There was a second straight week of major upheaval in the Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Top Ten, with Montgomery handing Sayreville its first loss, No. 1 St. Joseph-Metuchen ending St. Thomas Aquinas’s 35-game league winning streak, and Woodbridge falling to unranked Summit for the Barrons’ first loss of the season.
The result saw the Falcons stay at No. 1 with perhaps the two biggest wins of the season by any team in the league, but nearly everyone else moved around, with No. 6 Bernards the only other team to hold its position.
St. Joseph-Metuchen kept its perfect regular season alive with two games to play – remember, the non-publics play an extra week before the playoffs are seeded – with a 41-19 win at then-No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas. Next up, the Falcons host No. 5 Woodbridge (7-1) Saturday afternoon, before closing on Halloween at Donovan Catholic.
Up two places to No. 2 is Phillipsburg (6-1), right behind the Falcons after their defeat in Metuchen two weeks ago. The Stateliners were 42-0 winners over Union at home Friday, and are at Maloney again this week when they host Bridgewater-Raritan (6-2).
Montgomery (6-2) shot up this week with their second win over a ranked team this season, a 43-15 win at then-No. 5 Sayreville. The Cougars visit Rahway (5-3) this Friday night at 7 pm in the Bellamy & Son Paving “Big Central Game of the Week,” which you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino on the call.
Somerville (7-1) moves up from seventh to No. 4 after a 40-28 home win over Plainfield, heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio. The Pioneers will travel to Watchung Hills (3-5) Friday for their regular season finale.
Down three spots to fifth is Woodbridge (7-1), which took its first loss Friday, 10-7, to Summit. And it’s a tough task ahead for the Barrons, who will travel to top-ranked St. Joseph-Metuchen (7-0) Saturday afternoon.
Holding court at No. 6 is Bernards (8-0). The Mountaineers extended their regular season win streak to a state best 33 games with a 35-7 home win over Governor Livingston back on Friday, and host Carteret (3-4) this Friday. Bernards now has won 31 in a row in Big Central play, four away from tying the league record, which just ended Friday.
That’s St. Thomas Aquinas (5-3), which drops to seventh after falling 41-19 at home to No. 1 St. Joseph-Metuchen on Friday. The Trojans’ had their 35-game Big Central win streak go by the boards in the process, and they’re back in action against No. 8 Sayreville (7-1), which dropped three spots this week after falling 43-15 at home to then-No. 10 Montgomery.
Down one place each – due to Montgomery’s rise – are Piscataway and Old Bridge. The Chiefs are 6-2 after a 21-7 win at Hillsborough Friday, and are at Monroe (1-7) this Friday . The Knights are 7-1 – but that loss is to Piscataway – after a 45-29 win at Hunterdon Central. Old Bridge closes at home against Colonia (6-2) this Friday night at Lombardi Field.
No one dropped out this week.
In the Also Considered category are Voorhees (7-1), New Providence (7-0) Ridge (5-2), and Manville (8-0), all the same schools as last week.
Here’s the complete 2025 Bellamy & Son Paving Central Jersey Sports Radio Big Central Week Seven Top Ten:
