This was an easy Top Ten to figure out, but it wasn’t. Probably even more than the 13 teams presented here – ten ranked, three “also being considered” – will be in and out of the rankings all season.

For now, the 2025 preseason Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten features many of the same teams in the final 2024 rankings, with one exception. And the few we have on the outside looking in could be just as worthy as anyone else, but we’ll leave it like that for now, and see if they can earn their way in.

After all, it’s not where you start the season – everyone is undefeated on August 25th – but where you finish.

So if the team you root for – or the team you play on – isn’t here, go get some of those dubs, and the rankings will take care of themselves.

And now, the preseason Central Jersey Sports Radio Big Central Top Ten for 2025:

Just like those “also being considered” will have to earn their way in, the top spot is Phillipsburg‘s to lose. The Stateliners finished last year 11-3, and though they didn’t win their division, they did win the North 2, Group 4 title, and became the first Big Central team to make the state finals, in its third season of existence in 2024. Gone are some big names – Jett Genovese, Felix Matos, Matthew Scerbo, Jr. – but they have plenty left, and that’s not even counting the newcomers. P’burg doesn’t rebuild, they just reload.

The next couple of teams lost a lot, too. That starts with No. 2 Somerville, which went 12-1 last year – with an undefeated regular season – and won the Central Jersey Group 3 title as well as the Liberty Silver Division flag. But like the ‘Liners, they also lose some huge talent in Brenden Pacheco, Terrell Mitchell and Brady Scheier. But this is an excellent coaching staff, and the teams behind them that were their peers last year are in much of the same boat.

Woodbridge remains at No. 3 to start the year, after a 10-1 campaign, a perfect regular season, and a Liberty Gold Division title. The Anderson twins – Derek and Bryan – are gone, but there are still experienced players on the roster, and now Joe Goerge – in his second year as head coach – will run more option than he did last year, when he deftly sprinkled it into an offense that already was running well, and just got better.

Bernards went 11-1 last year and also had a perfect regular season; they won the Patriot Gold Division and made the North 1, Group 2 finals. This program is humming along right now, and like the others, loses some key pieces, but has some big ones back, too – including the school’s sack leader, Thomas Diemar. Opposing quarterbacks better stock up on ice.

St. Thomas Aquinas has the longest active win streak against Big Central competition – 31 games, while Bernards is No. 2 at 23 – but has a new coach and lost some key players to transfer, and drops one spot to No. 5. Still, the defending National Silver Division champs should be very good, and new mentor Shamir Bearfield – out of St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City – has an outgoing attitude that should work well in North Edison.

Ridge holds at No. 6 after an 8-2 year in which they beat Phillipsburg in the regular season, and wound up winning the American Silver Division. Andy West stepped down as head coach after the season, and fellow alum Jeff Sutherland takes over. Gone is bulldog rusher Adian Stieglitz – also a great baseball pitcher – but Ridge also is a well-oiled machine, and they could stick around in the rankings much of the year.

The winner of last year’s tongue-in-cheek “OMG! He’s Back Another Year” award was Andrew Avent, who this year officially becomes a four-year starter at runningback for Rahway. Last year, he was six carries shy of 200, logging 1,412 yards and 16 touchdowns. The Indians check in at No. 7 this year, and could very well make some noise.

Piscataway finished 7-4 last season, and is looking to take one more step up this year, and maybe take home a championship for the first time since their 13-0 season in 2018, when they won the North Group 5 “bowl game” over Ridgewood. With a number of returnees back – and the addition of Josiah Zayas, who has transferred back to his hometown school from St. Thomas Aquinas, but will have to sit the first few weeks – the Chiefs could just do it.

Old Bridge is the only team in the preseason rankings that didn’t finish there last year. But the Knights have high expectations with senior quarterback Brody Nugent returning, and word on the street is this could be a big year for them. We’re not the only one who thinks so, so we’ve put them in at No. 9.

And then, a smaller school at No. 10: New Providence. The Pioneers were 9-3 last season and finished strong, reaching the North 2, Group 1 finals. While exciting dual-threat quarterback T.J. Munn is gone, star runningback A.J. Whitehead and there’s plenty of talent on the roster from a team that put up a lot of points last year, and also turned in some solid defensive efforts.

Here’s the complete 2025 Central Jersey Sports Radio Big Central preseason Top Ten:

As for the teams “also considered,” Hillsborough (7-4) finished at No. 9 last year, but loses the player who broke all kinds of records no one ever thought would fall. Jackson Jankowicz, winner of last year’s “Unbreakable Record” award. He topped Shawn Mayer’s rushing TD record of 24, and tied Tommy Amankwaa’s record of 30 total touchdowns in a single season. Head coach Sean Carty – who also coached Amankwaa, and his brothers, said last December, “I thought that might stand forever.” Bottom line: Jankowicz is tough to replace, and the Raiders may be very good. So, right now, they’re being considered.

Cranford (7-3) also had a very solid year, and will lose some key parts, but they always tend to have some good line play, and top runningback Gabe Worrell rushed for over 800 yards last year – as a sophomore! The Cougars made the North 2, Group 3 semifinals last year; we’ll see if they can climb even higher.

And St. Joseph-Metuchen may have finished just 5-5 last year, but they started out hot at 5-0. Things took a turn after a mid-season road loss at Phillipsburg, and just never recovered. But Bill Tracy is a solid coach, and some late-season injuries didn’t help either. Justin Scaramuzzo threw for 1,953 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior last year. He’s back, and we think the Falcons will finish stronger in 2025.