Strong showing by South Jersey Football Public School Teams in the postseason

by Marc Narducci | Dec 7, 2022

The first-ever NJSIAA state championships for public high school football teams have been held and South Jersey teams fared well.

It should be noted that there have been Non-Public state playoffs since 1993, but this was the first-year public school held a state championship.
Of the five public school Groups, there were two champions from South Jersey, Woodbury in Group 1 and Millville in Group 4.

Both Woodbury and Millville finished 12-2. Woodbury won its final six games, while Millville ended the season on a 9-game winning streak. The two schools were also defending sectional champions last year.

There are four sections in New Jersey – North I, North II, Central and South. So, for two of the five champs being from schools from the seven-county South Jersey area, is impressive.

Yet, there is more. Delsea (12-1) was the third team from the seven-county South Jersey area to compete in the state championship. The Crusaders lost to Old Tappan, 24-14 in the state Group 3 championship.

Article continues below

- SJ Sports: South Jersey`s Best

With all the sports, and all the great teams in South Jersey history, it's nearly impossible to pick a list of the best. Different teams playing in different eras are difficult to compare. Arguments could be made for hundreds of teams in a variety of sports, but despite the difficulty of the task, South Jersey SportsClub has ranked the Top 20 teams of the past 25 years, and you can see the results here...

It was a game that was tied 14-14 entering the fourth quarter before Old Tappan (12-1) pulled away.

With Delsea losing, after being undefeated, it appears as if Millville, our preseason pick to be No. 1 in South Jersey, will end up as the top team.
There were no teams from South Jersey that won a Non-Public state title this year. Over the past several years, South Jersey has only had a realistic chance at winning Non-Public 2, with either St. Joseph or Holy Spirit.

South Jersey has always had trouble winning a state title in the larger divisions, Non-Public 3 and 4.

The last time an area team won either a Non-Public 3 or Non-Public 4 title was in 2010 when Holy Spirit, captured the Non-Public 3 state title with a 14-13 win over St. Joe Montvale.

South Jersey has only captured two Non-Public 3 titles, and Holy Spirit has both of them, with the other in 2007.

There has been just one Non-Public 4 state championship team from South Jersey, Holy Cross in 2000 won the Non-Public Group 4 title with a classic 41-40 victory over Don Bosco Prep.

These days, the only large enrollment school from South Jersey that would have a realistic chance against the heavyweights from Non-Public 4 is St. Augustine.

St. Augustine has built the program to be competitive even while rebuilding and that was the case this year when the Hermits went 6-5.
Still, the Hermits were able to win a first-round playoff game against St. John Vianney, 45-0, before losing to top-seeded and eventual runner-up Don Bosco Prep, 37-0, in the quarterfinals.

Non-Public A annually is the toughest playoff Group. As for the public schools, schools from the seven-county South Jersey area should be highly competitive for state titles on an annual basis.

Author: Marc Narducci

Strong showing by South Jersey Football Public School Teams in the postseason

Related Articles

Archives