Somerville will be playing in its first sectional final since 2019. The Pioneers will be hosting their first sectional championship since 2018, and looking to win its first sectional crown since 2017. The Ville will be hosting a Delsea team that is a powerhouse program from South Jersey that has made a spirited run through the playoffs.
Pioneers Looking to Win First Sectional Crown Since 2017
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—On Friday night, Somerville will play in its first sectional championship game in five years. The top-seeded Pioneers are looking to claim their first sectional crown in 7 years when they host Delsea in the 2024 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 3 Championship Game. Somerville has not hosted a sectional final since losing to Rumson-Fair Haven in 2018.
Game Specifics
| Date | Opponent | Time/Score | Location | Media |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, 15 Nov |  Delsea |
NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 3 Championship W 24-6 |
Brooks Field | NJ.com |
Game Venue – Brooks Field
| Venue | Address | Map (Click for larger view.) |
|---|---|---|
| Brooks Field | 222 Davenport Street Somerville, NJ 08876 |
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How They Got Here
| Round |  | |
| First Round | Defeated Absegami (40-0) | Defeated Burlington Township (29-12) |
| Semifinals | Defeated Ocean City (30-14) | Defeated Cedar Creek (28-14) |
BCG Tale of the Tape – Delsea @ Somerville
| School | | |
| Mascot | Pioneers | Crusaders |
| Conference | Big Central Conference – Liberty Silver Division | West Jersey Football League – Classic Division |
| Head Coach | Matt Bloom (2nd Year) | Jason Volpe (1st Year) |
| Record | 11-0 | 4-6 |
| Conference Record | 9-0 | 2-6 |
| Division Record | 4-0 | 2-2 |
| Place in Division | Won BCC Liberty Silver | Finished 3rd in WJFL Classic |
| Section | South Group 3 | South Group 3 |
| Rank in Section | 1st | 13th |
| Bracket | Central Jersey Group 3 | Central Jersey Group 3 |
| Seed in North 1 Group 2 | 1st | 7th |
| Points Per Game | 35.5 | 16.7 |
| Points Allowed Per Game | 8.4 | 17.4 |
| Shutouts | 3 | 0 |
| Point Differential | 27.2 | -0.7 |
| Largest Margin of Victory | 49 points (Defeated North Hunterdon 56-7 on 10/10/2024) | 28 points (Defeated Williamstown 34-6 on 10/18/2024) |
| Yards Rushing Per Game | 211.1 | 160.7 |
| Yards Passing Per Game | 128.6 | 38.5 |
| Total Yards Per Game | 339.7 | 199.3 |
| Run/Pass Ratio | 66% Run / 34% Pass | 84% Run / 16% Pass |
| Strength Index | 91.59 | 76.47 |
| Power Points | 17 | 7.75 |
| OSI | 66.50 | 49.03 |
| UPR | 1 | 13.2 |
| W-L Record in one-score games | 1-0 | 0-3 |
| Common Opponents | None | None |
NOTE: Somerville and Delsea have not played a common opponent this year. However, Delsea played and defeated Cedar Creek (28-13) in the sectional semifinals. Cedar Creek edged Ocean City (7-0) in the regular season finale on October 25th. Somerville downed Ocean City (30-14) in its sectional semifinal a week ago at Brooks Field.
Key Players – Somerville
- QB Brenden Pacheco
- RB/SB Terrell Mitchell
- RB/WR/MLB Justin Bowen
- WR/SB Josh Rodriguez
- WR/CB Brady Scheier
- WR/SS Leonardo Altomari
- WR/DB Dushawn Dorsey
- WR/CB Aidan Bush
- WR/OLB Kieran McKenna
- TE/OLB Jamile Adoboe
- MLB/RB Maximus Nuzzi
- G/C/DT Giovanni Ippolito
- MLB/G Sean O’Neill
- MLB/TE Sam Muse
- T/OLB/DE Tyler Van Doren
- K/CB/WR Spencer Carran
Key Players – Delsea
- QB/MLB Daniel Russo
- QB/FS Jimmy Reardon
- RB Alex Grippo
- RB/DE Joel Anderson
- RB/MLB Cooper Mulhern
- WR/CB Eric Grant
- WR/CB Adrien Sheppard
- WR/CB Quincy Matthews
- TE/DE Luke Van Auken
- DE/T Charles Mapp
- G/DT Choyer Hamm
- OT/DE Jonathan Harris
- OLB/RB Milo Gebhard
- K Eneas Tavella
Additional Facts – Somerville
Somerville is having its best season since going 7-0 and winning the Big Central Conference’s Championship Pod over Woodbridge in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. A victory over Delsea on Friday night would give the Pioneers its 9th sectional championship.
The Ville has made 28 playoff appearances and reached the finals in over half of those appearances (15). The Pioneers last played for a sectional crown in 2019 when they lost on the road to Camden Wilson, which is now Camden Eastside (54-30).
Matt Bloom is in his 2nd full season at the helm in Somerville. Bloom took over as the interim head coach midway through the 2022 season. Since then, Bloom has compiled an overall record of 19-7. Somerville has qualified for the playoffs in each of the two and a half seasons that Bloom has been head coach.
Somerville had been playing in the tougher BCC American Gold Division the past two seasons. The Pioneers were playing way up against then Group 5 public schools in Elizabeth, Union, and Westfield as well as one of the BCC’s two non-public schools, St. Joseph’s.
This season, the Pioneers moved down to the BCC Liberty Silver. Somerville is still playing up against the likes of Group 4 schools such as Montgomery, North Hunterdon, Rahway, and Watchung Hills, but not as much as the previous two seasons.
Additional Facts – Delsea
Delsea has been one of the Cinderella stories of the 2024 NJSIAA State Playoffs. The Crusaders entered post-season play with a 2-6 record, but has proven it belongs with wins over Burlington Township and Cedar Creek in the first two rounds of the CJ Group 3 sectional.
A big reason for the magical run was the fact that Delsea did this year what Somerville did the past two years. The Crusaders played considerably up. Delsea competed in the West Jersey Football League’s Classic Division with the likes of CJ Group 5 top seed Washington Township of Sewell, perennial Group 5 contender Kingsway, annual playoff qualifier Timber Creek, and Williamstown.
Delsea, which has made 33 playoff appearances including 21 in sectional finals, and has won 16 sectional crowns, also played crossovers against the likes of South Group 1 champ Woodstown, South Jersey powerhouse Millville, Holy Spirit of Absecon, and a Mainland Regional team that could face the winner of this title tilt.
Head Coach Jason Volpe is in his first year at the helm for the Crusaders. Volpe replaced long-time Delsea head coach, Sal Marchese, who guided the Crusaders to the Group 3 State Championship last season. The Crusaders beat the likes of Burlington Township, Manasquan, Seneca, Camden, and North Jersey Group 3 champ West Essex for the state title.
BCG’s Prediction
Don’t be fooled by the records of the two teams, especially Delsea. The Crusaders are 4-6, but three of those defeats were by 7 points or less. Delsea lost by one to Woodstown back in Week 1. Then, the Crusaders lost by two against Kingsway at home in Week 3. By the way, the Dragons finished 8-3 after falling at powerhouse Toms River North by a touchdown in the SJ Group 5 semis last week.
In the final week of the regular season, Delsea took last year’s Group 4 champion, Mainland Regional to overtime before falling (21-14). Somerville has only played in one close game this season. The Pioneers won their season opener over then 14th ranked in the state, Hillsborough at Brooks Field (21-20).
Somerville has several key advantages. First, the Pioneers are playing at home in the friendly confines of Brooks Field while Delsea has to make the long trip up from South Jersey. Second, Somerville is much more balanced offensively with a run/pass ratio of nearly 2 to 1 while the Crusaders run the rock almost 85 percent of the time.
Third and finally, the Pioneers have changed things a little offensively by using Josh Rodriguez in the wildcat for significant time throughout the game. This has taken chunks of time off the clock, which in turn, has helped both Somerville’s defense and regular QB Brenden Pacheco, who are a lot fresher this time of year than most teams are. This strategy played a key role in the Pioneers’ win at Hillside in Week 4.
Delsea will have to play its game much like New Providence needs to do against Cedar Grove in the North Jersey Section 2 Group 1 Championship. The Crusaders will need to control both sides of the line of scrimmage and use its running game led by Daniel Russo to take time off the clock and keep Somerville’s potent offense off the field.
Prediction: Somerville wins 24-21.
