WJFL Week Eight: Trenton-Notre Dame battle for division title in final game
One West Jersey Football League division title is up for grabs this week, while another will require an upset for there to be any suspense.
Trenton can seize the Capitol Division crowd outright with a road win at Notre Dame on Friday night. Notre Dame guarantees itself a co-title with a win, and in that scenario, Allentown can make it a three-way tie by beating Nottingham.
In the Valley Division, Hamilton put itself in the driver’s seat by beating Hightstown last week. The Hornets now simply need to take care of business against Lawrence, who is a heavy underdog.
If Hamilton loses, the winner of Friday night’s game between Hightstown and Hopewell will share the title with Hamilton.
Note that the Allentown-Nottingham and Lawrence-Hamilton games were moved up from Saturday and are now 2:30 p.m. Friday starts.
As of current United Power Rankings, Allentown, Nottingham, Trenton and Notre Dame are all in the state playoffs. Friday ALLENTOWN (4-3)
AT NOTTINGHAM (5-2)
After a tough stretch against Lenape, Trenton and Burlington Twp., Allentown compiled 56 points in a win over West Windsor-Plainsboro last week.
The Redbirds should be favored against the Northstars, who have proven to be a talented, solid team but still young and at times undisciplined.
With this weekend marking the power points cutoff, Friday’s matchup matters because in SJ Group III, Allentown is currently 11th and Nottingham is 12th. Thus, if the Northstars can pull the upset they would likely leapfrog the Redbirds in the state seedings. LAWRENCE (1-6) AT HAMILTON (4-2)
The Hornets have a chance to complete a 4-0 run through the division thanks to a gutsy road win last week where they held off Hightstown by two points.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, that appears to be the only prize until a Thanksgiving matchup with Steinert.
The Hornets are five spots out of the playoffs in SJ Group IV with the 21st UPR. That’s the downside of having a larger student enrollment under the new format.
TRENTON (4-3)
AT NOTRE DAME (6-1)
A month ago, few could have given Notre Dame a reasonable shot in this game. But the Irish have grown throughout the season and emerged as a legit contender with six straight wins — including Nottingham, Hopewell and Hightstown by 65 total points in the last three weeks.
Trenton is deeper and more battletested, but the Tornadoes will need to play much better than they did in their 7-0 win against lowly Steinert last week.
Trenton is the favorite, but don’t be surprised if Notre Dame threatens an upset because of their strength and discipline up front.
HIGHTSTOWN (3-4)
AT HOPEWELL (3-4)
The winner guarantees itself of a .500 season and no worse than second place in the Valley Division. Neither will be going to the state playoffs.
The Rams and Bulldogs project as an even matchup. The key will be how well Hopewell’s defense contains Hightstown’s rushing attack.
The Bulldogs have been solid in that department most of the year, and a low-scoring game on their home turf is ideal. HADDON TWP. (3-3)
AT ROBBINSVILLE (4-3)
Technically, Robbinsville still has a slim shot to tie for the Classic Division title. The Ravens need to win and for Maple Shade to lose, but Maple Shade is playing 0-6 Wildwood.
Robbinsville is coming off a 51-0 romp at Wildwood, and most encouraging for the program has been the resurgence of its offense this season.
Five wins would match Robbinsville’s most since 2012. This week is the end of the line since the Ravens are out of the SJ Group III playoff picture. PRINCETON (2-5) AT DELRAN (6-1)
Princeton’s rebuilding program took a step with two wins this season after 21 straight losses.
Delran suffered its first loss last Saturday against Northern Burlington, but the Bears are still right on the border for a playoff spot in SJ Group II with the 17th UPR. Saturday PEMBERTON (1-6) AT EWING (4-3)
Ewing should able to fend off Pemberton, which hasn’t won since Sept. 15 against Princeton.
The Blue Devils are not completely out of the playoffs yet in SJ Group III, but while sporting the 17th UPR, they will need some help from other teams. WW-P (0-7)
AT STEINERT (1-5)
Despite a tough season, Steinert is favored to win on Senior Day.
West Windsor’s co-op program is still in search of its first win despite putting up 40 total points in the last two games against Allentown and Princeton.
The young Spartans have only beaten Lawrence but have shown potential, pushing Notre Dame to double overtime and only losing to Trenton by a special teams touchdown last week.