Tag: Southern

by Mike Pavlichko

Ten straight season-opening wins for Delaware Valley is best streak in New Jersey. Who else is close? Not many

When the Delaware Valley football team opened its 2026 season with a 17-0 win over North Hunterdon Friday night, it extended a pretty significant streak.

The Terriers now have won ten straight season-openers, dating all the way back to 2017, and that’s the longest streak of its kind in the state. But not only that, it’s a very rare feat.

It’s something that hasn’t been done – at least recently – by the likes of Winslow, Washington Twp., Glassboro, or even the Don Boscos or Bergen Catholics of the world.

We went back to look at every team in the state. (Well, not every team, since anyone who lost their opener this week was automatically out of the picture.) And we found only four out of over 300 teams even have a streak that goes back to before the COVID-shortened season of 2020.

The next three – including one other team from the Big Central Conference – have all won between seven and nine straight season openers. The Super Football and Shore Conferences have the other two. Here’s the list:

  • West Morris (SFC), 9 straight: The Wolfpack’s run goes back to 2018, after a 41-20 win over district rival Mendham this past Friday night. Their last season-opening loss came back in 2017, dropping a 31-27 decision to Parsippany Hills.
  • New Providence (BCC), 8 straight: Idle this week, the Pioneers will put that on the line next Thursday at home against Voorhees in the debut of new head coach Anthony Conzentino. Their streak dates back to 2018 as well, and would match West Morris with a win this week. Their last loss came in a rough season, 2017, when the Pioneers went 1-9, and opened with a 41-3 loss to Johnson.
  • Southern (Shore), 7 straight: Yet to open their season – they’ll do that next Friday against Belmont Charter (PA) – the Rams last loss came in 2018, a 14-0 defeat at the hands of Jackson Memorial, which last year merged with Jackson Liberty to form Jackson Twp. High School.

There’s one little caveat to all this: Somerville. Those Pioneers. Technically, their last season-opening loss “on the field” came in 2015, when Jeff Vanderbeek and Chris Casamento were co-head coaches for a season before Vanderbeek took over on his own the next season and the Pioneers went undefeated in the regular season, falling 21-13 at home in the Central Jersey Group 3 semifinals to Rumson Fair-Haven, which they would beat the next year for a state title at Rutgers.

But in 2022, though they beat Mastery HS of Camden in their season-opener, 31-7, Somerville self-reported a violation – using an ineligible player in that game – and it was declared a forfeit loss. Since it’s an official loss, we can’t count that toward the streak.

Here’s a closer look at Del Val’s season-opening wins on their current streak, and their final record each season:

  • 2026: North Hunterdon, 17-0 (??)
  • 2025: at Metuchen, 27-13 (6-4)
  • 2024: at South Plainfield, 21-0 (6-3)
  • 2023: Roselle, 27-9 (5-4)
  • 2022: at Roselle, 20-17 (6-3)
  • 2021: Middlesex, 48-14 (7-3)
  • 2020: at Voorhees, 24-2 (6-1)
  • 2019: St. Thomas Aquinas, 41-0 (6-3)
  • 2018: at North Plainfield, 37-7 (5-5)
  • 2017: North Plainfield, 21-6 (5-5)

Delaware Valley’s last season opening loss came at North Plainfield, 28-7, in 2016. That Terrier team finished 5-5 on the season. Their overall record on their streak is 53-41.