What team in North, Group 2 would want to match up with Caldwell considering how well the sub .500 Chiefs have been playing against their formidable schedule?
Coach Todd Romano’s young Caldwell team, which is coming off a solid 21-6 road victory at Shabazz, is currently listed as ninth in North, Group 2.
The top 16 teams in each North group will be broken down into two 8-team sections to make up the playoff matchups in N1 and N2. Pairings should be official on Monday, Oct. 28, with first round action gettting underway on Friday, Nov.1.
It appears to be a deep North, Group 2 with current positioning seeing it line up with some of the teams to watch such as 1-Glen Rock (6-0), 2-Hanover Park (6-0), 4-Westwood (4-1), 5-Bernards (7-0) and 6-Ramsey (5-1).
Westwood, the defending overall Group 2 state champions, have somewhat of a new-look lineup this fall, but still might be the team to beat in N1G2.
A young Bernards squad, which has one of the best recent histories of any North Jersey program in terms of highly-productive regular seasons, could be another team to keep a close eye on in N2G2.
Caldwell (2-4), which has won two of its last three games, has faced as strong a schedule as any team in Group 2 and the Chiefs continue to improve with their offense which is spearheaded by freshman QB Adam Sepe (13 carries for 48 yards and 7-of-10 passing for a TD vs. Shabazz) and the continued strong running of junior back Nick Mignone (27 carries for 144 yards and 2 TDs vs. Shabazz) behind a strong O-Line led by tri-captains Cole Bazerman and Aidan Hartney, Anthony Capaldo, Elvis Nikollaj and Qays Rabah.
Capaldo, who has 4 sacks and 11 tackles for a loss along with a forced fumble and fumble recovery this season, joins Bazerman, Hartney and Nikollaj on a D-Line that also helped contain the speed of Shabazz while limiting the Bulldogs offense in this past Friday night’s contest in Newark.
Looking at another deep grouping, North, Group 5, one could ask how might 7-West Orange, 6-East Orange Campus and an upstart Irvington - fresh off its stunning upset of Passaic Tech - figure in what appears to be heading toward very competitive sections in either N1G5 or N2G5.
The Mountaineers, who are led by QB Charlie LaMorte, a Bucknell commit, fell at Passaic Tech earlier this season, and to Phillipsburg, but were very much in both games until the very end.
West Orange takes on local rival EOC this Saturday in a key upcoming game in North, Group 5.
The current North, Group 5 picture sees it lining up near the top as 1-Ridgewood (5-1), 2-Union City (5-1) and 3-Passaic Tech (5-2).
Livingston (3-3), currently No. 17 in North, Group 5, is hoping to break in the top 16 as the Lancers entertain 20-Bloomfield (3-4) this Friday night at Allen ‘Jake’ Jacobson Field.
While both 1-Cedar Grove (7-0) and 3-Verona (6-1) are locked and loaded for high seeds in North, Group 1 where 2-Butler (6-0) would appear to be the strongest third challenger, North, Group 4 appears to be spearheaded by Big Central Conference powers 1-Phillipsburg (5-1) and 2-Ridge (5-1), while a dangerous 3-Morris Knolls (6-0) is another team to watch.
Two Essex County teams, 7-Central (5-1) and 13-Nutley (4-3) are looking to jockey for position and firm up their status to be part of the North, Group 4 field. |
