Here Come the High School Football Playoffs

Outside of summer nothing moves faster for me than the high school football season.

It was only yesterday it was late August and we were getting ready for the season to begin and here it is November 1^st and this is the final weekend of what I’ll call the “regular season.”  That’s because the NJSIAA Playoffs and Regional Crossover (or consolation) games begin next week and for many teams the season will be over by the middle of the month.

This weekend is highlighted by games involving teams looking to improve their playoff position and in some cases just hoping to earn their way into one of the six groups in the state that will include Shore Conference teams.

Among those on the “bubble” are Colts Neck, Central Regional, Point Boro, and Barnegat.  If the season were to end right now it does appear that as many as 27 of the 43 shore teams would earn playoff spots which is very impressive.

Heading up that group are Toms River North and Wall who could earn top seeds in their respective brackets.  Meanwhile schools like Donovan Catholic, Jackson Memorial, Toms River East, Southern and Lacey are in but would like to improve their chances of getting at least one home playoff game so winning this weekend is paramount.

Tonight’s 14-game schedule includes one of the area’s truly great rivalries as Toms River North hosts Toms River South.  It may not be the “Civil War” battle that took place in the early years but it’s still pretty special to the players, coaches, students and alumni of the schools.  The series was dominated by South in the beginning but North has pretty much owned it this century although the Indians maintain a 25-21-1 advantage going into tonight’s 48^th meeting.

The South at North game is the Jersey Mike’s Game of the Week on the Shore Sports Network and is also part of the Great American Rivalry Series.  We will stream it live on shoresportsnetwork.com as well as our Facebook page and the free Shore Sports Network mobile app.