg holds steady at No. 1, and will open its season Friday night, taking on Westfield at Maloney Stadium. St. Thomas Aquinas dropped its opener down at the Mid-Atlantic Pigskin Classic in Wilmington, DE, falling 36-26 to Mount St. Joseph (MD). The Trojans take on their second of three out-of-state opponents Saturday at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson when they face Lincoln High School out of Brooklyn.

Moving up a spot to second is Woodbridge. The Barrons opened with a thrilling 36-34 win at Old Bridge last Thursday night, and host 1-0 Watchung Hills this Friday evening.

Also up a spot is Somerville, which moves up to fourth after holding on for a 21-20 victory over then-No. 3 Hillsborough back on Thursday, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Hillsborough drops from third to No. 5.

Holding steady at No. 6 is Piscataway. The Chiefs opened their season with a 21-11 home win over Manalapan, and host Bridgewater-Raritan Friday night at 6 in the first of a doubleheader of the “Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving.”

Defending North 2 Group 2 champion Bernards is up one spot to No. 7, picking up a convincing season-opening 35-6 road win at Monmouth last Thursday. Friday night, the Mountaineers host Hillside, putting their 15-game Big Central Conference winning streak on the line. The Comets were the last league team to beat them, on September 2, 2022.

Falling one spot to eighth was North Brunswick, which lost on the road Friday night, giving up ten fourth-quarter points in a 17-7 defeat at Jackson Memorial. Thursday night they face South Brunswick, having won five straight in the series between the archrivals.

Idle Ridge holds in ninth; the Red Devils open their season on Saturday afternoon at St. Joseph-Metuchen in the opener for both schools. Falcons’ head coach Bill Tracy was at Ridge before moving to Metuchen, and Andy West – his former assistant – how is the Red Devils’ head coach.

New to the rankings this week is Watchung Hills. The Warriors won at Moorestown Friday night, 31-7, and visit Woodbridge Friday evening.

Sayreville dropped out after a 21-20 overtime loss to Colonia in their season opener Thursday night.

Colonia was “also considered” for the Top Ten this week, along with Rahway, which thumped Voorhees 41-14 at home Thursday night, snapping the Vikings’ five game Big Central winning streak. Scotch Plains-Fanwood visits Rahway River Park this Friday night.

Below is the full Central Jersey Sports Radio Week 0 Top Ten:

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg, St. Thomas Aquinas begin 2024 where they ended 2023: Nos. 1 and 2 in the CJSR Big Central Rankings

The same teams that ended 2023 at No. 1 and No. 2 in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Big Central Top Ten are right back in the same spots to begin 2024.

In the preseason rankings, Phillipsburg remains at the top, followed by St. Thomas Aquinas. The Stateliners were one of just two BCC teams to make a state sectional final last year, and finished the season 10-2, with their second straight Thanksgiving win over Easton, the first time they’ve done that since 2002 and 2003. The Trojans finished 10-1 and got to host a playoff game.

After that, Hillsborough will begin the season at No. 3, four spots higher than where they ended 2023. Top runningback Jackson Jankowicz is back, and the Raiders, who were 8-3 last year in one of the toughest divisions in the state, have a veteran and improved offensive line for Jankowicz to run behind this year.

Next up are three teams that didn’t finish in the final 2023 rankings, but are expected to make an impact in 2024.

Woodbridge checks in at No. 4, with the Barrons coming off a 6-4 year, but returning a ton of players, including the twin combo of QB and WR Derek and Bryan Anderson, plus a new coach in Joe Goerge, who comes over from South Brunswick.

Somerville is stacked with D1 talent, looking to improve upon a a 5-5 campaign in the first full season with Matt Bloom at the helm. The Pioneers are fifth in the preseason rankings.

And Piscataway, with two both quarterbacks who played last year returning, as well as a slew of other players, has high copes coming off a 6-4 campaign where they just missed the playoffs. The Chiefs are ranked sixth.

The final four teams all were in last year’s final rankings.

North Brunswick ended last year fifth with an 8-1 season that included a first-round playoff loss, but they have also won eight games in each of the last three seasons since the short COVID year in 2020, in which they still won seven games. The Raiders went from No. 5 to seventh.

At No. 8 is Bernards, which was 12-1 last year, and the Central Jersey Sports Radio Team of the Year. The Mountaineers won their first-ever state sectional title of the playoff era, and finished last year at No. 4. Though they graduate a ton, they should compete with Hillside for a division title.

Ninth is Ridge, which also lost a lot to graduation after an 8-2 year and No. 3 final ranking.

Sayreville checks in at No. 10, finishing 8-3 last year, returning several key players, and with a new coach in Mark Poore, who played at Sayreville under George Najjar, then coached under him and the next two coaches, Chris Beagan and last year’s skipper, Don Sofilkanich.

Montgomery – which was 8-1-1 last year but also lost a slew of talent including the one-two QB/receiver combo of Michael Schmelzer, Jr. and Matt D’Avino – also received consideration.

Below is the full Central Jersey Sports Radio Preseason Top Ten:

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg, Aquinas get first-place votes, but Stateliners end up topping final Media Poll

With three first-place votes and a 10-2 record, the Phillipsburg Stateliners have finished 2023 as the top team in the Big Central Media Poll.

P’burg was the preseason No. 1, as well, and held the position until a late-September loss to Hillsborough in the Rumble on the Raritan. The Stateliners’ only other loss came in the North 2, Group 5 final to Union City; they came back to beat Easton on Thanskgiving, the first time they’ve beaten the Red Rovers back-to-back since 2002 and 2003.

St. Thomas Aquinas finished second in the final media poll, three points behind Phillipsburg. The Trojans (10-1) got two first-place votes. They finished the regular season undefeated with a Thanksgiving Eve victory at Immaculata, their only loss coming to DePaul in the Non-Public B semifinals.

Ridge – which finished 8-2 and made it to the North 2, Group 4 semifinals – came in third, whiel National Silver Champion North Brunswick (8-1) finished fourth.

Coming in fifth is Bernards (12-1), which set a program record for wins and took home its first-ever state sectional title three weeks ago when the Mountaineers rallied to beat Lakeland in overtime for the North 2, Group 2 Championship. They were also Patriot Gold Division Champions.

The bottom five includes Sayreville (8-3) in sixth, Hillsborough (8-3) at No. 7, Liberty Silver Division winner Montgomery (8-1-1) at eight, followed by Watchung Hills (8-3) and St. Joseph-Metuchen (7-3) at nine and ten.

Summit, Hillside, and Westfield also received votes.

Below is the full Final Big Central Media Poll for 2023:

by Mike Pavlichko

Philipsburg ends season right where it began: No. 1 in the rankings

The final Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten of the 2023 high school football season finds Phillipsburg not where they were when we last left them, rather, back on top.

The Stateliners finished 10-2 after a loss in the North 2, Group 5 title game, but a victory over Easton for the second straight year, the first time they’ve done that in 20 years. They were also Big Central Conference American Silver Division Champions, one of five division champs to finish in the Top Ten.

The Stateliners are followed by St. Thomas Aquinas, which finished 10-1 and was the champion of the United Gold Division. The Trojans are 19-3 in two seasons under Tarig Holman, and 28-4 since the COVID-shortened season.

Ridge (8-2) – which finished second to P’burg in the United Silver – finished in third in the final rankings.

In fourth is Bernards, which at 12-1 set a school record for wins, and won the North 2, Group 2 title, its first state sectional title in program history. The Mountaineers were the only Big Central team to win a championship this season, but lost at 17-0 at Westwood in the Group 2 semifinals. They also were the Patriot Gold Division Champions.

North Brunswick, the National Silver Division Champions, finished fifth, with a record of 8-1, that lone loss coming in the first round of the playoffs by a single point to Freehold Township.

Montgomery checks in at No. 6, and like North Brunswick, suffered its only loss of the season in the playoffs, ending at 8-1-1, with the Liberty Silver Division title.

The final four teams include Hillsborough (8-3) in seventh, followed by Sayreville (8-3), St. Joseph Metuchen (7-3), and Watchung Hills (8-3). Summit, which had been tied for tenth in the last ranking after cutoff weekend, dropped out, finishing 7-3.

Below are the full Central Jersey Sports Radio Final high school football rankings for 2023:

by Mike Pavlichko

Big Central Conference Power Rankings: Week 9

Each week, Central Jersey Sports Radio will publish the Big Central Power Rankings, as well as the statewide Top 20.

The power rankings are solely based on the state’s Strength Index numbers, which are used to calculate OSI, which is 60 percent of the state’s UPR playoff formula.

Below, you’ll find all the Big Central teams ranked from 1 to 59, followed by the statewide Top 20, for week 9.

One Big Central team made the Top 20, St. Thomas Aquinas, moving up from 16 to 13 this week.

Ridge again is just outside that group, but down to 21 this week at 86.72, while Phillipsburg’s SI is 85.05, and they held at 25.

by Mike Pavlichko

Ridge holds at No. 1 in Big Central Media Poll, and this week, grabs a vote

For the last several weeks, Ridge has been the No. 1 team in the Big Central Media Poll, but the Red Devils had done it without a first place vote.

This week, they got one, in the final rankings before the start of the playoffs. North Brunswick and St. Thomas Aquinas split the other four first place votes.

Hillsborough fell from sixth to fourth after a Friday night home loss to Westfield, and Summit dropped out after a Saturday afternoon loss at St. Joseph-Metuchen. Watchung Hills took the vacant spot and joined the rankings at No. 10.

Below are the complete Week 9 rankings in the Big Central Media Poll:

by Mike Pavlichko

Big Central Conference Power Rankings: Week 8

Each week, Central Jersey Sports Radio will publish the Big Central Power Rankings, as well as the statewide Top 20.

The power rankings are solely based on the state’s Strength Index numbers, which are used to calculate OSI, which is 60 percent of the state’s UPR playoff formula.

Below, you’ll find all the Big Central teams ranked from 1 to 59, followed by the statewide Top 20.

Three Big Central teams made the Top 20. St. Thomas Aquinas fell to 16 this week from No. 12

Ridge and Phillipsburg dropped just out of the Top 20 this week. The Red Devils are at No. 21, with an 86.72 SI, just 0.17 points out of the Top 20. The Stateliners are at No. 25, with an 85.76 Strength Index value.

by Mike Pavlichko

Ridge again No. 1 in Big Central Media Poll

For the fourth week in a row, Ridge is the No. team in the Big Central Media Poll.

The Red Devils didn’t get any first place votes, but ended up with the most points in the formula. Again, for the fourth straight week, North Brunswick got three first place votes, while St. Thomas Aquinas got the other two.

There were few other changes. Hillsborough and Phillipsburg flip-flopped into fourth and fifth, respectively. Summit climbed from ninth to seventh, Sayreville inched up a spot to No. 9, and St. Joseph-Metuchen entered the poll, as they did in the CJSR Top Ten, at the expense of Watchung Hills, which they beat 26-21 on Friday night.

Below is the full Week 8 Big Central Media Poll:

by Mike Pavlichko

Unbeatens keep winning, North Brunswick still atop CJSR rankings, St. Joseph-Metuchen back in for first time since preseason

There was very little change in the Week 8 Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten, the next-to-last before the playoffs begin.

North Brunswick – still unbeaten at 7-0 – remains a unanimous pick for No. 1, with Ridge, Hillsborough and Phillipsburg all following in their same spots, along with Montgomery and St. Thomas Aquinas holding on for a fifth place tie again.

The bottom four saw a shift, as Bernards, Summit and Sayreville all moved up one spot each to occupy seven though nine, while St. Joseph of Metuchen is back in the rankings for the first time since the preseason, checking in at No. 10 with a record of 5-2.

Watchung Hills – in seventh last week – dropped out after losing for the second time in the last three weeks.

Here’s the full Week 8 Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten:

by Mike Pavlichko

Week 7 Big Central Media poll finds Ridge at the top for third straight week; Sayreville back in

The top eight in the Big Central Media Poll remained unchanged this week, with Ridge holding down the top spot for the third consecutive week, even though North Brunswick pulled in three of the five first place votes and St. Thomas Aquinas got the other two, just like the previous two weeks.

With Union losing to Elizabeth, the Farmers (4-3) drop out of the poll, and Sayreville comes back in at the tenth and final spot.

Spotswood (8-0), Union and Hillside (4-2) each got one vote, but didn’t make the top ten.

Below is the complete Big Central Media Poll for Week 7: