Preview: West Jersey Football League
When South Jersey, Group 4 titans Cherokee
and Williamstown met in last season’s state sectional semifinal, there
was a lot of excitement in the air. The best of the Burlco/Olympic
Conference was meeting the best of the Tri-County Conference. Little did
the two teams know that their classic encounter—which ended in a 30-21
win for the Chiefs—may have been merely the prologue to what could turn
out to be a legendary division rivalry in the new West Jersey Football
League. Both the Chiefs and Braves are now members of the WJFL’s
American Division, one of 13 in the 65-squad monster of a conference.
Conference Preview: Super Essex Conference
Nobody likes being outdone by his neighbor. As
the only league in New Jersey encompassing all of and only one county
last season, the Super Essex Conference proved it. Every game was a
rivalry game. Even those matchups without a formal history seemed to
have a little extra sizzle thanks to the sheer proximity of the teams
involved.
Conference Preview: Shore Conference
It is the summer, so where better to go than
to the shore—or in our case, the Shore Conference. Like its many
counterparts, the SC was shaken up a bit by realignment, but there still
ought to be the same fierce rivalries and exciting matchups that we are
accustomed to in the granddaddy of all superconferences.
Conference Preview: NJIC
North Jersey’s two holdouts from the 2009
realignment—the BCSL and B-PSL—have finally joined the movement. The
result? The North Jersey Interscholastic Conference. Some of the most
glaring results are the new, exciting matchups that will take place this
season. Glen Rock and Secaucus. Lodi and Queen of Peace. Hasbrouck
Heights and Pompton Lakes.
Conference Preview: NJAC
Rather quietly, something big may be brewing
up in Northwest Jersey. Why? Because without much fanfare, the
Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference is housing quite a few powerhouses,
and seems to have the strength to produce multiple state sectional
champions in 2010.
Conference Preview: Mid-State 39
Talk about coming out of nowhere. Last
preseason, no one would have guessed that by season's end, Summit would
be in the conversation as one of the best teams in the state of New
Jersey. But by December, that was exactly the case.
Conference Preview: HCIAA
Let’s face it—Hudson County football is not
very good—at least not based on recent history. Last season, just four of the 14 teams in
the county finished .500 or above record. As a matter of fact, those
three teams—St. Peter’s Prep, Lincoln and North Bergen—had more wins
(28) than the other ten squads had put together (21). Of course, that
was in the North Jersey Tri-County Conference, where schedules were
structured a bit differently.
Conference Preview: GMC
If anyone needs proof of just how
competitive the Greater Middlesex Conference was last year, they need look no further than 2009’s Red Division
standings. At the top, you had champion Sayreville, who went
undefeated in divisional play, and seemed nearly unstoppable in the
early part of the season. Then way down in fifth place, you had East Brunswick, who
despite a second-to-last-place finish in the Red, took care of business
when it counted most, going on a memorable run to the Central, Group 4 title, defeating the Bombers on the way.
Conference Preview: Colonial Conference
While seemingly every other league was
causing some sort of commotion this offseason, the Colonial Conference
was nice and quiet down in Camden and Gloucester Counties. One of the
few leagues left with any formal history, the Colonial moves into 2010
with not only some always exciting league rivalries, but also a very
juicy collision waiting in the wings in the Patriot Division—that being the one between
Woodbury and Paulsboro.
Conference Preview: Cape-Atlantic League
From the Big North to the deep South, we
move on to the Cape-Atlantic League. While there isn’t quite as much
fanfare around the CAL’s 2010 realignment as is the case in other areas
of the state, it is certainly worth mentioning, as the shakeups could
have a profound effect on the balance of power on New Jersey’s southern
tip.
Conference Preview: Big North
Finally, the preseason is upon us. And once again, the popular topic of
discussion seems to be realignment. With that in mind, it only makes sense to
kick off our league previews with the region of the state that started
this whole ordeal—that of course being the area encompassing the brand
new Big North.