A Look at the South Jersey Football Group Pairings
South Jersey football teams have begun practice and some of them open as early as Aug. 30, and as usual, the race for sectional or state titles should be highly competitive.
In New Jersey, public schools can only compete for a sectional championship, in the case of local teams, that would be a South Jersey or Central Jersey title.
The Non-Public teams compete for state titles.
Here are the defending champions from the seven-county South Jersey area: South Jersey Group 1: Penns Grove; South Jersey Group 2: Haddonfield; South Jersey Group 3: Woodrow Wilson; South Jersey Group 4: Shawnee; South Jersey Group 5: Williamstown; Central Jersey Group 1: Willingboro; state Non-Public Group 2: St. Joseph.
Of these schools, Penns Grove and St. Joseph’s will likely be favored to repeat. That doesn’t mean the others can’t also repeat, it’s just that Penns Grove and St. Joseph’s return a strong nucleus from teams that were 13-0 and 10-2 respectively.
In the public schools, there will be two Groups of eight teams each that will qualify for the playoffs. For instance, in South Group 1, eight teams will play in the South Jersey tournament and eight in the Central Jersey tourney.
That is how two teams from the seven-county South Jersey area were champions. Penns Grove was in the South Jersey section and Willingboro was in the Central Jersey.
As with last year, there will be bowl games in public school competition, where the winner of the South will play the winner of the Central.
Here are the group pairings for this season.
SOUTH GROUPS
Group 5 South
Atlantic City, Cherokee, Cherry Hill East, East Brunswick, Eastern, Edison, Egg Harbor Township, Franklin, Freehold, Freehold Township, Hillsborough, Howell, Hunterdon Central, Kingsway, Lenape, Manalapan, Marlboro, Monroe Township, New Brunswick, Old Bridge, Rancocas Valley, Sayreville, South Brunswick, Southern Regional, Toms River North, Trenton Central, Vineland, Washington Township, West-Windsor Plainsboro, Williamstown.
Group 4 South
Brick Memorial, Brick Township, Bridgeton, Central Regional, Cherry Hill West, Clearview, Colts Neck, Freehold, Hamilton East, Hamilton West, Hammonton, Highland, Hightstown, Jackson, Lakewood, Long Branch, Mainland, Middletown, Middletown North, Middletown South, Millville, Moorestown, Neptune, Northern Burlington, Ocean City, Pennsauken, Princeton, Shawnee, Toms River East, Toms River South, Winslow Township
Group 3 South
Absegami, Allentown, Burlington Township, Cumberland, Delsea, Deptford, Ewing, Hamilton North, Holmdel, Hopewell Valley, Jackson Liberty, Lacey Township, Lawrence, Manchester Township, Matawan, Monmouth Regional, Oakcrest, Ocean Township Pemberton, Pinelands, Raritan, Red Bank Regional, Robbinsville, Rumson-Fair Haven, Seneca, Somerville, Timber Creek, Triton, Wall Township, Woodrow Wilson.
Group 2 South
Abraham Clark, Arthur L. Johnson, Audubon, Barnegat, Bernards, Bordentown, Camden, Cedar Creek, Cinnaminson, Collingswood, Delaware Valley, Delran, Haddon Heights, Haddonfield, Harrison, Hillside, Lincoln, Lindenwold, Lower Cape May, Manasquan, Metuchen, Middle Township, Newark Collegiate Charter, Pleasantville, Point Pleasant Borough, Shore Regional, South River, Spotswood, Sterling, West Deptford.
Group 1 South
Schalick, Asbury Park, Buena, Burlington City, Clayton, Florence, Gateway, Glassboro, Gloucester City, Haddon Township, Highland Park, Keansburg, Keyport/Henry Hudson, Manville, Maple Shade, Middlesex, New Egypt, Overbrook, Palmyra, Paulsboro, Penns Grove, Pennsville, Pitman, Point Pleasant Beach, Riverside, Salem, South Hunterdon, Wildwood, Willingboro, Woodbury, Woodstown.
Non-Public Group 4
Bergen Catholic, Delbarton, Don Bosco Prep, Notre Dame, Paramus Catholic, Paul VI, St. Augustine, St. Joseph Metuchen, St. Joseph Regional, St. Peter’s Prep, Seton Hall Prep.
Non-Public Group 3
Bishop Ahr, Bishop Eustace, Camden Catholic, DePaul Catholic, Donovan Catholic, Dwight-Englewood, Mater Dei/Ranney School, Pingry, Pope John XXIII, Red Bank Catholic, St. John Vianney.
Non-Public Group 2
Holy Cross Academy, Holy Spirit, Hudson Catholic, Immaculata, Immaculate Conception, Marist, Montclair Kimberley Academy, Morris Catholic, Morristown-Beard, Newark Academy, St. Joseph Hammonton, St. Mary’s.
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© SouthJersey.com 2019. All rights reserved. This article or parts thereof may not be reprinted or reproduced by any other party without the express written consent of SouthJersey.com. For more information, please call 856-797-9910.
For more Local Sports features, visit our South Jersey Sports page.
Author: Marc Narducci; Photo by Marc Narducci
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