Tag: NJSIAA

November 4, 2026 at 11:35 am by Mike Pavlichko

Battle-tested Cranford entertains Shabazz, with trip to North 1, Group 3 title game on the line

When an offense can find balance, it’s a beautiful thing.

When they can keep that balance with one of their top runningbacks out with an injury since September like Gabe Worrell has been, well that’s extra special.

That’s the scenario facing Cranford Friday night when the second-seeded Cougars host third-seed Shabazz for the North 1, Group 3 semifinals and a 7 pm kickoff.

Shabazz is a Group 2-size school that made it to the state final last year, only to lose to Camden. But they are playing up in Group 3 this year based on the NJSIAA’s competitive balance and success formula, which moves teams up when their school is open enrollment (Shabazz can draw from all of Newark) and they advance past a certain point in the playoffs.

Of course, the move to Group 3 didn’t affect the Bulldogs’ regular season schedule. They are 8-1, with their lone loss coming to West Orange, 13-6, back on September 18th. Otherwise, they have five shutouts, including over Passaic Tech in Week One, 13-0. And the Bulldogs just beat defending North 2, Group 5 champion Bridgewater-Raritan in the opening round last week.

Cranford has had a solid season, too, also 8-1. They play a number of Group 4 schools, and beat them all, including Summit 29-0, Rahway 14-7 on the road, Montgomery 13-12 at home, and at Carteret, 24-12.

Senior quarterback Aidan Capizzi has thrown for 1,340 yards and 11 touchdowns, while junior runningback Logan Murray has shouldered the load on the ground, with 152 carries for 863 yards and seven scores.

The lone blemish on the resume was a Cutoff Weekend 14-3 home loss to Hillside. But sometimes, getting that loss out of the way before the playoffs can help a team refocus. And the Cougars did, as they beat seven-seed Matawan last week, 34-27.

And Cranford can get after it on defense as well. The unit this year has 22 sacks and 65 tackles for loss, along with eight forced fumbles and seven interceptions. They’ve pitched a pair of shutouts for their part, but also didn’t allow a single team to score more than 14 points on them for seven straight weeks, between a 31-24 season-opening win at Bernards, and last Friday’s victory over Matawan.

Click below to hear Cranford head coach Erik Rosenmeir talk about the Cougars’ sectional semifinal playoff game against Shabazz with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

November 4, 2026 at 7:00 amNovember 3, 2026 at 10:08 pm by Mike Pavlichko

Conzentino helps keep it going at New Providence, where Pioneers are on the verge of third straight sectional finals berth

Could the third time be the charm?

If the New Providence football team wins one more game, they’ll get the chance to find out.

But the fourth-seeded Pioneers – who won their opening round game over fifth-seed Becton in the North 2, Group 2 playoff section, 48-27 last week – will have to go on the road this week, where they’ll face the top-seed, the Waldwick/Midland Park Co-Op out of the NJIC at 7 pm.

A win, and they’ll be in a sectional final for the third straight year, seeking to win their first title since 2010.

Both teams come into Friday’s sectional semifinal at 8-1. New Providence was a three-way co-champ with A.J. Johnson and Perth Amboy in the Big Central’s Patriot Silver Division. The Warriors were the NJIC Liberty Division champs, and then won the league’s two-game playoffs, beating Garfield 35-34 in the title game on Cutoff Weekend.

New Providence, of course, has a first-year head coach, but it’s not his first year with the program. He spent five years under Chet Parlevecchio, Jr., as an assistant, so he already was well-familiar with the program and the personnel, and he has subscribed to most of the theory “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

To that end, the Pioneers have great balance on offense, throwing for 1,641 yards behind senior QB Kevin Reilly, but running as a team for 1,439 yards. And Reilly has 460 of those, while senior Charles Maneely leads the group with 788 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Defensively, they feats on turnovers, with eight forced fumbles and recoveries – including one four a touchdown – and nine interceptions. When your own QB has thrown just three picks all year – compared with 28 touchdowns – that means you’re winning the turnover battle.

That same balance cannot be found with Waldwick, which runs the rock to the nth degree. The Warriors have passed for barely 1,000 yards, but have run for an eye-popping 2,869 yards and 43 touchdowns. Junior Luciano Mayer leads the way with 270 carries for 1,734 yards and 24 touchdowns; he’s one of the top ten rushers in the state.

Click below to hear New Providence first-year head coach Anthony Conzentino talk about the Pioneers’ second-round playoff game against Waldwick/Midland Park with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

November 1, 2026 at 11:37 amNovember 1, 2026 at 11:39 am by Mike Pavlichko

St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Joseph-Metuchen learn their NJSIAA state playoff draws

The NJSIAA has unveiled the playoff brackets for Non-Public Groups A and B, following its seeding meeting at the state athletic association’s headquarters in Robbinsville.

Non-public brackets – due in part to the wide-ranging nature of scheduling and few common opponents, other than the North Jersey powers – are seeded by committee, rather than by the UPR, which is how public schools are seeded. However, UPR, OSI and power points are among several factors in the process.

In Non-Public Group A, St. Joseph-Metuchen (3-6) earned the No. 8 seed, and will visit top-seed Don Bosco Prep (7-2) in the opening round, with a date to be determined. The Ironmen got the top-seed over St. Peter’s Prep, which had been ranked No. 1 in the most recent NJ.com Top 20, even though they los to the Marauders 13-10 on October 23.

St. Peter’s (7-2) got the four-seed, having losses to Bergen Catholic and St. Joseph-Montvale. Bosco also lost to Bergen Catholic but beat Joe’s of Montvale 23-10 in late September.

As for the Falcons, they started the season 2-0 but lost four straight before a win over Union, 34-19 on October 16. They have since lost two straight: at St. Thomas Aquinas last week, 37-13, and to Donovan Catholic this week, on Saturday, 45-28, despite leading by a touchdown at halftime against the No. 16 team in the state.

A game date and time has not yet been announced, and the same can be said for St. Thomas Aquinas (6-3), which received a ten-seed in the Non-Public Group B bracket. The Trojans will play at seven-seed Holy Spirit (4-4) of Absecon. Aquinas had finished tenth overall in the UPR standings, while the Spartans were two spots higher.

St. Thomas was knocked out last year in the first round by Immaculata. Those Spartans (6-4) – which had their membership application to the Big Central Conference rejected last Monday by a 59-0 vote – earned a five-seed and will host 12-seed Hudson Catholic (4-6) at Torpey Athletic Complex in Bridgewater.

Out of 22 teams in Non-Public B, ten opted out or did not play the minimum 60 percent of their games against New Jersey schools, leaving just a 12-team field.

Following are the brackets for both non-public sections, as released Sunday by the NJSIAA:

Non-Public Group A

(8) St. Joseph-Metuchen at (1) Don Bosco Prep, Friday TBA
(5) Seton Hall Prep and (4) St. Peter’s Prep
(6) St. Augustine at (3) Bergen Catholic
(7) Delbarton at (2) St. Joseph-Montvale

Non-Public Group B (Note: The top-four seeds earned byes.)

(9) St. John Vianney at (8) Paul VI
- winner at (1) Paramus Catholic
(12) Hudson Catholic at (5) Immaculata
- winner at (4) Donovan Catholic
(11) Notre Dame at (6) Pope John
- winner at (3) Red Bank Catholic
(10) St. Thomas Aquinas at (7) Holy Spirit
- winner at (2) DePaul

October 31, 2026 at 3:08 pm by Mike Pavlichko

Young’s two TD runs, solid D, sends Piscataway to sectional semis with 20-7 win over Bayonne

The Piscataway football team is on the the sectional semifinals of the state playoffs for a third straight year, and the recipe was very simply “Chiefs football.”

They did it with a two-touchdown, 124-yard rushing game from Zaire Young, and tough defense. But more than that, it was a little creative play-calling that got the Chiefs’ offense going early, in a 20-7 home victory for third-seed Piscataway over six-seed Bayonne in the North 1, Group 5 opening round in the state playoffs, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio Saturday afternoon.

On the very first drive of the game, Piscataway ran Young three times, gaining three yards, another three, and then no gain. On fourth-and-one, Higgins brought out punter Patrick Novak, but the ball went right to Young, who took it down the left sideline for a 26-yard gain and a first down.

Then, Higgins had Pernell go to the air, and a 37-yard catch by top receiver Devin Labega set up first-and-goal at the one. That left an easy run into the end zone for Young, who put the Chiefs up 7-0 with the PAT just 2:32 into the game.

Tone: set.

The Chiefs would score on their next possession, too, with Colby Cotton catching a 30-yard pass from Pernell to make it 14-0, capping a seven-play, 62-yard drive in 4:24. And then, with 8:09 left in the first half, Young would cap a short drive – following a Myles Elliott interception – with a two-yard touchdown run, with a missed PAT leaving it 20-0 Chiefs.

But Bayonne would soon get on the board. Their first sustained drive of the game ended with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Talon Carr to Drew Haynes, to make it 20-7, and that would be all the scoring in the first half.

After the break, Piscataway played ball-control football, and the defense continued to do its job, with the two playing to a scoreless final 24 minutes.

The Chiefs (8-1) now move on to the semifinals at second-seed West Orange (8-1), which beat seven-seed Union Friday night, 26-0.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Marcus Borden with Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins and seniors Landon Pernell and Zaire Young, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

October 31, 2026 at 12:24 am by Chris Tsakonas

Summit, Manville fall among 18 Big Central schools to fall in opening round of playoffs

In the opening round of the NJSIAA high school football playoffs, 18 of the 27 Big Central teams in action saw their seasons come to an end Friday night, Summit and Manville among them.

Read on for game recaps and postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio analyst Marcus Borden in Manville, and reporter Chris Tsakonas up in Morris County:

North 1, Group 4: (3) Morris Knolls 42, (6) Summit 21

Summit quarterback Matt McKeever completed 14 of 20 passes in the loss for 188 yards and picked up 92 yards and a touchdown on 17 rushes, while Gavin Schnall led the Hilltoppers in the passing game with five catches for 85 yards.

Summit received the opening kickoff and moved the ball efficiently, taking eight plays to go from their own 35 to the Morris Knolls 35 before failing to convert on fourth and one.

The Golden Eagles got the ball on downs and wasted no time capitalizing. On the second play from scrimmage, McDonald found space on the left side and ran 59 yards for an uncontested touchdown to open the scoring.

The Hilltoppers had another efficient drive, and this time it paid off. McKeever ran it in from six yards out to level it at 7-7 with 2:03 to go in the first quarter.

On the second play of the next drive, Morris Knolls did it again. McDonald found a lot of room to run on the left and took it the distance again, this time scoring on a 79-yard run to take a 14-7 lead with 6:40 left in the quarter.

Summit followed up on that by going three-and-out, and a short punt set the Golden Eagles up in dangerous field position at the Hilltoppers’ 28 yard line. Six plays later, McDonald punched in a one-yard run to give Morris Knolls a 21-7 lead with 10:18 left in the first half.

Summit responded with a methodical scoring drive, capped off by an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that culminated in a 13-yard Jackson Marx touchdown run with 4:37 to go in the second quarter. The Golden Eagles responded with another drive of their own, and Lucas Zurvansky scored on a five-yard touchdown run with 1:14 left in the half to go up 28-14.

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After receiving the second half kickoff, Morris Knolls immediately worked the clock with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a one-yard touchdown run from McDonald to grow the lead to 35-14 with 4:11 to play in the third quarter.

The Hilltoppers answered again on the next drive, which culminated in a 21-yard McKeever touchdown run that saw him break through several tackles to reach the goal line. At the end of the third quarter, it was a 35-21 game.

Morris Knolls got the ball with 35 seconds left in the third quarter, and they burned the next 10:11 of game clock on a 14-play, 76-yard drive that ended in a five-yard touchdown run from Zurvansky with 2:22 to play that clinched the game at 42-21.

For Morris Knolls, McDonald led the way with 11 carries for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Zurvansky also contributed with 24 carries for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas with Summit head coach Kevin Kostibos, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

South Jersey, Group 1: (5) Shore 34, (4) Manville 7

The Blue Devils jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a four-yard touchdown run by Cole Torres, and he added four more before Manville could get on the board.

Torres scored three times in the second – from seven, eleven and 12 yards out – to build a 28-0 halftime lead, and he got a 42-yarder in the third to make it 34-0, before Jovani Maldonado got the Mustangs on the board, with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Ayden Hernandez.

Manville’s season ends at 6-4. Shore (4-5) will visit top-seed and unbeaten Schalick (10-0) in the sectional semifinals next Friday night.

Click below for postgame reaction from Marcus Borden with Manville head coach Dave Markowitch, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

October 30, 2026 at 10:59 pm by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards’ big, late defensive stand helps Mountaineers survive Hanover Park’s quick pace in North 2, Group 2 first round, 21-20

In the end, it came down to the little things. It always does.

Third-seeded Bernards had three takeaways – two fumble recoveries and an interception – and came up with a monster defensive stand late in the fourth quarter to emerge with a 21-20 win over visiting sixth-seed Hanover Park Friday night at Olcott Field, in a game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

And that sets up a date for the Mountaineers (7-2) next Friday at second-seed Hoboken (9-1), which beat seven-seed Ramsey in its opening round game, 49-14.

After a scoreless first half which went at a blistering pace with the Hornets controlling the time of possession, defensive back Zach Favreau came up with a goal line interception to end a long Hanover Park drive.

Bernards escaped a safety on the possession, and went three and out, but the punt only put the visitors on the Bernards 39, and 26 seconds into the second quarter, QB Vin Fusella hit Garrett Walters for a 15-yard touchdown pass to put his team up 6-0, after their two-point run failed.

But just three minutes later, Bernards answered with a Luke Bubnowski five-yard run that put the Mountaineers up 7-6 with the PAT, and that would be all the scoring in the first half, which also saw Sean Arcelay leave with an injury; he didn’t return.

Midway through the third, Bernards extended the lead to 14-6 on a 31-yard touchdown run by Bubnowski, but less than four minutes later, Jake Cosentino capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive with a one-yard run, and a Rocco Zirpoli two-point run tied the score at 14.

Into the fourth, Bubnowski scored his third touchdown of the game, on a three-yard run with 8:56 left. The PAT turned out to be critical, putting Bernards up 21-14.

That would be short-lived, as it took Hanover Park just 1:23 to go 50 yards on six plays, scoring on another Fusella-Walters connection, this time from 30 yards out, to cut the deficit to one. But the two-point run was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage by Bernards, allowing them to maintain a one-point lead.

The Mountaineers went three-and-out, and Hanover Park got the ball back, but came up with a huge defensive stand, with Bubnowski sacking Fusella at the 35 yard line with under three minutes to go.

All Bernards had to do was get one first down – even with Hanover Park holding on to two time outs – and they did, eventually going into victory formation for the “W.”

Bubnowski finished the game with 14 carries for 92 yards and three TDs for Bernards.

Click below for postgame reaction from Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau and senior RB/SS Luke Bubnowski, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

October 30, 2026 at 7:00 amOctober 29, 2026 at 10:23 pm by Mike Pavlichko

Bernards hosts Hanover Park and Hornets’ familiar coaching staff in North 2, Group 2 opening round

In its regular season finale, the Bernards football team took a Saturday Cutoff Weekend trip down to Summit, a team that’s usually very good, and always well-coached by Kevin Kostibos.

His predecessor was John Liberato, who spent seven seasons at the helm, with the Hilltoppers never missing the playoffs. They won two sectional titles in that span, in 2009 and 2012. And again, those teams had excellent coaching.

His son, Nick, has been the head coach at Hanover Park for the past two seasons, and his father is working under him as the offensive coordinator. Again, they’re well-coached, something Bernards mentor Jon Simoneau is very familiar with.

And that’s just one of the backdrops when the third-seeded Mountaineers and sixth-seeded Hornets meet Friday night in the opening round of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2 playoffs.

You can hear that game live Friday night at 7 pm, our Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central (Friday) Game of the week, with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Pregame starts at 6:40; click here to listen.

Bernards started the season with losses at Rutherford and at home to Cranford, which was unbeaten until this past weekend, when they lost to Hillside. But since then, they have won seven straight to come into the contest 7-2, and playing some of their best football all year.

Senior quarterback Nolan Walsh pilots the offense, throwing for 1,212 yards and 16 touchdowns this year, but he also is the team’s leading rusher, with 938 yards on 106 carries – that’s over 8.8 yards per carry – with 12 more touchdowns.

It doesn’t take a scientific calculator to figure out that’s 2,150 yards of total offense – 67 percent of the unit’s total yardage – and 28 of the team’s 37 touchdowns scored in 2026. We know, it’s mind-boggling.

But there’s a solid supporting cast, too, even if the team is senior heavy, with a small junior class. Luke Bubnowski has rushed for 402 yards and two touchdowns, while Sean Arcelay is Walsh’s top target, with 38 catches for 616 yards and nine scores, while Zach Favreau had 22 for 391 yards and six TDs.

On the defensive side, the Mountaineers have logged a whopping 13 picks on the season, five from Favreau, and four from Chase Hawthorne.

Every player mentioned above is a senior, making this an experienced group.

Hanover Park comes in at 5-4, after a 9-1 campaign last year, though they suffered a first-round defeat in this very section at the hands of Becton, 26-22.

This will be the first meeting with Hanover Park since a pair of tussles in the Eisenhower administration. Bernards won both: 46-0 in 1956 and 20-19 in 1957.

Those interceptions may not come in too handy on Friday night however, as the Hornets like to run the ball. They’ve only thrown for 666 yards this season, 500 from starting QB Vin Fusella, who has six touchdown passes to his credit, but seven interceptions.

The runningback room is balanced. Junior Mark Perillo leads the way with 582 yards ans six touchdowns on 126 carries, while senior Luke Morgese has 465 and five scores, and fellow senior Rocco Zirpoli has 285 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

Click below to hear pregame interview with both head coaches:

Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko

Hanover Park head coach Nick Liberato with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel

October 27, 2026 at 3:00 pmOctober 26, 2026 at 10:44 pm by Mike Pavlichko

Getting ready for the 2026 NJSIAA H.S. Football playoffs: Notes and nuggets on the Big Central teams in the dance

After nine weeks of the regular season in high school football across New Jersey (yes, last week was Week Eight, we know it makes no sense) it’s the moment more than 300 teams have been working for since their 2025 season ended: the 2026 state playoffs.

Back on Sunday, the NJSIAA announced the public school pairings, which were spot on with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s projections, and which we ran through Saturday night on our Playoff Projection Show; you can listen back to the entire broadcast at the link.

The Big Central laded 29 teams – out of 57 public schools – in the 160-team playoff field. The most came in North Jersey, Section 2, Groups 4 and 5.

Scroll through for notes and storylines on the tournament, which opens play Friday night. You can find the full NJSIAA football pairings and schedule with times that have been announced so far at this link.

Who’s the defending champ?

Back in the “old days” of the NJSIAA playoffs – pre-2018, when the current UPR system came into being – New Jersey football teams were put into pre-determined geographical sections. So, unless a team moved up or down in Group size, there were few changes in the teams from year-to-year.

Now, with the state split simply into North and South in each group, and the top 16 seeded into fields of eight using a “snaking” process that balances the strength of the brackets, movement of one place up or down could move teams into an entirely different bracket. A Middlesex County team could end up in a North 1 or South Jersey bracket.

Then, add in the competitive balance formula, which moves teams that are open enrollment, choice schools, or similar, to larger groups if they have certain playoff success. That’s what happened this off-season, with Ramapo and Phillipsburg – both of whom were sectional title winners in Group 4 last year, and met in the North state semifinals – as they moved up to Group 5, leaving four sectional champions from 2025 in the North 5 supersection.

And three of them landed in the same bracket. Phillipsburg won North 2, Group 4 last season, and ended up a third-seed in North 2, Group 5. Bridgewater-Raritan won that section last year – its first-ever state title – and is seeded fifth this year. The Panthers will travel Friday night to Passaic Tech, the team that ended their season in the Group 5 state semifinals last year; PCTI was the North 1, Group 5 champion.

North 1, Group 4 champion Ramapo landed in the North 1, Group 5 bracket this year. Had they not, we could have had four state sectional champions all in one bracket.

So close!

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Picking up right where they left off…

First round matchups, especially without pre-set sections, often tend to lack juice, but there are two intriguing matchups this weekend:

The first is on Friday night when Woodbridge travels up to Northern Highlands. Not only is that a rematch of a 2024 North 2, Group 4 sectional semifinal – which the Highlanders won 26-7 at Priscoe Stadium – but also of the 2019 North 1, Group 4 title game, played up in Allendale. That was a 37-7 loss for the Barrons, whose star player was Ali Lee, Jr., and it was the last state playoff before the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the GMC era, as the league merged with the Mid-State 37 Conference to form the Big Central.

*Piscataway hosts Bayonne in the North 2, Group 5 semifinals at Kenny Armwood Stadium in Piscataway on November 8, 2025. (Photo: MIke Pavlichko)*

Then, on Saturday, Piscataway picks up right where it left off with a first-round home game against Bayonne, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season with a 27-13 defeat at Kenny Armwood Stadium. Late miscues doomed the Chiefs, but perhaps Friday night’s 16-7 loss at Sayreville was an eye-opener for Dan Higgins’ kids?

Ridge has been battle-tested, but where’s their QB?

Few Big Central Conference teams have played as challenging a schedule as Ridge, which wound up with a five-seed in a very competitive North 1, Group 4 bracket. Five of their eight opponents have been in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten this year, with four of them being ranked in the top three at one point or another – St. Joseph-Metuchen, Elizabeth, Phillipsburg and Old Bridge – with the only win coming against the Stateliners on a TD catch as the clock hit zero.

But starting senior QB Tristan Frank has missed the last two weeks with an undisclosed injury, with junior Alex Beasley getting the nod in his stead, going 12-for-50 passing in his stead, with no touchdowns, but also no interceptions. Through the first six games, Frank was 42-of-91 for 475 yards, three touchdowns and four picks.

*Ridge senior QB Tristan Frank. (Submitted photo/credit: Varsity Vantage)*

While Beasley has performed admirably in his stead, no doubt the Red Devils would love to have their senior signal-called back in place this Friday night when they travel to fourth-seed Middletown North for a 6:30 kickoff.

Speaking of travel…

We won’t do our annual story on this one, but we do feel obliged to point out how silly some of the travel is involved with the state playoffs. Sure, Texas teams can travel hours for games and stay overnight for playoff contests, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should. (Another argument for another time.)

With the concentration of teams greater in North Jersey, these kind of issues never seem to come up there, but in the Central and South sections, there are a few doozies.

Let’s start with South Brunswick, which earned an eight-seed in the South Jersey Group 5 bracket. That means they have to go all the way down to top-seed and defending “Central Jersey” Group champion – and Group 5 state champ – Washington Township.

Once they head out to Route One, then down Route 295, it’s a total 62 mile trip, one way, to Washington Township High School, which is nearly South of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Highland Park also has a long trip, but since it’s the first playoff appearance for the Owls in 16 seasons, they’ll take it. A six-seed in “Central Jersey” Group 1, they won’t be playing anywhere near Central Jersey. They have to go down to third-seed Woodstown, an 84-mile trip that is an hour-and-a-half ride at lunchtime with no traffic, to a high school that is South of the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

But this long travel thing works both ways: in South Group 5, sixth-seed Vineland has to come all the way up to third-seed Sayreville. Again, in a mid-day, lunchtime scenario – with significantly less traffic – the fastest route is a 105-mile trip in an hour and 50 minutes. Assume at least two hours at rush-hour – likely more, considering they’ll have to sit on Route 440 before crossing the Raritan River into Sayreville – and for a 7 pm game where you probably want to arrive no later than 5:30, that’s probably a 3 pm departure time, and they may be lucky to get home before midnight.

And there’s also seven-seed Gateway at second-seed Delaware Valley in South Jersey Group 1. Gateway Regional is just South of Philadelphia, near Washington Twp. High, and the fastest route is nearly 80 miles up Route 295, getting off on Route 31, heading north all the way toward Flemington, then more back roads to Alexandria, home of the Terriers. It’s a hike with a lot of two-lane roads once you get off the highway.

Then again, the scenery in the fall may be worth the trip entirely. If you’ve never experienced a game at Tap Webb Field in the fall, as the leaves are changing color, you should.

Good catch, coach…

Former Brearley head coach Scott Miller, who remains as the school’s athletic director and is President of the Big Central Conference, dropped a nugget on us that we’d overlooked .

With 29 teams qualifying for the playoffs from the BCC, there’s just one all-league matchup: No. 8 seed Linden at top-seed and undefeated Elizabeth. Of course, that means there’s the potential for more Big Central teams to advance to the sectional semifinal round of the playoffs next week.

Last season, 25 public schools from the BCC made the playoffs, but no more than 20 could advance, since there were five games with league teams playing each other: Linden at Bridgewater-Raritan, Plainfield at Piscataway, Colonia at Ridge, Westfield at Montgomery and Rahway at Woodbridge.

In 2024, there were 28 Big Central public schools who got the nod, and three all-BCC matchups: Rahway at Ridge, Watchung Hills at Woodbridge, and Summit at Cranford.

Why so few this year? For the past two seasons, the field of 16 in each supersection was defined by geography. The top two seeds – the two No. 1s – had the northernmost team go in North 1 or Central, the southernmost team went in North 2 or South, and the remaining 16 were split the same way and reseeded.

But this year, snaking was brought to the brackets, which allows for more competitive balance and pays no attention to geography.

Five new coaches make the playoffs in their first season…

Not only that, but three first time coaches also made the playoffs in their debuts.

We’ll start with them, and specifically Evan Baubles at Perth Amboy. To be sure, the Panthers (7-2) got some relief in their schedule, but then again, their recent teams still might not have had the type of success they had with this slate in 2026, not to mention they fact they beat a really good New Providence team – which has been to sectional finals in each of the last two years and could very well go again this year – on October 9th, 39-34. Amboy will play its first playoff game since 2017 as a five-seed in North 1, Group 5, heading up to play at fourth-seed Irvington (5-4) Friday night at 7:00. Baubles spent much time coaching in the Shore Conference, but was the defensive coordinator at Carteret last year.

*Perth Amboy QB Amauris Peguero scores a touchdown against A.L. Johnson at Waters Stadium in Perth Amboy on October 16, 2026. (Photo:: Marcus Borden)*

Speaking of New Providence, they’re in the playoffs under true first-year head coach Anthony Conzentino. However, he spent the last five years coaching running backs, linebackers and special teams at New Providence, making him intimately aware of the talent already in the program. The fourth-seeded Pioneers (7-1) will host five-seed Becton (5-4) Friday night at 6:30 in the North 2, Group 2 opening round.

And then there’s Joe Ascolese, who spent many years as an assistant at Watchung Hills – leading the offense since 2019, and also serving as an assistant from 2005 through 2015. He also took the reins with a solid, working knowledge of the program, working under Rich Seubert, while also having baseball head coach Joe Tremarco on his staff, and serving as an assistant there, too. This is a tight-knit group. The Warriors (4-5) earned an eight seed in North 2, Group 4, and will play at top-seed Middletown North (6-1) Friday at 7 pm.

Others who made the playoffs in their debut seasons this year, but who also had prior head coaching experience were Mike Gerst of South Brunswick and Mike Ryan of A.L. Johnson.

Gerst last coached at Fort Lee, which went undefeated last season in his final year with the Bridgemen in one of the Super Football Conference playoff-ineligible Ivy Divisions, and also is perfect this season, with one more game to play. The eighth-seeded Vikings (4-5) got in on a miracle tie-breaker, head-to-head situation that got them the 16th and final seed in South 5, edging out Monroe due to beating them earlier this season. South Brunswick travels to top-seed Washington Twp. (9-0) for a Friday 6 pm kickoff.

And Mike Ryan has previous head coaching experience at JP Stevens, but also has been an assistant at Sayreville and most recently at Edison.

Playoff droughts end…

Franklin got in the playoffs with a big win at Woodbridge Friday, and that snaps the longest active Somerset County postseason drought, with the Warriors’ last playoff appearance coming in 2012. That leaves North Plainfield and Pingry, who last made it in 2014.

Over in Union County, Dayton ended a 24 year playoff drought, with their last appearance also in 2012. (Ironically, current Woodbridge coach Joe Goerge has coached at both schools, Franklin and Dayton.) That leaves Scotch Plains-Fanwood as next up, dating back to 2014 as well.

*Highland Park beat Metuchen 35-0 to win the Goal Post Trophy for the first time in nine years on October 23, 2026. (Photo: Marcus Borden)*

Highland Park is in the dance for the first time since 2010, and while that’s longer than the other two, not the longest in Middlesex County. That mark belongs to JP Stevens, which last made it in 2006. The Hawks finished the regular season at 2-6 at the Cutoff.

October 27, 2026 at 8:00 amOctober 26, 2026 at 11:01 pm by Mike Pavlichko

Central Jersey Sports Radio’s estimated Strength Index values following Cutoff Weekend

While Strength Index values are locked in for playoff calculation before Cutoff Weekend – meaning the SI of a team won’t change due to the result of the game – those numbers are still tracked behind the scenes for every single team in New Jersey, all the way up until their season finale, whether that’s in a Consolation game, on Thanksgiving, or the very last state final at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.

But we’re still keeping track, too. So, as we do all year, we’ll unveil that list each week until the state finals wrap up the weekend of Thanksgiving.

Keep in mind, our numbers are entirely unofficial, as NJ.com – which calculates the official numbers – is not updating the numbers each week, the same as Gridiron New Jersey had done since the advent of the UPR system in 2018.

Strength Index is how a team’s OSI is determined, and OSI is 60 percent of the NJ UPR playoff formula, with power points the other 40 percent.

To calculate OSI, teams get 100 percent of an opponent’s Strength Index (SI) value for a win, and 50 percent for a loss, with defeats at the hands of some non-public teams (multipliers) worth more, anywhere from 70 to 80 percent.

Each week, SI values change based on the final score and the rating of the two teams that played. Here’s an example. SI goes up or down depending on how a team did compared to the difference between the two teams. If Team A (80 SI) plays Team B (60 SI) and Team A wins by 20, there’s no change. If Team A wins by 10, they underperformed by 10 points, and Team B overperformed by 10 points. Team B increases by 2 points to become a 62, and Team A drops to a 78. Team A then gets the full value of Team B for its OSI (62) while Team B gets half the value of Team A (39).

Here are Central Jersey Sports Radio’s official Strength Index values after Week Seven play, now locked in for Week Eight. We also are adding a column this week that will show how much teams have risen or fallen since the preseason.

2026 Strength Index (Official) through Week 8 (with changes)Download

Please note, Montclair-Kimberly’s SI value has not been updated, since the out-of-state SI value for their Week 8 opponent, Poly Prep (NY)

October 25, 2026 at 5:52 pmOctober 28, 2026 at 10:01 pm by Mike Pavlichko

LISTEN BACK: It’s the Central Jersey Sports Radio 2026 Playoff Projection Show, presented by Dayton Collision!

Over two-plus hours Saturday night, host Mike Pavlichko and analyst Marcus Borden went through Central Jersey Sports Radio’s official bracket projections for the 2026 NJSIAA High School Football playoffs, complete with analysis and interviews.