NJSIAA Football Playoffs Begin

The NJSIAA Football Playoffs begin tonight with 17 Shore Conference schools among the nearly 160 who have a chance to claim a state sectional championships the first weekend of December. It’s a terrible playoff system which leaves us with 20 schools claiming state titles based on geography and school size. Even that’s questionable as you have Pennsauken, which is near Camden competing in the same 8-team Central Jersey bracket with schools like Colts Neck, Brick Memorial and Middletown North. Anyone studying New Jersey in school would also question Burlington Township traveling 51 miles to play Point Pleasant Borough but they are in the same group.

However like college football’s imperfect BCS system what he have in New Jersey is what we have and it will stay that way until archaic minds accept that it’s time to do away with Thanksgiving Day games which prevent any real playoff. But you do the best you can with what you have and to coaches and players the ultimate remains calling yourself a state sectional champion so that’s what they’ll aim for.

Toms River North and Asbury Park are the only two shore schools with a chance of defending their championships and they will have very different paths. The Mariners will not only have to get past rival Southern tonight but would likely have to beat top ten state powers Cherokee and Mainland on the road to win in South Jersey Group 4. Asbury Park’s Blue Bishops on the other hand are expected to cruise through the Central Jersey Group 1 bracket where they could face Shore Regional in the final.

No team comes into the playoffs hotter than Point Pleasant Borough and even though the Panthers are seeded third in Central Jersey Group 2 they might be the team to beat. Boro has won all 7 of their games via shutout and allowed their only points of the season in a 3-0 loss to Manasquan in week two…the two rivals could face each other in the sectional final.

The Shore Sports Network will broadcast tonight’s Southern-Toms River North game from Gernerd Field. It’s the fourth time the Rams and Mariners have faced each other over the last two seasons with North winning the previous three meetings. Tonight’s game can be heard on 1160 WOBM AM, Fox Sports 1310 and at www.shoresportsnetwork.com