Covering High School Football in the Big Central Conference
The 2021 Hillsborough Raiders football team is the only one from the Big Central Conference to win an NJSIAA Regional Final or State Semifinal Game. No Group State Championship Game existed at that time. The NJSIAA implemented that round a year later.
The third time was the charm for the Phillipsburg Stateliners. After losing in back-to-back NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 5 Championship Games in 2022 and 2023, the Liners defeated Northern Highlands in the 2024 NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 title game, 13-11. It was Phillipsburg’s first sectional championship since 2018. The Stateliners have won 80 percent of their games since the formation of the Big Central Conference.
The Somerville Pioneers won their first sectional title since 2017 when it defeated Delsea in the Central Jersey Group 3 Championship Game (24-6) at Brooks Field last Friday night. This season, Somerville has now won a third of all of its games over the past five years.
Last Friday, the Phillipsburg Stateliners defeated Northern Highlands to win the 2024 NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 Sectional Championship. It was the first sectional title since 2018 for the Liners, which also won back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014. BCG looks back on the 2014 Phillipsburg Stateliners.
With its 27-22 victory over Summit in the opening round of the 2024 NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 State Playoffs back on November 1st, the Cranford Cougars avenged a regular season loss at Tatlock Field. Cranford has won 8 of the last 11 meetings with the Hilltoppers. Summit still leads the all-time series 18-10.
Led by sophomore RB, Chukwuma Odoh, St. Thomas Aquinas won its fourth straight division title in four different divisions this year.
On Thursday night, David Brearley of Kenilworth will host Jonathan Dayton of Springfield in a Big Central Conference Freedom Gold Division match-up. This will be the thirty-sixth meeting between these two schools. Brearley and Dayton have played each other every year since 2006. David Brearley leads the series, 26-8-1.
This season marks the 40th anniversary of the 1984 J.P. Stevens Hawks’ Central Jersey Group 4 Championship. The then 2nd-seeded Hawks upset top-seeded and undefeated East Brunswick to win the title. The 1984 J.P. Stevens Hawks finished 8-3 overall.
On Thursday night, South Hunterdon hosted long-time rival Belvidere in a Big Central Conference Freedom Silver Division match-up. Belvidere won the game by the score of 36-0 to snap South Hunterdon’s recent three-game winning streak in the series. The two schools have played each other every year since 1963 except for the 2018 season. This was the 66th meeting between the County Seaters and Eagles. Belvidere now leads the series, 38-28.
Piscataway’s Juwon Jackson battled through an ankle injury to rush 16 times for 128 yards and a TD to help lift the Chiefs past Ridgewood in the 2018 NJSIAA North Jersey Group 5 Regional Bowl Game.
