Tag: Cranford

by Mike Pavlichko

Another split vote – but Hillsborough stays at the top of the heap – in the Big Central Media Poll

In the final Big Central Media Poll of the season before the playoffs wrap up, Hillsborough remains No. 1, but again split the six first place votes with Somerville and Union.

The Raiders capped a 9-0 season with a 41-0 win over North Brunswick at home last Friday night, and earned the top-seed in Central Group 5 in the process.

North Brunswick – on its third loss of the season – dropped out of the rankings, while Phillipsburg worked its way back in with a 13-0 win over Westfield.

Below are the Week 9 rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Somerville closes regular season atop Central Jersey Sports Radio rankings

In the final Top Ten before the playoffs begin – and until the season is over – Somerville once again reigns supreme.

The Pioneers are Number One in the Week 9 Central Jersey Sports Radio rankings, with little change below them.

In fact, the only real change was Old Bridge bouncing out, although the Knights also received votes, along with St. Thomas Aquinas.

Below are the Week 9 rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

North Group 3 Week 9 Breakdown: Cougars are locked in as overall top seed, do Summit and North Plainfield have must-wins?

There’s a lot people don’t know about the playoff formula New Jersey uses for high school football – even though it’s completely available to the general public. But what we do know is that Cranford – with a 7-0 record – appears to be the only Big Central team locked into its playoff position. Here’s a team-by-team unofficial breakdown of Big Central teams in playoff contention in North Group 3:

Cranford: We believe Cranford is locked in as the overall Number One seed. And though top versus second overall seed matters little – since the regional champiosnhips will be at a neutral site at MetLife Stadium – the Cougars can take that bragging right. By our math, even if Cranford should lost at Montgomery (3-4) Friday night in Skillman – and even if River Dell, West Morris, Sparta, and West Essex behind them all win – Cranford should still be the number one seed. Go ahead. Move along. Nothing else to see here. Believe it or not, they could end up with an all-Big Central first round game at Memorial Field next Friday night. Read on…

MORE CUTOFF WEEKEND COVERAGE: A team-by-team breakdown of every Big Central team’s postseason standing and chances heading into Week 9

Summit: The Hilltoppers (5-3) are in 15th place, with a tough opponent this weekend in Somerville (6-2). The Pioneers have won five straight on the field (with a forfeit loss to Phillipsburg sandwiched in the middle) and are really hitting their stride, with Ethan MacNair steamrolling opponents since moving from tight end to runningback; he’s rushed for 544 yards and six touchdowns in just the last two games, against St. Joseph-Metuchen and Warren Hills. But enough about the Pioneers. Should Summit pull off an upset – though they’re a team that always gives the ‘Ville fits, the only team to beat them in the 2019 regular season – they could end up anywhere from 12th to 14th depending on who else wins, like Nutley, Vernon, Warren Hills or Wayne Valley (the more of them that win, the lower Summit finishes). Could the unthinkable happen, and Summit get knocked out of the playoffs with a loss? Somerville is a strong opponent with a solid OSI and worth a good deal of power points, so on its own, the defeat leaves them in 15th place. We believe if Demarest, Morris Hills and North Plainfield all win this weekend, it would knock Summit out. There may be other combinations, too, but those are the three directly behind the Hilltoppers, if they lose to Somerville. Bottom line: Summit has a lot to play for Friday night at Brooks Field, in the Big Central Game of the Week driven by Autoland. Game time is 7:00, pregame is at 6:45. Click here to listen.

North Plainfield: The Canucks (5-3) are less cut and dry, currently sitting in 16th place. And a win or loss at South River (5-3) Saturday afternoon, will bring about the same result; they’re going to need help in the form of all three teams currently behind them losing. That’s Morris Hills, Roxbury and Demarest. Should any of them win, regardless of what happens at Denny Stadium Saturday afternoon, the Canucks can bring their axes home.

by Mike Pavlichko

Undefeated Hillsborough holds top spot in Big Central Media Poll for second straight week

Though it split the six first-place votes in the Big Central Media Poll evenly with Union and Somerville, Hillsborough held on to the top spot in the Week 8 Big Central Media Poll.

The Raiders got 53 points in the poll, edging our the Pioneers and Farmers, who had 53 apiece, and tied for second. Cranford held in fourth.

After some movement in the middle of the poll, Ridge re-entered the rankings at No. 8 after a 27-6 win at Westfield Saturday, while Bridgewater-Raritan made it back in at No. 9 following a 31-14 road win over Elizabeth.

Previous No. 7 Old Bridge, which blew out JP Stevens on the road Friday night, dropped out, but also received votes. Similarly, previously No. 9 Phillipsburg fell out, but picked up the same number of votes as the Knights, after a 42-0 home win over Connecticut’s Capital Prep Harbor.

Below is the Week 8 poll:

by Mike Pavlichko

Few changes in Week 8 Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten, with Somerville still leading the pack

Another Somerville rout – this one 43-13 at Warren Hills, and without their starting quarterback – keeps the Pioneers on top of the pack in the Central Jersey Sports Radio rankings for Week 8.

In fact, few teams moved at all in the latest Top Ten, with Woodbridge dropping just one spot from 5th to 6th after a loss to unranked Scotch Plains-Fanwood. Sayreville moved up one spot to fifth.

The Barrons are tied with Bridgewater-Raritan for sixth; the Panthers were previously No. 7. Phillipsburg – previously No. 9, are tied for eighth with North Brunswick.

Though St. Thomas Aquinas – previously in a three-way tie for tenth with Old Bridge and Ridge – dropped out, it was really just a math quirk, as the Trojans (7-0) still received a Top Ten vote this week; others who were tenth simply were ranked higher.

Delaware Valley (7-1) also received a vote.

Below is the full Week 8 Top Ten:

by Mike Pavlichko

Undefeated Cranford still holds top spot in North 3; North Plainfield win puts them inside the bubble

There was little surprise at the top of the North Group 3 standings after Friday night’s games, as Cranford – now 7-0 after a 42-13 win over Linden – held on to the top spot, according to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s exclusive unofficial UPR calculations.

The Cougars – who maintain a 1 UPR, tops in both power point average and OSI, with their regular season finale at Montgomery next week – remained firmly in place, with West Morris in second at 2.4 UPR, but with a Saturday game at Morris Knolls this week still pending. Both teams are 5-2, but a West Morris win shouldn’t bump them up enough to overtake the Cougars, and third place River Dell remains there, even with a Friday night win.

Summit dropped a spot on the bye wee, jumped by Wayne Valley, which won Friday night.

At the bottom, North Plainfield’s 35-13 win over Johnson – coupled with Demarest’s 49-28 home loss to Westwood – climbed into the 16th spot in the standings with a UPR of 17. But the lead over Morris Hills is narrow. Still, they already played this weekend, losing big Friday night to Sparta, so it’ll likely come down to next week.

The Canucks are at 3-4 South River next Saturday afternoon. Morris Hills (3-5, 17th) is at Randolph (5-2) next Saturday. Demarest (3-5, 18th) is at Bergenfield next week, not a huge pickup for the Norsemen, should they win.

But let’s put it plainly: we believe the Canucks will clinch a postseason berth with a win at Bill Denny Stadium next Saturday afternoon.

by Mike Pavlichko

Week 8 Analysis: Cranford’s win over Woodbridge keeps Cougars atop North 3; Summit falls, Warren Hills gains

The battle of unbeaten teams in Week Seven at Priscoe Field lived entirely up to its billing.

For tension, entertainment, big plays, and yes, even for playoff implications.

While the loss looks like it dropped Woodbridge out of playoff contention, it kept Cranford as the leader of the pack in the North Group 3 supersection.

It didn’t actually put any distance between them and the teams behind them, even though their power point average jumped about two-and-a-half points. In fact, one of the the teams behind them crept even closer. Cranford had a UPR of 1 – the best you can get last week – and it kept that ranking this week. But West Morris (5-2, 2nd place) rose from a 2.8 to a 2.4 UPR, moving up one place in power point rank from fourth to third.

The third place team, though, moved a bit further back. Actually, West Essex (6-1) dropped despite a win; they were a 3.2 UPR last week. They were overtaken by River Dell (5-2) which has a 2 UPR, two-tenths closer than last week’s third place team.

Still, if Cranford can take care of business with road wins at Linden and Montgomery this week an next, they’ll finish as a top seed, and likely the top overall seed.

Winning takes care of everything else, we like to say.

The other two likely playoff teams here – who played each other last week – went opposite directions in Week Seven, and met in the middle

Summit took its second loss of the season, falling to Warren Hills, and fell from 9th to 12th in the standings, while the Blue Streaks climbed from the wrong side of the bubble at 17th to 13th. Both are 5-2, with Summit having an 11.29 power point average, and Warren Hills at 11.86. UPR is close, too: 11.8 for the Hilltoppers, 12.6 for Warren Hills.

Summit had a bye this week, and we think should be in, even with a loss to Somerville next week (CJSR, 7 pm). But should they win, depending what other teams do this week, they could jump up to the top eight and earn a first-round home game. Right now it looks like a stretch, with only one team ahead of the – Old Tappan – having two losses. (Old Tappan, interestingly, only has a 9.71 power point average, one of only four single digit power point teams in the top 20 of the section. But their OSI ranks 11th, which is how they’re in.)

As for Warren Hills, they have Somerville this week, and could make a big jump. Not helping them is the fact that their regular season finale next Friday night is against longtime rival Hackettstown, which is 0-7, and only has an SI value of about 45, which is a tick above the Blue Streaks’ average. So they’re probably relegated to a bottom eight seed.

North Plainfield sits in 18th, a not-so-insurmountable 1.4 UPR points behind the No. 16 team in the standings, Demarest. The question is: Can wins at Johnson this week (2-5) and South River next week (3-3) help their cause? Johnson is worth 14 power points (their average is 8.71) but only 36.41 in OSI value (their average is 41.74). And the Rams are worth 17 power points, but will be about a 47 in SI value. It might wash out, but it that enough to pick up a couple of places in power points and move into 16th? Absent anything else, they could jump to about a 10.22 in power point average, which would vault them over four teams (not considering anything they might do the next two weeks) and gain 1.6 UPR points; remember, they’re 1.4 out now. Is it enough to more than offset losses in OSI?

We’ll have to see.

by Mike Pavlichko

And then there were three: Aquinas, Hillsborough, Cranford carry the Big Central torch of undefeated teams heading into Week Eight

There are 23 undefeated teams left in New Jersey high school football, and the Big Central has three of them: St. Thomas Aquinas, Hillsborough, and Cranford. And all three have challenging games coming up the next two weeks.

Overall, there are 23 high school football teams in the Garden State with unblemished records. Only three are non-public schools; Aquinas (6-0) is joined by Bergen Catholic and Red Bank Catholic, both of which are 7-0.

Overall, the Shore Conference has four undefeated teams: including Middletown South at 5-0, while Long Branch and Point Pleasant Boro are both 6-0.

The West Jersey Football League has six. Gloucester City is 5-0, Nottingham is 6-0, and Ocean City, Woodbury and Delsea are all 7-0. Cedar Creek leads the state with the most wins, at 8-0.

The North Jersey Super Football Conference has eight teams unbeaten. East Orange, Caldwell and Dumont are all 6-0, but Dumont isn’t eligible for the playoffs, being in one of the Ivy “relief” divisions. Ramsey, Newton, Northern Highlands, Ramapo and Bergen Catholic are all perfect through seven games.

The North Jersey Interscholastic Conference has two perfect teams. Park Ridge is 6-0. Bogota is 4-0, and like Dumont, ineligible for the postseason, being in a “relief” division.

Hillsborough, No. 2 in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten, plays at winless Piscataway this Friday night, then comes back home for a date with No. 8 North Brunswick at Noonan Field on cutoff weekend, the Raiders’ last big challenge before the playoffs.

No. 4 Cranford plays the last two games of a three-game road stretch, continuing this Friday at Linden, and next week at Montgomery, which has won two straight after an 0-4 start and in striking distance of the playoffs in North Group 4.

St. Thomas Aquinas – in a three-way tie for tenth in the latest rankings – is 6-0 and hasn’t allowed a point all year. Whether the shutout streak reaches seven games will be determined Friday night, when the Trojans welcome Governor Livingston (0-6) to North Edison. But next week, they face a much stiffer challenge when they welcome a really talented Delaware Valley team to Trojan Country.

by Mike Pavlichko

This Week in the Big Central – Episode 9: The Home Stretch

Episode 9 of “This Week in the Big Central,” driven by Mark Montenero and his team at the world-famous Autoland, focuses on the push to the playoffs just one week out from Cutoff Weekend.

Mike Pavlichko looks back at the week gone by and the playoff implications of some of the Week Seven games, then examines who’s in – and who’s on the bubble – down the home stretch of the season.

We hear from founding sponsor Elite QB, with Coach Matt Bastardi’s “Elite Performers of the Week,” and a look at the Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week, Montgomery’s Alex Benitez, who caught the ball, ran the ball, kicked the ball and intercepted the ball in a win over Scotch Plains-Fanwood.

Mike wraps it up with a look at the Week Eight slate.

by Mike Pavlichko

Split vote gives Hillsborough top ranking in Big Central Media Poll, ousting Somerville from No. 1

Hillsborough, Somerville and Union each got two first place votes from the media, but it was the undefeated Raiders who came out first overall in the Week 7 Big Central Media Poll.

Hillsborough (7-0) received 47 points, while Somerville (5-1) got 45, and Union (6-1) picked up 43 in media voting, the tightest among the top three this season for the second week in a row, as only four points separated last week’s grouping as well.

Last week, Somerville and Woodbridge split the six first place votes, but then-No. 4 Woodbridge’s loss to then No. 8 Cranford caused a stir among voters for Week 7.

Seventh-ranked Ridge and No. 9 Delaware Valley dropped out after losses, while Phillipsburg re-entered the poll, and St. Thomas Aquinas made its first appearance of the season. The Trojans are 6-0 and have not allowed a point all season.

Should Aquinas pick up a seventh shutout at Governor Livingston Friday night, that would be the most in a season by a Middlesex County school since the 2004 Piscataway Chiefs shutout seven in 2004, en route to a perfect 12-0 season and a state title win over Phillipsburg. That Chiefs team had three future NFL first round draft picks: Malcolm Jenkins, Kyle Wilson and Anthony Davis.

Below are the Week 7 Big Central media rankings: