The Mainland football program has had a really great last three years, winning sectional titles the last two in Group 4 – including last year’s state Group 4 championship – but the groundwork was laid way back.

That’s the assessment of Chuck Smith, now in his ninth year with the Mustangs, as they head north Friday to continue their stellar playoff run.

Mainland (9-3) will visit Somerville (12-0) Friday in the Group 3 semifinals, a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio as our “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving. Mike Pavlichko and Nick Kosko will call all the action; click here to listen.

No doubt, they will be a challenge for Somerville, which dropped Delsea 24-6 last Friday night at Brooks Field in the Central Jersey Group 3 title game. The Crusaders ran the Wing-T, but only threw the ball once against the Pioneers.

Mainland runs the Wing-T also, but boy do they throw it.

Junior quarterback John Franchini has thrown for 1,914 yards and 19 touchdowns this season, but Smith says he’s more than taken control of the offense. He’s taken a huge leadership role with the group, and that’s paid dividends.

Smith says the Mustangs are “runningback by committee.” They’re really “runningback by the DiBiaso family,” as senior Rocco leads the team with 913 rushing yards, while sophomore Lucas is tops on the team with 8.4 yards per carry, and a grand total of 439 rushing yards in his own right.

Defensively, they are led by junior linebacker Chase Hoag with team highs of 101 tackles and 20 tackles for loss, along with disruptive defensive end Matt Muits, who’s got a team-best nine sacks to his credit, and nine TFLs.

Click below to hear Mainland Coach Chuck Smith talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about Friday’s Group 3 semifinal at Somerville: