With Tuesday wins in holiday tournaments, a number of boys' basketball teams in the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area will be heading into the New Year on the right note, with a trio of Somerset County squads still undefeated. That would include Montgomery and Bridgewater-Raritan, both of whom went 2-0 at Montgomery's Cougar Classic, while Pingry also is unbeaten, having won two games down at the KSA Events Holiday Tournament in Orlando.

The combination of the winter break - and a winter storm that blew through the area Friday into Saturday this past weekend - meant a light schedule for many of the boy's basketball teams in the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area. As a result, there was very little movement in the Week 3 Bellamy & Son Paving Boys' Basketball Top Ten.

The Maxwell Football Club is out again with its top players from across the region - in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware - announcing "Mini Max" winners from each state. And out of the 55 selected from the Garden State, ten come from the Big Central Conference, three more than a year ago. The student-athletes are nominated by their coaches, and are evaluated based not just on their football skills, but also academics and community service.

The first full week of play in high school basketball didn't have anything in the way of seismic upsets, but there is a new No. 1 team in the Bellamy & Son Paving rankings - with a very fine line and little room for error among the top five teams, which are a combined 17-2 following this weekend's action - as well as two new teams joining the bottom half of the rankings.

It's the "early" National Letter of Intent Signing Day across the country, and many football players from the Big Central Conference will be submitting their letters, cementing their college choice. We'll be keeping track, school by school, player by player all day as those student-athletes make their announcements. This story will be updated throughout the day once those decisions become official.

The Big Central Conference's two sectional champions finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Conference Rankings, with North 2, Group 4 winner Phillipsburg taking the top spot, and Bridgewater-Raritan - the North 2, Group 5 winner - finished second. For Phillipsburg (10-3), it was the Stateliners' tenth state sectional title - and second in a row - for a program that just wrapped its 120th year of football.

Though both teams saw their playoff runs end in the state semifinals, Phillipsburg remains No. 1 in the Big Central Power Rankings for Week 12, while Bridgewater-Raritan moves up one spot to No. 2, taking a slight lead over New Providence. No one else moved as the Stateliners and Panthers were the only teams in action last week, and those top teams should hold, regardless of Phillipsburg's outcome on Thanksgiving against Easton.

Group 5 Semfinal:When: Friday, 6 pmWhere: Basilone Field, Bridgewater, NJMatchup: Passaic Tech (9-3; North 1, Group 5 champion) at Bridgewater-Raritan (9-3; North 2, Group 5 champion)Coverage: Follow Marcus Borden on TwitterWeather: 49, little to no wind, 50% chance of rain by 9 pm HEAD COACHES: Bridgewater-Raritan: D.J. Catalano (3rd season, 16-17)Passaic Tech: Matt Demarest…

For some, the state finals are the be-all, end-all, this new concept of "true state champs" dominating the thought process as it heads into its fourth season of existence. For others, it's gravy. Bridgewater-Raritan has a trophy, no matter what: it's first-ever North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 championship, after making three trips in the mid 2010s without bringing home the hardware.

Championship Weekend is behind is - the Big Central won two titles with Bridgewater-Raritan and Phillipsburg claiming titles - and Mike Pavlichko look back on this week's edition of "The Big Central in 2 Minutes!" On this week's episode, Mike recognizes Old Bridge, New Providence and Summit on their excellent seasons that ended with title game defeats, as well as Montgomery, which made its first ever appearance in a sectional final, then looks at the wins for the Panthers and Stateliners!

Phillipsburg's win in the North 2, Group 4 title game kept the Stateliners atop the Big Central Power Rankings in Week 11, while Bridgewater-Raritan's win in the North 2, Group 5 final moves them further up, and well into the Top 50 statewide. New Providence held in second, despite falling to Cedar Grove in the North 2, Group 1 final, while Old Bridge dropped from fourth to seventh after a loss in the Central Jersey Group 5 title tilt.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 Final:When: Friday, 6 pmWhere: Basilone Field, Bridgewater, NJMatchup: #6 Bayonne (8-3) at #1 Bridgewater-Raritan (8-3)Coverage: Follow Chris Tsakonas on TwitterWeather: 44 degrees, partly cloudy, wind W 2 mph (crosswind from home stands toward visitor stands) HEAD COACHES: Bridgewater-Raritan: D.J. Catalano (3rd season, 15-17)Bayonne: Jerome Hayes (4th season, 22-18)

The Bridgewater-Raritan football team made three straight finals appearances in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Those are their only trips to the finals, and all three years they ran into a Westfield juggernaut, a Blue Devils' program that won all three titles up at the Meadowlands, and finished a remarkable 36-0 in that stretch. But now, they are poised to make some history.

As we've been doing all season long, Central Jersey Sports Radio is highlighting the high school football "Speedster of the Week" presented by Higgins Speed Lab in South Brunswick, recognizing the top runningbacks in the Big Central Conference every week. And the Week Ten winner is Sam Dech of Phillipsburg! This is Dech's fourth time on the list, and first time topping it as the "Speedster of the Week." Dech was part of a big ground game for top-seed Phillipsburg in a 35-7 win over fifth-seed Colonia in the North 2, Group 4 semifinals, scoring two second half touchdowns on a 217-yard, 23-carry night.

Central Jersey Sports Radio will have in-person coverage of three of the five sectional title games being played this Championship Weekend, involving six teams from the Big Central Conference. We'll have live play-by-play of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 final, which features two BCC squads, as top-seed Phillipsburg (9-1) will host third-seed Montgomery (8-3) at Maloney Stadium. The Stateliners - the defending champs in this section - haven't lost to a public school all year, while the Cougars have rebounded off a 1-9 season under first-year head coach and previous Offensive Coordinator Sean Carty.

Here we are - Championship Weekend! Six Big Central teams will vie for five titles this Friday night - with one guaranteed winner - Mike Pavlichko takes a quick look on this week's edition of "The Big Central in 2 Minutes!" On this week's episode, Mike gives one last take on the ridiculousness of the seeding procedure - a team South of Philly in Central Jersey Group 5?

A convincing 35-7 win over Colonia that put Phillipsburg in its fourth straight sectional final kept them atop the Big Central Conference power rankings in Week Ten, even though they dropped one spot in the overall state Top 25. Around the league, two new teams joined the Top Ten, including Montgomery - which moved up from 12 to nine - and Bridgewater-Raritan, which shot up from eleven to five.

We'll have an all-Big Central final in North 2, Group 4. Bridgewater-Raritan avenged a big loss to make the finals. Montgomery will play in its first title game ever. Old Bridge wins a thriller. And there's still more football Saturday! All in all, five Big Central Conference schools advanced to sectional finals next week with wins Friday night - as the league went 5-4, with three guaranteed to fall as a result of all-BCC matchups - with Piscataway and Summit looking to punch their tickets Saturday.

The last time Bridgewater-Raritan reached a sectional final, it was their third straight trip, in 2017. All three years they'd face Westfield, and all three years the Blue Devils won, ending a wild stretch where they went 36-0 over those three seasons, 2015 through 2015. Well, Westfield is down in Group 4 now, but the Panthers had quite the nemesis on the other side of the Basilone Field Friday night in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 semifinals.

There are eleven Big Central Conference public schools left in the state playoffs, less than half of the 25 teams that initially qualified. But of those that remain, there are some good opportunities for the league to win championships, and there's even a guarantee it will in North 2, Group 4, where all four teams playing in semifinals Friday are from the BCC.

The Big Central went 7-9 in opening round NJSIAA playoff action Friday night, with the two top-seeds - Phillipsburg and Bridgewater-Raritan - winning big, while high seeds Bernards and Somerville both were upset, each by just one point. The Stateliners rolled past eight-seed Newark Central, 55-14, at Maloney Stadium in North 2, Group 4 action, while the Panthers were 35-6 winners over eighth-seeded Linden in North 2, Group 5.

The two Big Central Conference teams that earned top-seeds in the NJSIAA playoffs this season both won their opening round games handily Friday night. Phillipsburg - the top overall seed in North Group 4 - won its first round game in the North 2, Group 4 section, blowing out eight-seed Newark Central at home, 55-14. And Bridgewater-Raritan - the No. 1 seed in North 2, Group 5 - was a 35-6 winner over eight-seed Linden at Basilone Field.

The playoffs are here, and Mike Pavlichko takes a quick look on this week's edition of "The Big Central in 2 Minutes!" On this week's episode, a quick note about the fist two seeds, and a note about the best combined year for the Woodbridge schools - Woodbridge, Colonia, and JFK - having their best season since 2014! Then, we look at some key playoff matchups, including "The Russo Bowl" and our two live broadcasts this weekend.

The NJSIAA has released its public playoff pairings for the 2025 high school football postseason, and 25 Big Central teams made the dance. That's down three from last year, when 28 teams made it. Defending North 2, Group 4 champion Phillipsburg earned the overall top-seed in North Group 4, meaning if they repeat as champions, they'll be home all the way through, except for a potential state final, which would be the Wednesday after Thanksgiving at Rutgers, just like last year.

When the NJSIAA high school football playoffs start next weekend, 25 teams from the 59-school Big Central Conference are expected to participate, with 14 of them starting at home, and two of them earning top seeds: Bridgewater-Raritan in North 2 Group 5, and defending North 2 Group 4 Phillipsburg. Here's a look at Central Jersey Sports Radio's unofficial projected matchups, by section.