UNION COUNTY, NJ — Here it is, the final week of the regular season before the football playoffs commence.
This is one of the most exciting weeks of high school sports during the course of the entire school year, as we are about to find out which teams make the grade and what seed they will be.
Right now, it appears that 10 of the 17 Union County football-playing schools will qualify. Those 10 would be in right now if the playoffs began this weekend.
Here’s a look at those 10 and their seeding number for this week. The top 16 teams in each group section qualify:
North, Group 5: Elizabeth 3, Plainfield 13, Linden 14.
North, Group 4: Westfield 10, Rahway 12.
North, Group 3: Cranford 9, Summit 10.
North, Group 1: New Providence 6.
South, Group 2: Arthur L. Johnson 7, Hillside 11.
This week in Union County, all 17 schools are playing once again and there are five common games. The breakdown is one game on Thursday, Oct. 24, and 11 on Friday, Oct. 25. No Union County school is scheduled to play on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Here’s a look at Week Eight of the 2024 Union County football campaign:
Thursday, Oct. 24
Jonathan Dayton High School (2-5) at David Brearley High School (0-7): Both teams have struggled to light up the scoreboard this season. Here they get an opportunity to do so against each other. David Brearley has defeated Jonathan Dayton every year since 2013, a string of 11 straight victories. Jonathan Dayton last beat David Brearley in 2012, a 19-16 win at Union High School’s Cooke Memorial Field. This is the 10th anniversary of the 2014 shootout, a 50-41 Bears victory against the Bulldogs in Springfield.
Friday, Oct. 25
John P. Stevens High School (2-5) at Abraham Clark High School, Roselle (1-7): The host Rams will seek to bounce back following a rare forfeit defeat to Delaware Valley one week after notching their first win of the season against Newark Collegiate.
Elizabeth High School–Frank J. Cicarell Academy (4-4) at Union High School (1-6): Elizabeth has now won two straight after opening with two wins and then losing four in a row. Believe it or not the Minutemen are No. 3 in the United Power Rankings (UPR) in North, Group 5 this week and have an excellent chance of playing at home in a first-round playoff encounter next week.
Governor Livingston High School (3-5) at New Brunswick High School (0-8): The Highlanders will travel to Middlesex County to battle a team that has scored only 22 points and has been shut out five times.
Linden High School (4-4) at Plainfield High School (4-3): Linden at 14 and Plainfield at 13 both appear to make the grade out of North, Group 5, with the winner of this game moving up in the seeding. Linden has won three straight, while Plainfield had a three-game winning streak snapped last weekend by undefeated Somerville High School (8-0).
Delaware Valley High School (6-1) at New Providence High School (6-2): Delaware Valley has won five straight since its only setback, a 7-0 loss at home to Bernards High School, which is now 8-0. The host Pioneers are 4-0 at their Lieder Field and have won as many as six games for the first time since 2021.
Rahway High School (6-2) at Montgomery High School (0-8): The Indians have won at least six games for the first time since 2019 and seek to keep it going against a Montgomery squad that has scored only 38 points in eight games.
Spotswood High School (7-1) at Roselle Park High School (3-4): Spotswood has won seven in a row since opening with a 24-10 loss at Bergen County school Wood-Ridge Jr/Sr High School. Roselle Park is 2-1 at home and will seek to snap a two-game losing streak. Roselle Park won at Spotswood, 26-22, in 2022 and then Spotswood won at Roselle Park, 7-0, last year.
Summit High School (4-3) at Scotch Plains–Fanwood High School (3-5): Summit has lost three straight to 5-0 Somerville, 6-0 Bernards and 7-0 Woodbridge High School, while Scotch Plains–Fanwood has won two of its last three. Summit won last year’s game against Scotch Plains–Fanwood at Summit by the score of 42-6.
Westfield High School (4-3) at Ridge High School (6-1): Westfield has won two in a row and Ridge six straight since opening with a 37-34 loss at St. Joseph High School, Metuchen. Ridge is averaging 40 points and will be challenged by Westfield’s defense, which has given up 19 points or less in four of its seven games.
Arthur L. Johnson High School (6-1) at Perth Amboy High School (1-7): The Crusaders bounced back from their first loss of the year – a setback by a touchdown to 4-1 Delaware Valley – to edge 1-5 North Plainfield Middle/High School by a single touchdown. Perth Amboy has lost seven straight since opening with a 27-9 win at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, Iselin.
Hillside High School (5-3) at Cranford High School (5-2): Both teams have won three in a row and are playoff bound once again. Cranford has made the playoffs every year since 2011 and Hillside since 2017.
Thursday, Oct. 24 = one game
Jonathan Dayton at David Brearley, 6 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 25 = 11 games
J.P. Stevens at Abraham Clark, 6 p.m.
Elizabeth at Union, 7 p.m.
Governor Livingston at New Brunswick, 7 p.m.
Linden at Plainfield, 7 p.m.
Delaware Valley at New Providence, 7 p.m.
Rahway at Montgomery, 7 p.m.
Spotswood at Roselle Park, 7 p.m.
Summit at Scotch Plains–Fanwood, 7 p.m.
Westfield at Ridge, 7 p.m.
Arthur L. Johnson at Perth Amboy, 7 p.m.
Hillside at Cranford, 7 p.m.