2021 Strength Index Ratings

By Jon Fass

Posted: July 23, 2021 7:00 am

The 2021 high school football season kicks off in exactly five weeks, and after last year's Covid-induced craziness, a return to normal is more than welcome around New Jersey.

With that in mind, we present the Strength Index for all 339 teams that will field a varsity squad this season.

In most seasons, the starting Strength Index is determined by using the final Strength Index from the previous year, and moving that number by one-third closer to a Strength Index of 60, which is the rounded average of all ratings.

But with all of the irregularities we saw last season, it was determined that the 2020 Strength Index should NOT be moved to closer to 60. Some teams played as few as two games last year, others played upwards of nine, and six teams -- Burlington City, Carteret, Highland Park, Immaculate Conception, Piscataway and West Windsor-Plainsboro -- didn't even suit up because of the pandemic.

So consider 2019 and 2020 to be one long season for Strength Index purposes. After those numbers were calculated, the numbers were then moved by one-third closer to 60.

Public and Non-Public Group pairings will be released by the NJSIAA in the next couple of weeks, and we will update those as soon as they are released.

Team	Strength Index
Absegami	65.51
Allentown	47.52
Asbury Park	59.60
Atlantic City	55.95
Audubon	61.32
Barnegat	58.73
Barringer	46.00
Bayonne	54.14
Becton	75.79
Belleville	47.89
Belvidere	48.82
Bergen Catholic	86.57
Bergen Tech	39.54
Bergenfield	54.88
Bernards	69.60
Bishop Ahr	52.93
Bishop Eustace	35.63
Bloomfield	46.51
Bogota	50.97
Boonton	65.22
Bordentown	41.84
Bound Brook	58.02
Brearley	60.15
Brick Memorial	61.09
Brick Township	58.08
Bridgeton	54.59
Bridgewater-Raritan	60.92
Buena	56.49
Burlington City	56.78
Burlington Township	72.18
Butler	64.40
Caldwell	64.54
Camden	78.24
Camden Catholic	46.83
Carteret	52.56
Cedar Creek	71.08
Cedar Grove	68.72
Central	55.00
Chatham	45.72
Cherokee	83.71
Cherry Hill East	41.37
Cherry Hill West	62.24
Cinnaminson	62.95
Clayton	51.40
Clearview	61.12
Cliffside Park	49.09
Clifton	65.47
Collingswood	56.21
Colonia	52.64
Colts Neck	68.40
Columbia	63.23
Cranford	72.60
Cresskill	63.55
Cumberland	30.67
Dayton	43.67
Delaware Valley	66.28
Delbarton	83.84
Delran	66.60
Delsea	74.73
Demarest	57.85
DePaul	82.16
Deptford	61.58
Dickinson	39.34
Don Bosco Prep	82.64
Donovan Catholic	82.82
Dover	31.19
Dumont	46.29
Dunellen	33.35
Dwight Morrow	59.67
East Brunswick	55.64
East Orange Campus	77.86
Eastern	65.72
Eastside	61.63
Edison	68.87
Egg Harbor	57.36
Elizabeth	55.02
Elmwood Park	39.62
Emerson	46.22
Ewing	50.61
Fair Lawn	45.90
Ferris	20.00
Florence	44.24
Fort Lee	42.40
Franklin	57.59
Freehold Boro	65.90
Freehold Township	47.89
Garfield	63.65
Gateway	50.59
Glassboro	50.86
Glen Ridge	50.47
Glen Rock	65.20
Gloucester Catholic	40.48
Gloucester City	58.00
Governor Livingston	55.41
Hackensack	63.14
Hackettstown	46.01
Haddon Heights	65.63
Haddon Township	46.62
Haddonfield	72.98
Hamilton	65.71
Hammonton	77.61
Hanover Park	69.43
Harrison	31.22
Hasbrouck Heights	68.37
Hawthorne	58.88
High Point	64.31
Highland Park	20.21
Highland Regional	62.19
Hightstown	55.57
Hillsborough	73.09
Hillside	73.60
Hoboken	66.54
Holmdel	72.10
Holy Cross	45.10
Holy Spirit	86.19
Hopatcong	51.18
Hopewell Valley	46.47
Howell	59.14
Hudson Catholic	62.60
Hunterdon Central	57.38
Immaculata	41.54
Immaculate Conception	51.95
Indian Hills	30.53
Irvington	76.60
J.P. Stevens	33.75
Jackson	63.62
Jackson Liberty	43.04
Jefferson	62.49
JFK (Iselin)	43.56
Johnson	52.58
Keansburg	47.75
Kearny	33.42
Kennedy	46.79
Keyport	46.33
Kingsway	68.90
Kinnelon	54.77
Kittatinny	52.50
Lacey	62.85
Lakeland	57.03
Lakewood	43.53
Lawrence	48.97
Lenape	80.08
Lenape Valley	68.66
Lincoln	65.70
Linden	62.39
Lindenwold	22.31
Livingston	59.39
Lodi	55.73
Long Branch	62.73
Lower Cape May	46.44
Lyndhurst	47.52
Madison	59.23
Mahwah	64.80
Mainland	57.67
Manalapan	68.98
Manasquan	68.60
Manchester Regional	46.83
Manchester Township	53.42
Manville	41.07
Maple Shade	54.65
Marlboro	48.32
Matawan	55.66
Mater Dei Prep	71.92
Memorial	33.60
Mendham	56.11
Metuchen	29.58
Middle Township	54.13
Middlesex	51.67
Middletown North	61.71
Middletown South	69.15
Millburn	46.41
Millville	76.11
Monmouth	42.93
Monroe	64.08
Montclair	67.26
Montclair Kimberley	42.85
Montgomery	66.43
Montville	60.98
Moorestown	49.38
Morris Catholic	60.73
Morris Hills	66.08
Morris Knolls	58.50
Morristown	53.07
Morristown-Beard	51.17
Mount Olive	75.85
Mountain Lakes	61.25
Neptune	55.09
New Brunswick	57.05
New Egypt	45.76
New Milford	58.52
New Providence	60.92
Newark Academy	32.25
Newark Central	42.25
Newark Collegiate	43.22
Newark East Side	36.17
Newark West Side	80.19
Newton	75.52
North Arlington	43.34
North Bergen	39.09
North Brunswick	71.78
North Hunterdon	57.13
North Plainfield	60.73
North Warren	47.14
Northern Burlington	63.24
Northern Highlands	80.54
Notre Dame	66.85
Nottingham	63.69
Nutley	68.76
Oakcrest	42.83
Ocean City	77.07
Ocean Township	66.93
Old Bridge	62.07
Old Tappan	73.34
Orange	61.55
Overbrook	41.35
Palisades Park	32.52
Palmyra	41.83
Paramus	62.39
Paramus Catholic	66.43
Park Ridge	73.09
Parsippany	54.24
Parsippany Hills	66.98
Pascack Hills	44.52
Pascack Valley	73.49
Passaic	54.14
Passaic County Tech	61.35
Passaic Valley	59.66
Paul VI	51.90
Paulsboro	82.63
Pemberton	48.72
Penns Grove	76.45
Pennsauken	55.71
Pennsville	49.67
Pequannock	45.86
Perth Amboy	40.59
Phillipsburg	83.97
Pinelands	46.71
Pingry	39.50
Piscataway	68.52
Pitman	40.74
Plainfield	51.77
Pleasantville	65.89
Point Pleasant Beach	39.83
Point Pleasant Boro	52.82
Pompton Lakes	63.79
Pope John	71.01
Princeton	32.34
Rahway	72.58
Ramapo	84.63
Ramsey	67.07
Rancocas Valley	66.95
Randolph	76.56
Raritan	71.59
Red Bank	66.04
Red Bank Catholic	74.45
Ridge	72.99
Ridgefield	26.62
Ridgefield Park	47.04
Ridgewood	76.27
River Dell	78.24
Riverside	27.42
Robbinsville	56.10
Roselle	44.64
Roselle Park	40.71
Roxbury	47.71
Rumson-Fair Haven	79.79
Rutherford	66.37
Saddle Brook	48.53
Salem	72.86
Sayreville	62.80
Schalick	26.13
Scotch Plains-Fanwood	63.79
Secaucus	38.56
Seneca	59.25
Seton Hall Prep	77.59
Shabazz	56.46
Shawnee	76.30
Shore	63.75
Snyder	41.76
Somerville	82.65
South Brunswick	59.87
South Hunterdon	48.40
South Plainfield	46.78
South River	46.62
Southern	66.44
Sparta	72.17
Spotswood	39.90
St. Augustine Prep	81.20
St. John Vianney	67.12
St. Joseph (Hamm.)	84.48
St. Joseph (Met.)	68.58
St. Joseph (Mont.)	88.93
St. Mary	39.49
St. Peter's Prep	84.63
Steinert	50.16
Sterling	50.66
Summit	67.77
Sussex Tech	44.58
Teaneck	42.61
Tenafly	58.53
Timber Creek	73.93
Toms River East	60.31
Toms River North	61.93
Toms River South	64.60
Trenton	59.99
Triton	51.26
Union	75.35
Union City	65.45
Vernon	48.30
Verona	73.74
Vineland	66.12
Voorhees	46.83
Waldwick	65.08
Wall	86.61
Wallington	52.25
Wallkill Valley	52.97
Warren Hills	58.05
Washington Township	67.12
Watchung Hills	72.29
Wayne Hills	71.94
Wayne Valley	69.49
Weehawken	35.29
Weequahic	66.17
West Deptford	76.15
West Essex	74.73
West Milford	54.79
West Morris	74.28
West Orange	77.78
West Windsor-Plainsboro	49.25
Westfield	63.52
Westwood	60.00
Whippany Park	42.70
Wildwood	34.29
Williamstown	82.42
Willingboro	82.67
Winslow Township	72.50
Woodbridge	77.39
Woodbury	60.60
Wood-Ridge	42.08
Woodrow Wilson	75.28
Woodstown	63.13

Jon Fass is the owner/operator of Gridiron New Jersey and can be reached by emailing jon@gridironnewjersey.com.