The four public schools from the Big Central Conference split the deal Friday night, as Somerville and Phillipsburg came away with trophies, and Bernards and New Providence fell in their sectional title games.

There were some tight games, dominant performances, and tight ballgames throughout the evening.

Title Winners top their Regions:

Somerville’s win was its ninth title in 16 finals berths, both the best in Somerset County. They also are tops in playoff win percentage (.630) and playoff wins, with a 34-20 overall mark.

Phillipsburg, meanwhile, is easily tops among the Western portion of the Big Central. Among Warren and Hunterdon County schools, Phillipsburg has the most playoff appearances, with 28, has the most titles (9) and the most finals appearances (18). They also have won more games in the playoffs than any other Big Central school with 45, one ahead of Piscataway.

Central Group 3 Final: Somerville tops Delsea for ninth title…

Somerville’s win was a dominant one in every sense of the word. Even the opening coin toss went their way, even though it didn’t.

Delsea won the toss, but deferred, which gave Somerville the ball to start, and they put the Crusaders behind the eight ball after the opening drive, on which the Pioneers scored via a four-yard run by Terrell Mitchell to cap a 12-play, 59-yard drive.

Delsea, with its plodding Wing-T – the backbone of the program for most of its existence – in tow, put together a mammoth, 14-play, 89 yard drive that ran into the second quarter and took almost nine minutes off the clock. That tied the game on a two-yard run by tough-to-bring-down runningback Dan Russo.

Little did they know, the Somerville defense would stiffen, and those 89 yards would be more than they’d get the rest of the game. Delsea ended up with 166 yards of offense, all on the ground. They attempted just one pass.

The wide runs to either side to try and stretch the field may work against some South Jersey teams, but it was no match for Somerville’s speedy, ball-hawking defense. When a Delsea runningback tried to turn a corner, any corner, that corner turned into a ready defender clad in all black with orange numbers.

The Pioneers have widely been considered a favorite to win Group 3 all year, and the result against Delsea solidifies it.

North 2, Group 4 Final: Third time was indeed the charm for Phillipsburg…

Look, we don’t root for anyone during the regular season when we’re broadcasting a game between two Big Central Conference teams, schools we regularly cover. But when it comes to the postseason and it’s “our” Big Central versus “them,” we’re still fair and objective, but we’re pulling for our local teams to do well.

Let’s face it, we spend a lot of time around these coaches and players through the course of a year. Talking about wins, losses, injuries, hopes and dreams.

Well, after two straight losses in the sectional finals for Phillipsburg, they had enough. Beating Easton is the main goal every year, but even doing that back-to-back years for the first time in decades wasn’t enough. They wanted more.

And they finally got it. It might have taken exactly 48 minutes, winning it on a field goal by rookie kicker Alexie Moriera, but they got it. A wise mentor of mine once said, “No one asks how, just if.”

Well, there’s no more if. Northern Highlands was a sneaky good team. They caught Woodbridge last week in the semis, handing the Barrons their first loss of the season after ten wins. P’burg wasn’t having any of it.

And they still have more football to be played.

But what was perhaps most satisfying is that someone like Moriera made a difference. So much is written and talked about Jett Genovese, Felix Matos, Matthew Scerbo, Jr., Sam Dech and others, that it’s easy to forget sometimes it’s a total team effort.

House money?

Once you get to a championship game, you want to win it. But some losses sting more than others. Sometimes it’s because of all you overcame to get there. Sometimes it’s just the last game you’re going to play with your friends.

Bernards and New Providence – both of whom fell in sectional finals Friday – were playing with a little house money in a way.

Bernards won its first-ever state sectional title of the playoff era – they had two prior to 1974 – last season, going 12-0, losing its first and only game in the Group 2 semifinals to Westwood. No one imagined they would go undefeated this year and make it to yet another sectional final, only the fourth in program history.

But they did. Why? Because Bernards is a “program,” in every sense of the word. Head coach Jon Simoneau has established a program up there at Olcott Field, and everyone knows what’s expected of them. Surely, it stings.

As he told Alec Crouthamel after the game – and here’s another reason why Simoneau’s Mountaineers have had such great success and often overcome any adversity thrown their way – “For as devastsating as a loss this is, you see a lot of hugs and smiles out here, too.”

Well said, Jon.

As for New Providence? Sure, it had been a long time since they were in a final, but this year’s run might have been a little unexpected.

Sure, they grabbed the two seed and had home games in the first two rounds. They also played Cedar Grove tight, to a 14-14 tie, in fact, at halftime.

But they will go down as a memorable team in school history, even without a title. T.J. Munn was a special player to watch, and the duo of him and junior runningback A.J. Whitehead were fun to watch, and nearly unstoppable in the first two rounds of the playoffs. In the opening round against Boonton, Munn had a run for a loss of a yard that was the Pioneers’ only loss on a play from scrimmage – not counting penalties – all day.

Munn ran for a touchdown on the very next play.

We’re looking forward to watching Whitehead next year, as he’ll be one of the top returning runningbacks in the Big Central.

Big Central’s First Trip to the Finals?

In the two seasons since the NJSIAA expanded the playoffs to have public schools play down to group champions, there have been 20 chances to vie for a state title – two in each of five groups, ten a year, 20 total – but no Big Central team has made it yet.

Here’s the breakdown of teams and leagues in both seasons:

2022

• Super Football Conference: 5 (2 winners)
• West Jersey Football League: 3 (3 winners)
• Shore Conference: 2 (1 winner)
• North Jersey Interscholastic Conference: 1

2023

• Super Football Conference: 5 (2 winners)
• West Jersey Football League: 3 (2 winners)
• Shore Conference: 2 (1 winner)
• North Jersey Interscholastic Conference: 1

Both years, the Shore Conference teams were Toms River North in Group 5 – with the Mariners winning both years – and Rumson-Fair Haven in Group 2.

The Big Central is the only league to have never sent a team to the finals, but CJSR area teams (and later, the BCC) might have had some teams in it had the NJSIAA gone right to group champs in 2018, the year the playoffs expanded one more round to a quasi group semifinal they called “Bowl Championships” the first year, and “Regional Championships” in 2019 and 2021.

In 2018, Piscataway became the first Middlesex County team to win 13 games, when they won the North 5 Regional Championship, while Sayreville – which finished 11-1 – won the South 5 title. That year, we would have been guaranteed a GMC (soon-to-be Big Central) school to win a Group championship, as the Chiefs and Bombers would have played each other.

In 2019, Hillside won the South Group 2 regional championship (don’t get us started on the geography thing!) and finished 12-0 on the season. They would have met North champ Verona had there been a group final that year.

And in 2021, Hillsborough – which became the first Somerset County school to go 13-0 – finished its season with a win over Kingsway in the South Group 5 title game. They would have played another unbeaten squad, East Orange (also 13-0) in the Group 5 final, but that game would not take place until the next season.

Here are the teams that have made group finals so far, with some appearing twice. Teams in bold are still alive in the group semifinal stage.

• Toms River North (2, won both)
• Passaic Tech (2, lost both)
• Northern Highlands (2022, lost)
• Millville (2022, won)
• Ramapo (2023, lost)
• Mainland (2023, won)
• Old Tappan (2021, won)
• Delsea (2, won in 2023)
• West Essex (2022, lost)
• Caldwell (2022, won)
• Rumson-Fair Haven (2, lost both)
• Westwood (2023, won)
• Mountain Lakes (2, won in 2023)
• Woodbury (2022, won)
• Glassboro (2023, lost)

In the Group Finals era, three teams had a shot from the Big Central. Edison and North Hunterdon reached the group semifinals in 2022.

The Eagles beat Lenape to win the Central 5 title, but lost to Toms River North in the semis. North Hunterdon topped Randolph to win the North 2, Group 4 championship, but lost by one in overtime to Northern Highlands in the semifinals.

Last season, only Bernards won a sectional title – in North 2, Group 2 – but the Mountaineers were blanked 17-0 in the group semifinals by Westwood.

Now, the question is, can Somerville and/or Phillipsburg make it, and if they both do, who will be the first? It might just come down to whether the clock strikes :00 first at Maloney Stadium or at Brooks Field.

The Route 22 connection…

From the auxiliary press box at Brooks Field in Somerville – behind the visitors’ stands – a look past the far right corner of the end zone will get you a glimpse of the traffic passing by on Route 22 eastbound.

Look to the same corner from the home stands and press box at Maloney Stadium in Phillipsburg, and you’ll see cars and trucks whizzing by on Route 22 westbound, headed for Easton.

If you head west on Route 22 for about 40 minutes – depending on traffic, and you’ll join Route 78 in Clinton before getting off again around Alpha Boro to stay on 22 – you could go right from Brooks Field to Maloney. Leave at halftime of the Somerville game and you just might get to see the finale of the Phillipsburg game.