Union County football this weekend – Friday, Sept. 28 and Saturday, Sept. 29 – consists of eight games Friday and four more on Saturday.
Roselle will now be hosting South Hunterdon Friday night at Rahway River Park instead of Metuchen. “Our numbers are down, we aim to get healthy and plan on playing at Bishop Ahr next Friday night,” said Metuchen Athletic Director John Cathcart.
Dayton is now 2-2 after receiving a forfeit win over Belvidere after Belvidere reported last week that it used a player that was not academically eligible.
The Bulldogs will not be playing at Highland Park Friday night since Highland Park dropped varsity football for this year – lack of healthy bodies – after one game.
So no varsity football in this neck of the woods at Roselle Park and Highland Park and for this weekend at Metuchen. This is what should be the focal point of having successful varsity football in the state of New Jersey, not moving practice up to Aug. 6 and then expanding the playoffs so that half of the teams that win state championships will lose afterwards.
Union County vs. Middlesex County crossover games this weekend include Union (3-1) at South Brunswick (3-1) Friday night and then St. Joseph’s, Metuchen (3-1) at Westfield (2-1) Saturday afternoon. Westfield has won 21 straight home games at Gary Kehler Stadium since falling to Hunterdon Central 7-6 in November of 2014.
There is also Plainfield (1-3) at J.P. Stevens (1-2) on Friday night.
Union County leads Middlesex County 6-2 so far this year, including Brearley and Dayton receiving forfeit wins over Highland Park.
Hillside seeks to go 4-0 and extend its Union County-leading seven-game winning streak when it plays at 3-0 Bernards Friday night.
New Providence is out for a 5-0 start when the 4-0 Pioneers host Manville (0-3) Saturday afternoon at Lieder Field.
UNION COUNTY
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Friday, Sept. 28 (8 games)
Union at South Brunswick, 7 p.m.
Plainfield at J.P. Stevens, 7 p.m.
Linden at Franklin, 7 p.m.
Voorhees at Cranford, 7 p.m.
Rahway at North Plainfield, 7 p.m.
Hillside at Bernards, 7 p.m.
South Hunterdon vs. Roselle at Rahway River Park, 7 p.m.
Brearley at Bound Brook, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 29 (4 games)
St. Joseph’s, Metuchen at Westfield, 1 p.m.
Summit at Scotch Plains, 1 p.m.
Somerville at Gov. Livingston, 1 p.m.
Manville at New Providence, 1 p.m.
Off: Dayton (forfeit win over Highland Park),
Elizabeth, Johnson.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Friday, Sept. 21 (9 games)
Elizabeth 42, Watchung Hills 0
Union 34, Phillipsburg 24
Linden 42, Plainfield 7
Rahway 22, Cranford 0
Gov. Livingston 32, North Plainfield 16
Johnson 7, Roselle 0
Hillside 49, Delaware Valley 0
New Providence 47, Dayton 6
Brearley 42, Manville 12
Saturday, Sept. 22 (3 games)
Westfield 33, Old Bridge 17
Immaculata 40, Scotch Plains 30
Summit 22, North Hunterdon 9
Off: None.
THIS WEEK’S PICKS (12):
Union over South Brunswick
Plainfield over J.P. Stevens
Linden over Franklin
Cranford over Voorhees
Rahway over North Plainfield
Hillside over Bernards
Roselle over South Hunterdon
Brearley over Bound Brook
Westfield over St. Joseph’s, Metuchen
Summit over Scotch Plains
Somerville over Gov. Livingston
New Providence over Manville
Best bet: Rahway
Upset special: Brearley
Last week: 11-1
This year: 35-8 (.814)
Best bets: 4-0
Upset specials: 4-0
JR’S UNION COUNTY
TOP 10:
1-Linden (3-1)
2-Elizabeth (3-1)
3-Union (3-1)
4-Westfield (2-1)
5-Summit (3-0)
6-Hillside (3-0)
7-Rahway (2-1)
8-Cranford (2-1)
9-New Providence (4-0)
10-Gov. Livingston (2-2)
Others:
Brearley (3-0)
Johnson (2-2)
Plainfield (1-3)
Scotch Plains (0-3)
Dayton (2-2)
Roselle (0-4)