NJSIAA to allow any school to take part in postseason

There will be no sectional championships in New Jersey football this fall.

The NJSIAA announced Wednesday that its postseason plan will be a format called “Football Post-Season Groupings” in which any school can participate.

Leagues and conferences will group their member schools into pools for a two-game series on the weekends of Nov. 13 and 20. These groupings are expected to take into consideration each school’s enrollment size, geography and competitive balance.

Schools must submit their intent to participate to the NJSIAA by Nov. 2, and then as soon as possible, the NJSIAA will distributes summaries to each league and conference.

The NJSIAA will facilitate coordination between leagues and conferences, when necessary, to complete groupings. The NJSIAA will host a seeding committee of representatives from all five leagues and conferences on Nov. 7, and then the groupings will be announced Nov. 8.

No trophies or awards will be handed out as this year’s postseason format is simply about giving everyone a chance to participate in what is a shortened season because of COVID-19.

The regular season begins Oct. 2 and runs through the weekend of Nov. 6.

In the past two years, teams qualified for the state playoffs via a newly introduced United Power Rank. The formula placed 60 percent of teams’ value on their Born Power Index Ranking and 40 percent on teams’ Power Point Ranking.

UPR won’t be calculated this season, but Gridiron NJ will continue to update its weekly Strength Index.

The Trenton area has 12 Colonial Valley Conference schools competing in the West Jersey Football League this season: Steinert, Hamilton West, Nottingham, Notre Dame, Lawrence, Trenton, Princeton, Hightstown, Robbinsville, Hopewell Valley, Ewing and Allentown. West Windsor-Plainsboro is not participating because the district canceled fall sports.