Big Central Gridiron’s Week 5 Picks – October 4-5, 2024

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – Week 5 of the New Jersey High School Football season is about to begin, and the Big Central Conference kicks off the action on Friday night. No games are scheduled in the BCC on Thursday night. There will be 23 games on Friday night followed up by eight more on Saturday afternoon. Thirty-one games in total involving all 59 BCC teams. Included in those games are three non-conference match-ups.

Several of the games this week are key divisional and crossover match-ups. There are no games against non-conference schools in Week 4. BCG plans to cover the BCC Crossover contest between South Plainfield of the United Silver Division and Bernards from the Patriot Gold Division at Olcott Field in Bernards Township. Then, on Saturday afternoon, BCG travels to Mike Elko Field in Monmouth Junction to see South Brunswick of the National Gold Division take on Watchung Hills of the Liberty Silver Division in another BCC Crossover.

Week 5 big match-ups include Summit visiting Brooks Field to take on Somerville in a Big Central Conference crossover between two ranked teams on Friday night. In addition, Phillipsburg visits West Orange in a non-conference clash and a rematch of the 2022 North Jersey Section 2 Group 5 Championship won by the Mountaineers. Over in Middlesex County, Piscataway visits Sayreville in a renewal of one of the county’s fiercest rivalries.

Also on Friday, top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas heads up north to play Paramus Catholic of the Super Football Conference in a key non-conference test for the Trojans. On Saturday, Roselle travels to Woodfield Stadium in Hillside to take on the Comets in the latest edition of that rivalry. Last year, Hillside defeated the Rams at Arminio Field (45-6). Highland Park heads over to Metuchen to renew its rivalry with the Bulldogs. Metuchen has won the last five meetings between these two schools.

Below are BCG’s Week 5 picks:

Big Central Gridiron’s Week 5 Picks

  • Bernards over South Plainfield
  • Watchung Hills over South Brunswick
  • Monroe over North Hunterdon
  • Somerville over Summit
  • Spotswood over Bound Brook
  • Paramus Catholic over St. Thomas Aquinas
  • South Hunterdon over David Brearley
  • West Orange over Phillipsburg
  • Hillsborough over Westfield
  • Ridge over Union
  • Bridgewater-Raritan over Elizabeth
  • Hunterdon Central over East Brunswick
  • Plainfield over Franklin
  • Piscataway over Sayreville
  • Woodbridge over Perth Amboy
  • St. Joseph’s over North Brunswick
  • Linden over Montgomery
  • Colonia over Edison
  • A.L. Johnson over Governor Livingston
  • Voorhees over North Plainfield
  • Carteret over New Brunswick
  • Belvidere over Jonathan Dayton
  • Delaware Valley over South River
  • Manville over J.P. Stevens
  • New Providence over Middlesex
  • Roselle Park over Dunellen
  • Morristown over Old Bridge
  • Rahway over Cranford 
  • Scotch Plains-Fanwood over J.F. Kennedy
  • Hillside over Roselle
  • Metuchen over Highland Park

Big Central Gridiron went 23-6 in its Week 4 picks. BCG is now 122-31 overall on the season.