Tag: South Plainfield

by Mike Pavlichko

South Plainfield girls score in bunches, presses way to 61-37 home win, and sweep of JP Stevens

The first time these two girls’ basketball teams met, South Plainfield came away with a ten-point win in North Edison over JP Stevens, 43-33. They did it on the strength of a 14-2 first quarter.

Tuesday night in the back-end of the series, the Tigers went even further, using a 21-7 first quarter – 12 of those points coming from excellent sophomore Jiselle Lennon – en route to a 61-37 GMC White American Division win heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio

Lennon finished with 24 points, a new career high, while MaKenzie Harris also had a career best, scoring 18. The Tigers (3-4) hit eight triples in the game, all coming in the first half.

For their part, while the South Plainfield offense was clicking, the defense was doing its thing, especially with its backcourt pressure. They forced the Hawks into several turnovers: basketballs smacked away, or thrown right into the hands of a Tiger.

JP Stevens (4-3) got 16 from junior Aliyah Manley, including a first quarter triple, but no one else got into double figures, and only three other players scored.

Click below for postgame reaction from South Plainfield’s Jiselle Lennon and head coach Alex DeVivo with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Battle of two young teams as JP Stevens girls visit South Plainfield in second meeting this year

Young teams can sometimes do unpredictable – or, at least, uncharacteristic – things.

Such are the growing pains the South Plainfield girls’ basketball team is experiencing on a squad with four seniors, but no juniors, having lost three starters to graduation.

Well, JP Stevens can do them one better. The Hawks lost four starters to graduation and have just two seniors on the roster, with two sophomores and a freshman in the starting five.

And while the Hawks may be 4-2, and the Tigers 2-4, it was South Plainfield that won the first meeting between the teams back on December 18th, Game Two of the season for both squads.

Game Two in the season series is Tuesday night in South Plainfield, and you can hear it live on Central Jersey Sports Radio as part of a twinbill, with tipoff at 5:30 pm, followed by the 8th-ranked Tiger boys taking on Colonia at 7:00. Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen will have the call; click here to listen.

The death knell for JP in the first meeting was the first quarter, where Stevens got outscored 14-2. And it was one of those key returnees, senior guard Sam Moench, who helped bury them with three triples in that opening period. While the Hawks cut it to as little as two in the fourth quarter, South Plainfield pulled away late for a 43-33 win; Moench finished with 17.

Of JP’s 33 points, junior Aliyah Manley scored 27 of them, adding eight rebounds. Averaging 26.7 points per game, she’s among the top scorers in the state, and also lead the team in rebounds (6.7), treys (22) and steals, with 25 – and she’s swiped six twice already.

Head coach Tim Weber calls her “an awesome player” and says “if she’s one-on-one in half court, I feel bad for the defender.”

Watching Moench and Manley duke it out should make for a great rematch.

Click below to hear pregame interviews with both head coaches:

South Plainfield head coach Alex DeVivo with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen
JP Stevens head coach Tim Weber with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko
by Mike Pavlichko

Talented Colonia in need of wins as Patriots travel to No. 8 South Plainfield Tuesday night

They say “You are what your record is.” 

But this is one of those cases where that statement both does and doesn’t apply.

The South Plainfield boys’ basketball team is 6-1, and the old adage fits there.  But Colonia is 2-5, and, well, not quite so much there.

Sure, the wins haven’t come, but to say they are “struggling ” wouldn’t quite be accurate.  

They’ve played an immensely difficult schedule, including their opener against St. Peter’s Prep in the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic in Montgomery.  They took Piscataway to double overtime, but lost by two just before Christmas.

And a trip to Maryland over the break for some national competition also ended with a pair of losses.

But there is still plenty of talent that will be on display Thursday night when Colonia makes the much shorter trip to No. 8 South Plainfield for a GMC crossover game at 7 pm that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio as part of a doubleheader. It will immediately follow the Tiger girls’ game against JP Stevens at 5:30.  Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen will be on the call for both games; click here to listen.

Meanwhile, things have gone quite swimmingly so far for South Plainfield, whose only loss has come to East Brunswick (7-1), which sits in first place in the new GMC Red American Division.  (Colonia is in the Red National.)  And the Tigers just beat their next best divisional competitor, Sayreville, on Saturday, knocking the Bombers from the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, then taking their spot.

Historically, however, South hasn’t had much recent success against Colonia.  They haven’t played every year, and some years they’ve played three times, but the Patriots have won the last 23 in the series, going all the way back to 2005.  That includes the last four, which have all been in postseason play, either in the GMCT or the state tournament, with a 2022 matchup coming in the North 2, Group 3 championship game.

Last year, Colonia ended South Plainfield’s GMCT run in the semifinals, en route to a second straight county championship.

Click below to hear pregame interview from both head coaches:

South Plainfield head coach John Greco with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen
Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko

by Mike Pavlichko

Montgomery holds at No. 1 despite first loss, but there’s much shuffling elsewhere in Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Top Ten for Week 4

Only three teams – Montgomery, Somerville and Immaculata – held their ground this week in the latest Bellamy & Son Paving boys’ basketball Top Ten, the first of the New Year.

Montgomery (8-1) holds at No. 1 after a 2-1 week. In their own Cougar Holiday Classic, they beat Princeton 70-33 on Monday, then North Hunterdon 71-47 on Tuesday. Monty took its first loss of the season Saturday, 53-51, falling to Linden in the Warrior Classic down at Manasquan.

Gill St. Bernard’s (7-2) used a 3-1 week to edge up to No. 2. After a Monday loss to Linden, 73-52, at the Jingle Bells Jubilee at Paterson STEAM Academy on Monday, they went back there Thursday for the New Year’s Jump Off and beat St. Mary-Rutherford, 76-56. Saturday, they beat Don Bosco Prep on the Ironmen’s home floor, 65-58 in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase, before finishing out the week with an 85-61 win over Trenton in the New Year’s Jump Off II at Newark Collegiate.

Rutgers Prep (5-2) split a pair this week, and falls one spot to third. The Argonauts were 96-79 winners over Cardinal Spellman (NY) in the New Year’s Eve Jump Off at Paterson STEAM Academy, then lost in the Big Jersey Basketball Showcase at Don Bosco to St. Peter’s Prep, 78-72.

The fourth and fifth place teams flip-flopped this week as well, with St. Joseph-Metuchen (6-0) having beaten Piscataway on the road Saturday, 64-53 in overtime, handing the Chiefs their first loss of the year. The Falcons also beat Middle Township on Monday, 69-37, and St. Mary’s Ryken (DC) 69-48 on Tuesday in the Winter Showcase at Paul VI in Wayne.

Piscataway (9-1) – which falls to five – had been unbeaten before the Joe’s game, winning three times in the week gone by before that matchup. They beat Ferris 62-38 Monday, and Dickinson 72-52 Tuesday in the Joe Silver Holiday Tournament at Hillside. They also beat state-ranked No. 12 Teaneck in the BWB Resolution Bumble up at FDU-Madison on New Year’s Day.

Bridgewater-Raritan (7-0) – the only undefeated team remaining in the rankings – moves up two spots this week to No. 6. The Panthers were 2-0 over the break, beating North Hunterdon, 64-63 on Monday, then Princeton, 61-33, on Tuesday in the Cougar Holiday Classic at Montgomery.

Down a spot to seventh is East Brunswick (8-1). The Bears took their first loss of the season Monday in the championship bracket semifinals of the Albert E. Martin Buc Classic at red Bank Regional, but bounced back with a win over host Red Bank regional, 64-42, in the third-place game. Saturday, they came up with a gusty road win, a 72-70 overtime victory at Cranford.

Jumping in at No. 8 this week is South Plainfield (6-1). The Tigers were 2-0 in the week gone by, beating Edison 73-45 on Tuesday, followed by an 87-77 victory at previous No. 7 Sayreville. The Tigers will be on Central Jersey Sports Radio Tuesday night at 7 pm when they face Colonia (2-5) – click here to listen – as part of a doubleheader starting with the South Plainfield girls taking on JP Stevens at 5:30.

And the last two teams held their spots.

Somerville (6-1) stays at nine after a 2-1 week that began with a 62-47 loss to Woodbridge on Monday in the JP Stevens Holiday Tournament, followed by a 58-23 win Tuesday over Perth Amboy Magnet, and a 59-21 win over Dunellen on Saturday.

And Immaculata (4-1) holds in tenth after a 2-0 week, winning the Battle at the Bomb Shelter at Sayreville with a 48-47 victory over Union Monday, and a 71-61 win over the host Bombers Tuesday.

Sayreville dropped out from No. 7 after a 1-2 week, which began in fine fashion with a 66-57 win over New Dorp (NY) in their Battle at the Bomb Shelter tournament Monday. But after the Immaculata loss in the final, they also fell 81-77 to South Plainfield on Saturday.

Below is the complete Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Basketball Top Ten for Week Four:

Image of the Bellamy & Son Paving basketball Top Ten rankings for boys' basketball, Week 4, featuring team names, records, and previous rankings.
by Mike Pavlichko

It may be early, but there are some big boys’ games in the GMC this weekend

New divisional alignments and no guaranteed seeds in the GMC Tournament may give this year’s event a different look and feel, and while we’ve barely gotten the first week of play in the books in high school basketball for 2025-26, there are some games with big implications this weekend on the boys’ side.

Starting this season, the GMC abandoned the traditional Red, White, Blue, Gold and sometimes Silver Divisions for a National and American Division in the Red White and Blue – still with six divisions – plus mandatory crossovers to help scheduling.

The league also got rid of its longstanding seeding rule that division winners had to get one of the top seeds. When there were four divisions, each winner had to be among the top eight seeds. When the GMC added a Silver Division, it expanded that number, but now, that’s all gone. A Blue American Division winner could end up as the 20th seed if the committee – made of up ADs from each division and two coaches, chosen by the coaches themselves – sees fit.

That aim is to have more games against common league opponents that will make it easier for the committee to weigh each team’s resume. League games and crossovers now take on more importance than ever.

Here are some key games to watch Saturday on the boys’ side in the Greater Middlesex Conference:

No. 7 Sayreville (2-1) at Woodbridge (0-1), 12 pm

The Barrons took a tough 10-point loss to South Plainfield in their opener back on Tuesday, and now face a ticked-off seventh-ranked Bombers squad, which just dropped a five-point game at unranked East Brunswick Thursday night. (More on them later.) Senior Sam Jones has led the way, averaging 23.3 points per game with seven treys, and even his 18 – another 18 from Chidi Chukwurah – were not enough to overcome the Bears in a game that was neck-and-neck throughout.

Sayreville has a lot back coming off a 23-5 season, where they won the GMC White Division (11-1) over South Plainfield and were a GMC Tournament semifinalist as a three-seed, where they lost 73-62 to second-seed Piscataway.

Woodbridge would like to get in the win column, and a win over Sayreville could be a signature win in their pocket later on down the line, what the committee calls a “quality win,” against a team already “on the board,” or already “seeded.”

No. 5 Colonia (2-1) at No. 6 St. Joseph-Metuchen (1-0), 1 pm

The Patriots have won two straight GMC games after a season-opening 62-35 loss to St. Peter’s Prep in the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic at Montgomery last Saturday. They beat St. Thomas Aquinas on the road by ten Tuesday, 59-49, then topped Old Bridge 71-60 on Thursday night.

The Knights gave the Patriots a run for their money, jumping out to a 15-7 lead after one quarter, but Colonia stormed back with a 25-14 second period to take a 32-29 lead at the half. And, they trailed again 50-44 after three before rallying to win in the fourth. Sophomore Jayce Rodriguez – who’ll be called upon to do a lot more with the transfer loss of two-time GMCT MVP Aiden Derkack and early departure of R.J. Wortman to play football at Rutgers (he’s a January early enrolee) – scored a career high 32 points, including four treys.

Rodriguez, the son of head coach Jose Rodriguez, hadn’t scored more than 20 coming into this year, but had 26 in his last game, and is now averaging 25 points per game with 10 triples.

The jury is still out on the Falcons. While new (old) coach Mark Taylor has assembled an impressive group that expects to challenge for the Red American Division and a GMC Tournament title, they’ve gotten in just one GMC game, an 89-70 win at Old Bridge Tuesday in which the Knights led 19-18 after one quarter and trailed by just five heading into the final eight minutes.

Rutgers Prep junior Andrew Kretkowski scored 28 in the game, while Alijah Murphy added 21. For the Falcons, it’s probably not a matter of if, but when they officially turn the corner. One win does not a season make, but they certainly have the talent on paper. This is their first early test, and it comes against a Colonia team that took significant losses, but could also still compete for a title.

Old Bridge (1-2) at No. 4 Piscataway (3-0), 1 pm

Back to the Knights, they have dropped two straight since a 67-41 season-opening win over Eagle Academy. But, as mentioned above, they gave St. Joe’s a ride on Tuesday, and did the same against Colonia Thursday night. They jumped out to a 15-7 lead, then were down 32-29 at half. before taking a six-point lead into the fourth quarter that they couldn’t hold on to.

So, yes, Old Bridge has given two of the top teams in the GMC a ride in the first week of the season, and they’ll be hoping the third time’s the charm as they get 2025 GMC Tournament finalist Piscataway in the second of back-to-back Red American Division road games.

As for the Chiefs, they’re playing very well. They’re playing good defense and scoring an average of 86.7 points per game through their first three. Balanced scoring has been the name of the game, between Isaiah Fowler (53 points), Donald Nwaigwe (45) and Josh Lima (43). But the Knights have given teams runs, and the last thing you want to do is let an upset-minded team have some confidence. This one’s a mind game, and the Chiefs would do well to come out strong in this one, even on their (brand-new) home court.

South Plainfield (2-0) at East Brunswick (3-0), 6 pm

An early battle of unbeatens always proves to be fun, and this should live up to it. While the Bears have played an extra game, both have played a pair against the GMC; East Brunswick has wins over Monroe by 28 and Sayreville by five, while the Tigers have an 11-point win at Woodbridge, and a 38-point win over Monroe.

South Plainfield has been led by Andrew Bena, a sophomore scoring 23.5 points per game, while junior Boresa Jawula is averaging 13.5 and junior Justin Vaca is at 10.5 points per game. For EB, it’s senior Matt Mikulka scoring 20.3 points per game to lead the team, along with eight triples, by far the team leader so far.

East Brunswick is off to its first 3-0 start since they won their first four of the 2015-2016 season, when they went 18-9 and reached the GMC Tournament semifinals. They won four straight to start the prior season as well, but the last time they were 5-0? Well, that was an epic season.

That was 2012-13, when they upset St. Joseph in the debut of a future NBA star – maybe you’ve heard of him – named Karl-Anthony Towns in the season-opener in Metuchen. They won their first 15 games that year – including a sold-out rematch against the Falcons at home – until losing to St. Anthony in a one-off non-conference game in late January.

The Bears would reach the GMC Finals that year, and lose an epic to Joe’s, 66-63, in double overtime at Rutgers before winning the Central Jersey Group 4 title, and losing 51-49 in the state semis to Atlantic City.

by Mike Pavlichko

In split award, South Plainfield’s Dominic Massaro is CJSR Special Teams Returner of the Year, while Cooper Smoragiewicz of Summit’s clutch boots win him Kicker of the Year

Sometimes, we just can’t decide.

Here we were, four members of the Central Jersey Sports Radio staff, gathered at a local watering hole to determine all our Player of the Year honorees, and we had an easier time picking appetizers.

Then again, maybe that should have been a sign: We eventually settled on three of them.

For the 2025 CJSR Special Teams award, we hemmed and hawed, then just decided to heck with it. We’ll split it up and have a Special Teams Returner of the Year and a Special Teams Kicker of the Year.

Those awards go to South Plainfield’s Dominic Massaro and Summit’s Cooper Smoragiewicz, respectively.

Returner of the Year – Dominic Massaro, South Plainfield:

The biggest compliment an opponent can give to a returner is to not kick the ball to him.

And South Plainfield’s Dominic Massaro – Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Special Teams Returner of the Year for 2025 – was complimented a lot this fall.

When the ball did find Massaro on special teams, he was a game-breaker (and on one occasion, a game-winner). He returned three punts for touchdowns this season – including the only one in a Week Zero win over East Brunswick. Even when he didn’t score, he set up great field position, averaging nearly 45 yards per return.

Dominic Massaro is about as South Plainfield of an athlete as they come, a tough-nosed kid who plays multiple sports at the only level he knows how: turned all the way up to eleven.

Noted for his grind-it-out rushing style, in a three-year varsity career, he’s rushed for over 3,000 yards, a thousand each of the past two seasons and just 25 yards shy – with 975 – his sophomore year.

On special teams, he had two kick returns for touchdowns in 2023, and another in 2024, and this year had three punt returns for scores, including an 85-yarder in Week Zero against East Brunswick that turned out to be the game-winner in a 9-7 road victory on August 28th.

What helped him most in that regard? Playing baseball. His comfort tracking down fly balls in the outfield helps him get to the right spot on special teams, and once the ball is in his hands, his running back instincts take over. 

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Justin Sontupe speak with Dominic Massaro, our Special Teams Returner of the Year:

Kicker of the Year – Cooper Smoragiewicz, Summit

Last year, the Special Teams Player of the Year was Alexie Moriera of Phillipsburg, who kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired to give the Stateliners the North 2, Group 4 title.

This year, Summit’s Cooper Smoragiewicz won not one, but two playoff games with “walk-off” kicks. The first came in the opening round of the playoffs, a chip-shot from 19-yards out to beat Warren Hills, 24-21. The second came in the North 2, Group 3 semifinals from 34-yards out against West Essex, to send the Hilltoppers to the sectional finals with a 31-28 win.

In a season where six of Summit’s nine wins came by just three points – including those two playoff victories – Smoragiewicz was 24-of-24 on PATs.

Oh, and he’s just a sophomore, so there will be plenty more of his story to be written by the time he finished his senior season in 2027!

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel speak with Cooper Smoragiewicz, our Special Teams Kicker of the Year:

Honorable Mentions:

  • Thomas Diemar, Bernards: Though he didn’t play a full season due to a bad-luck, non-contact ACL injury in Game Three, Deimar – a nationally-ranked long-snapper, continued to do it for two more weeks after is injury! Head coach Jon Simoneau says he had a perfect career: never one bad snap!
  • Jaret Quesada, Manville: He led the Big Central Conference in PATs made this season, connecting on 54 of 59, and at one point connected on 17 straight. He had four touchbacks, and only attempted one field goal this year, connecting from 23 yards out in a Week Three, 31-0 home win over Belvidere.
  • Mike Bellamy, Montgomery: Ranked the No. 2 long snapper in New Jersey, the kid does it all, playing offensive line as well as fullback, where he scored four designed touchdowns this year – not just falling on a fumble by his own team in the end zone.
  • Gavin Pereira, Spotswood: After going 27-of-28 last year, the senior was 20-for-22 on extra points in 2025. He also hit on three of four field goal attempts, with a long of 38, while also getting four kickoff touchbacks. His coach Chris Meagher says he gets great placement on those that don’t sail out the back of the end zone.
  • Quaron Robinson, Union: Helping the Farmers win the field position battle, he averaged 35 yards per punt this year, many landing inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.
by Mike Pavlichko

Cutoff Weekend Friday Playoff Update – Group 3: Summit stands pat, Somerville up, but neither can gain top-seed; South Plainfield looks out

With Friday night’s Cutoff Weekend high school football games all in the books, Central Jersey Sports Radio is updating the unofficial NJSIAA playoff standings as we head into Saturday action.

We’ll have further analysis late morning into the afternoon Saturday, with our 2025 “Playoff Projection Show” scheduled for 6 pm where we give our bracket projections. The full tournament for the public schools will be unveiled on Sunday by the NJSIAA via Gridiron New Jersey. We’ll have them shortly after. The brackets become official at noon on Monday.

NORTH GROUP 3

Table displaying the unofficial NJSIAA playoff standings for North Group 3 high school football teams, including win-loss records and rankings.
  • The top seven teams in the field of 16 all stood pat, including Summit at three, but with Old Tappan and West Morris picking up wins, it looks like the Hilltoppers will have to settle for a two-seed in North 2, Group 3, with West Morris being the No. 1 seed in their section, while Old Tappan will get the overall top-seed, and be No. 1 in North 1, Group 3. That is, unless Summit drops its home game against Scotch Plains-Fanwood Saturday. That would drop them to four overall, assuming West Essex also wins. If not, they hold.
  • Cranford visits Hillside Saturday, but we think they’re in regardless of whether they win or lose. They might even hold their ground.
  • Despite a Friday win over JFK, South Plainfield looks out, finishing in 18th, but just one spot out of the playoffs behind 17th place Snyder, who plays Saturday against Lincoln. But Snyder should win that game. (Weequahic is ineligible due to DQs.)

SOUTH GROUP 3

Table showing the standings for South Group 3 high school football teams, including wins, losses, ties, points average, and other statistics.
  • As expected here, Somerville won, but couldn’t get one of the top two seeds, even though they moved up from fourth to third. Either way, they would have been the two-seed in Central Group 3. That means the path to a repeat sectional title for the Pioneers will go through Holmdel, who will get the top-seed in CJ3 after a 49-38 home win Friday over Middletown North. We think the Pioneers get Matawan at home in the opening round. Ewing is the only team in the running yet to play, hosting Hamilton Saturday.
by Mike Pavlichko

Cutoff Weekend Group 3 Playoff Update: Somerville still has a shot at a top seed, Cranford’s in, Carteret still has a shot

It’s Cutoff Weekend in New Jersey high school football, and we’re taking a look at the playoff scenarios for every Big Central team in contention.

This week, Strength Index values are locked in, and out-of-state opponent SI values also have been updated by Gridiron New Jersey, which does all the official calculations of the NJ UPR formula for the NJSIAA. And we’ve double- and triple-checked our own standings to make sure they match with Gridiron’s.

We’ll have another update to the standings after Friday night’s games – yes, there are Thursday games, but none in the BCC, and we’ll only update if there are significant changes.

And, of course, Central Jersey Sports Radio will have its annual “Playoff Projection Show,” airing LIVE on Saturday at 6 pm. Mike Pavlichko hosts with analyst Marcus Borden, and they’ll run through all the projected brackets. Plus, you’ll hear from some of the league’s coaches as well.

Here’s our breakdown of the Group 3 supersections. We won’t be getting into how the brackets look just yet, but we’ll do that with our update after Friday night’s Week 8 action. Click the supersection header to see the official standings on Gridiron New Jersey.

NORTH GROUP 3

  • Cranford: This one is fairly easy. The Cougars (4-4) sit in 14th place, and we think they stay around there. A win over Hillside (2-5) doesn’t move the needle, but it doesn’t hurt them much either. With Weequahic out of the picture, the Cougars are a 5-seed in North 2, Group 4. But they would be 14 or so in UPR (14.6 or so), while the next team above them in fourth, Roxbury, is in seventh, with a 7.4 UPR at the moment. There’s no way they catch them, so we’re not even going to bother with where they stand in the top 16; we think it’s an extremely high probability that Cranford ends up the five-seed regardless of what they do against the Comets.
  • Carteret: The Ramblers (3-4) visit Bernards (8-0) this Friday night. That’s going to be a tough one, especially with banged up QB Nolan Walsh back in the lineup from injury. (He played the second half last week against Linden.) A loss and they’re definitely out. A win and they could get to 17, which would be good enough since Weequahic (9th) is ineligible due to being over the DQ limit. And with a loss from Mendham (4-4) at Randolph (1-7) – which isn’t likely – or a Warren Hills loss at Hackettstown (both are 4-4), they could even get to 15. We think a win gets the Ramblers in, but it won’t be easy.
  • South Plainfield: Even if the Tigers (4-4) beat JFK (6-2), they don’t appear to have a path to the top 17. If everyone around them loses, North Plainfield would jump them, but even they don’t seem to be able to get in with any help.

SOUTH GROUP 3

  • Somerville: The Pioneers (7-1, 3.6 UPR) would have to make up one UPR point to get into a tie with second-place Cedar Creek (7-1, 2.6 UPR). Holmdel (5-2) is in between at third (3.2 UPR) and Burlington Twp. is No. 1 (1 UPR). A Somerville win at Watchung Hills (3-5) could get them as high as second if Cedar Creek and both Holmdel lose. If either wins, the winner gets second and the loser goes to fourth. All we can tell you is, even with a loss, Somerville at least gets one more game back at Brooks Field.

by Mike Pavlichko

Group 3 playoff chase: Summit, Somerville hold top-seeds, but nothing’s guaranteed; Cranford sits in the middle of the pack but could move up

Group 3 only finds two teams from the Big Central in playoff contention, although a third may be able to jump into that fray.

There aren’t too many Group 3 schools to begin with, and a couple of teams with 2-3 records sit well outside the playoffs in the North Group 3 supersection. A late run and going 2-1 of either team down the stretch could get Carteret (24th) and North Plainfield (21st) back in the conversation, with South Plainfield at 2-4, but much closer just two spots out of the top 16.

But hold the phone. A fight a couple of weeks ago in a game between Weequahic and Newark West Side resulted in enough disqualifications for both teams that, per NJSIAA rule, neither will be eligible for the postseason.

West Side is 1-5, so it probably won’t change much there, but Weequahic (4-2) sits in ninth, rising this week. They’re out, so that means, the 17 team would get in as of today, that being Snyder (3-2). But South Plainfield sits right behind them, so they’re “technically” just one spot out of the playoffs. And they may not have to worry about the three teams directly behind them either. Besides West Side at 21, Paramus (19) and Parsippany Hills (20) are both 0-6, with three games left each, and there’s a minimum of two wins to get into the postseason.

Table displaying standings and statistics for Group 3 football teams, including wins, losses, ties, playoff averages, and rankings.

The only two Big Central teams in the top 16 here are Summit and Cranford. Summit is the second seed overall in the supersection, and the loss to Somerville Saturday didn’t hurt them much, as the Hilltoppers were 5-0 with a solid OSI value. Should they drop out of the top two, they could shift up to the North 1 section, but if they stay a top-seed they should be in North 2, as they’re one of the more southern teams in the supersection. They’ll have to watch 6-0 West Morris, just 0.6 UPR points behind them

The Cougars sit 12th overall, a spot behind Wayne Hills. But again, as we’ve talked about, with the new system, you need to look at overall UPR rank since geography decides which section the teams are placed in. Wayne Hills is 10th, and Passaic Valley – fourth in North 1 Group 3 – is in fourth. So to jump two teams and get a home game, Cranford would need to get to No. 6 overall, a jump of six places in the top 16.

The saving grace could be if teams North of them get in the playoffs, displacing the southernmost North 1 teams (Cranford and West Essex) which would bump them into North 2. But even that wouldn’t be a guarantee. We think they’ll end up on the road in the first round.

A table displaying the standings for Central Group 3 and South Group 3 high school football teams, including wins, losses, ties, and various rankings.

In the South Group 3 supersection, again just one Big Central team is in the running, with Somerville at 5-1 sitting second overall, and in the top spot in Central Group 3. They’re the northernmost team in the entire section, so as long as the teams don’t change from year to year, they will never be in a “South Jersey” section again.

They’re not locked in though, just 0.4 UPR points ahead of Holmdel (3-2). The Pioneers have North Hunterdon, Plainfield and Watchung Hills left, and Holmdel has Marlboro, Raritan and Middletown North left. Neither team has huge power point or OSI opportunities left, nor is either schedule particularly weak, and even North Hunterdon’s SI – with just one win – is comparable to anyone Holmdel plays.

We think the Pioneers could be good – as long as they keep winning.

by Mike Pavlichko

2025 Big Central Preview: United Silver Division

Just like the Patriot Silver Division – which we previewed yesterday – the United Silver Division of the Big Central Conference also was defined by parity in 2024, for the most part.

Three teams shared in the division title, going 3-1, led by Governor Livingston, which was 5-5 overall, and should be right in the mix again this year.

South Plainfield has a solid defense, and JFK loses a good deal on defense, but also has much experience back. North Plainfield is coming off a 3-6 season, but also expecting to improve.

New Brunswick is another story, having gone winless in each of the last two seasons. But they have a new coach in Geoffrey Chrisman who seems poised to at least bring a new culture to the program, that hasn’t existed in a long time. The results may or may not show up in wins and losses, but it will be interesting to watch.

Click below to hear our preview of the United Silver Division from Big Central Conference Media Day: