It’s Cutoff Weekend, and we’re the place to get all the updated playoff standings all week long, with our coverage brought to you by My Family Appliances on Route 1 South in the Wick Plaza, Edison.

We’ll have more analysis throughout the day Saturday as scores roll in. And don’t forget to join us for our “Playoff Projection Show” on Saturday at 6:00 pm as Mike Pavlichko brings you all the playoff projections, with analysis and commentary by Marcus Borden, live in studio!

Here’s an updated look at the Group 3 supersections based on Friday night results as reported to Gridiron New Jersey.

NORTH GROUP 3

As we expected, Hillside‘s win over Carteret Friday night at The Pit triggered an odd situation: a team in fourth place (Hillside) that couldn’t jump the two two (Old Tappan and Summit) affecting the top two. The win put the Comets above Old Tappan in power point average, moved them from 4th to 3rd place, but moved Summit ahead of Old Tappan overall. The Golden Knights won Friday night, but against lowly-rated Demarest. And the Hilltoppers have highly-regarded St. Joseph in Metuchen Saturday, where even a loss won’t hurt them. We call Summit the top overall seed. And Hillside looks locked into third.

Cranford is in ninth after a loss to North Brunswick, holding court, and they look to be a lock there, too, regardless what West Essex does Saturday at East Orange.

We also think Governor Livingston is in, at 6-2 and in 16th place, regardless what happens Saturday at home against Bernards, since the Mountaineers are a strong opponent. But we’ll still keep an eye on that game Saturday.

Key Saturday Games to Watch:

• #1 Summit at St. Joseph-Metuchen
• #8 West Essex at East Orange
• #12 Lincoln vs. Orange
• #16 Governor Livingston vs. Bernards

SOUTH GROUP 3

Somerville moved up from 11th to 8th place with a Friday win over South Brunswick at Brooks Field. But hold the phone, because we think they drop to 9th if Manasquan beats Ocean Twp. at home Saturday. That’s the difference between a first-round home game and a road trip.

Carteret fell from 10th to 11th with the loss to a good Hillside team Friday night. Teams may move around them Saturday with a number of games to be played, but they might actually hold in 11th. We think they’ll be no worse than 12.

Key Saturday Games to Watch:

• #9 Manasquan vs. #17 Ocean Township
• #13 Highland Regional at Rancocas Valley
• #14 Burlington Township vs. Willingboro
• #25 Matawan at Freehold Boro
• #19 Nottingham vs. Hamilton

It’s down to the final weekend of the regular season in high school football, and Cutoff Weekend is just days away. This week, Central Jersey Sports Radio will bring you exclusive, team-by-team analysis of all the playoff scenarios for the 57 public schools in the Big Central Conference.

It’s all brought to you by My Family Appliances on Route 1 South in the Wick Plaza, Edison.

And don’t forget to join us for our “Playoff Projection Show” on Saturday at 6 pm (moved to an hour later) as Mike Pavlichko brings you all the playoff projections, with analysis and commentary by Marcus Borden, live in studio!

With that, here’s a look at Group 3 North and South, with all scores and playoff standings based on Gridiron New Jersey’s official calculations as of Sunday, October 15, 2023. Click on the heading to see the standings at Gridiron New Jersey:

NORTH GROUP 3

2. Summit (6-1, 1.6 UPR): Here’s one we’re not sure if we’ve ever seen before. We think Summit has a crack at the overall No. 1 seed, win or lose Saturday at St. Joseph-Metuchen (5-2). How? Giving everyone down to the No. 8 team in the section a win except Summit, we believe the Hilltoppers leapfrog current No. 1 Old Tappan (6-1, 1.4 UPR), which suffered its first loss of the year last week – and first in 13 games – to undefeated (in the eyes of the NJSIAA, since they opened with a loss to Somers-NY) Ramapo last week. Again, how? Well, the Golden Knights lead Summit by just 0.2 UPR points. Old Tappan is first in OSI, second in power points. Summit is first in power points, second in OSI. That’s the 0.2 difference. Even a win by Old Tappan and loss by Summit won’t change things because the Hilltoppers play a tougher opponent than the Golden Knights, who host 1-7 Demarest. Now, enter Hillside: seventh in OSI, but third in power points. Their UPR is irrelevant. If they beat Carteret (7-1) Friday night at the Pit, they should move to second in power point average, knocking Old Tappan down a spot, adding 0.4 to their UPR, and putting them behind Summit. One day – it may be sooner than later – I’ll have a rant on this. Bottom line: Summit appears locked in as the overall 2-seed, and a top-seed in whatever section they call it, but jumps to No. 1 overall if Hillside beats Carteret, all regardless of what Summit and Old Tappan do.

4. Hillside (5-2, 5.4 UPR): Weighing all the above, Hillside can’t catch Summit or Old Tappan, and that’s what makes the Hilltoppers’ scenario all the more wacky, that a team that can’t catch either of them can affect how they finish above them. (I promise I’ll save this rant for later!) That said, Hillside can indeed climb has high as third with a win, regardless what everyone else behind them does. Worst-case scenario, a loss to the Ramblers (7-1) on the road Friday night could drop them as low as seven, but that would require everyone else around them to win. So, we think their range is a more manageable 3-5 seed overall, which would give them a 2-3 seed in whatever section they land.

9. Cranford (4-3, 7.4 UPR): Just 0.2 UPR points behind 8th place West Essex (5-3, 7.2), we think if the Cougars win Friday night at North Brunswick (7-0), and everyone else does, they can land as high as six overall with a Hillside loss to Carteret, seven if the Comets beat the Ramblers. A win and a loss by all the teams around them could actually get them as high as third. Neither of those extremes will probably happen, though, so let’s call them a longshot for a four seed, likely a 5/6, with a win. A Cougar loss to the Raiders, and they probably end up an 8-10 seed overall in North 4, with a lot of variables in between.

16. Governor Livingston (6-2, 16.2): Well, it appears Spotswood still has a shot at the playoffs in South 2 if they beat JP Stevens this weekend. So we may not have a repeat of last year’s snub there, nor Manville’s from 2021. The 2023 edition might be Governor Livingston. Opponents South River, JFK, JP Stevens and North Plainfield are a combined 1-29 on the year! That’s why they’re four games above .500 and sit in 16th, sweating it out this weekend, just 06. UPR points ahead of 17th place Sparta, which is just 2-5. (Go ahead, explain how this is working? We’ll wait.) Now, here’s the good news for the Highlanders: Their opponent at home Saturday is Bernards, one of the two best teams on their schedule. (The Mountaineers and Carteret could be debated as to who’s 1a. and 1b.) A win, and if a ton broke right, they could vault all the way up to No. 11 overall in the supersection. But what if they lose? Unless there’s a surprise somewhere, we think they’re locked in at 16, especially because they have a 37.53 OSI and a Bernards’ loss is worth 39.85 OSI points. That will increase their average. And remember, SI values are locked this week. They are tracked through the end of a team’s season – including playoff purposes – but for seeding purposes, the values will not change as a result of this weekend’s games. GL is guaranteed to rise – albeit a tiny amount – in power point average even with a loss to Bernards. We’re calling Governor Livingston in at this point, but they should treat it like it matters. Why chance it?

SOUTH GROUP 3

9. Carteret (7-1, 9.2 UPR): The Ramblers also stand to benefit from having a strong Cutoff Weekend opponent in Hillside (5-2) with a good SI (81.85) as well. Seneca should beat Northern Burlington, while Cedar Creek and Winslow have identical records, so giving the Pirates a loss to Winslow, Carteret, we think, could get as high as seven with a win, but perhaps as low as 11 or worse with a loss, if things break all the wrong ways for the Ramblers. We think the truth lies somewhere in the middle, with a lot of variables around them.

11. Somerville (4-4, 10.6): It’s likely the Pioneers will end up right where they are, one spot higher, or one spot down. Those may not be the only scenarios, but they seem the most likely. The ten is within reach with a win at home over South Brunswick (5-3), but the Vikings are a strong enough opponent that a loss won’t kill the Pioneers’ either. They don’t have a shot at a top eight seed, so all we really know for sure is this will be The Ville’s last game on their home field this season unless they advance in the playoffs and someone else pulls of a major upset.

With just two weeks of play left before the state playoffs are seeded, things are heating up in the playoff chase. Here’s our look at the Big Central Conference teams in playoff contention in Group 3 as we head into Week 7 of high school football around the state.

And, of course, don’t miss our “Playoff Projection Show,” scheduled for 5 pm on Saturday, October 21st, when we’ll reveal our predicted matchups and seeds for the postseason. It’s all presented by My Family Appliances of Edison, which will be giving away three $100 gift cards during the show to lucky listeners!

All our analysis is based on Gridiron New Jersey’s official playoff calculations performed for the NJSIAA and listed on their website as of 9:30 pm on October 10. For full standings, click on each supersection’s header below:

NORTH GROUP 3:

2. Summit (5-1, 1.6): The Hilltoppers are a pretty solid two two finisher at this point, wiht a 2.6 UPR lead over third-place Warren Hills (5-2, 4.2 UPR). They close with two challenging road games, this Friday night at Colonia and next Saturday afternoon at St. Joseph-Metuchen. It’s pretty simple for Summit. We think they at least split those, and that might lock it up. A sweep most assuredly does so.

6. Cranford (4-2, 6.0): The Cougars are not yet assured of a top eight finish, which would give them at least a first round home game. They close with two challenging games as well: Linden at home Friday night, and at North Brunswick next Friday night. The teams behind them are tightly-packed: Vernon (6.2 UPR), Hillside (6.6) and West Essex (7.6). They shouldn’t have to worry about West Essex in tenth at 10.2 UPR. In fact, even with a split, it looks like regardless of which team they beat, and irrespective of what Hillside and Vernon do, they would end up a top eight team. A sweep and they may finish in the top four depending how things shake out. Two losses, and it’s another story.

8. Hillside (4-2, 6.6): We think the Comets have a crack at a top eight finish if they can play their cards right and win their last two games. That could be easier said than done, though, with two road games: Delaware Valley this Friday and at Carteret next Friday night. Two wins keep them in the top eight. A split, and things could go either way. Two losses, it’s a first round road trip.

15. Governor Livingston (5-2, 16.2): The Highlanders are still on the bubble, but at least two spots on the right side of it. The good news is that 17th place Sparta and 18th place River Dell only have one win each. So they may not do much winning these last two weeks. Both play some good teams these final two weeks, and with the Spartans and Golden Hawks the first two teams out right now, GL may only have to worry about Mendham in 19th place, but they’re 2.2 UPR points behind. The schedule is what’s interesting for Governor Livingston, which has low-rated South River on the road Saturday, but undefeated Bernards next weekend. A win over South River may actually hurt them, but a loss to Bernards might actually help them. An interesting one to watch.

SOUTH GROUP 3:

9. Somerville (4-3, 9.4): Let’s just say these last two games are huge for the Pioneers, who can make a huge jump with a win on their short road trip down Route 206 to play Hillsborough Friday night. They finish with South Brunswick at Brooks Field next Friday night. They’re a 50-50 at getting a first-round home game, via a top eight finish. Three teams from 8th to 9th are bunched up, with Manasquan at 9.2 UPR, Somerville at 9.4, and Seneca, with a 9.8 UPR. The ‘Ville may need a sweep to play another game at Brooks Field in the opening round.

12. Carteret (6-1, 12): Having six wins already and not being in the top eight means the Ramblers probably can’t make the move up unless the teams ahead of them all collapse down the stretch. Nice thought, but there’s no one ahead of them with only a couple of wins to catch. They’re all good. In fact, 13 of the top 16 teams here have reached three wins already. Carteret has two strong opponents here, Rahway and Hillside, and if they are to have a chance at opening the playoffs at the Pit, they’ll need to sweep, and probably need some help.