St. Joseph can win New Jersey title with one playoff game

For many teams, the hunt for a state title is a grueling process that includes serious preparation, intense game atmosphere, and often a road trip or two along the way.

For one New Jersey team, it will consist of a single game.

St. Joseph (Hammonton, N.J.), a perennial small school power in the southern part of the state, will play one game for a Non-Public Group 1 state title on Dec. 2.

Its opponent will be either Montclair Kimberley Academy (N.J.) or St. Mary (Rutherford, N.J.), the only other two teams in the bracket, who face each other Nov. 18.

MaxPreps New Jersey football playoff brackets

To put St. Joseph's single playoff game in perspective, winning a state title in Texas would mean an additional six games. In Florida, five.

For St. Joseph head coach Paul Sacco, it's a disappointing end to an otherwise-stellar season.

"In all the years we've been involved, there's never been eight teams (to complete the bracket)," Sacco said. "There's never been a chance to play 12 [total] games. We're lucky if we get 11."

In order to qualify for the NJSIAA playoffs, teams need to have at least a .500 winning percentage through their first eight games. With the number of qualified non-public schools waning in recent years, the NJSIAA combined the Non-Public Group 1 and Group 2 playoff bracket a year ago. St. Joseph, then a Group 2 school, captured the title with a 40-0 victory over St. Mary.

This season, the state has gone back to four groups for non-public playoffs.

Having allowed only 16 points and owning a convincing victory over Holy Spirit (Absecon, N.J.), St. Joseph is arguably a Top 5 team in the entire state. Compounding its shortage of playoff games is the fact that most of its starters have not played past halftime of most games, Sacco said.

"Most of them, by the second quarter, the starters are out. So there are four or five games where the starters didn't stay in. It's sad."

New Jersey is in the midst of a movement to reform its playoff system, initiated by East Brunswick (N.J.) head coach Marcus Borden and Brick athletic director Bill Bruno.

While non-public schools play to a single state champion in each group, public schools currently award four sectional champions in each group, resulting in 16 public school sectional winners. None of those will play more than 12 games. The new playoff plan seeks to allow public schools to play to one true state champion.

It is unclear how the new playoff proposal will affect non-public schools like St. Joseph. Coaches will vote on the proposal in December.

Sacco says he supports the idea of having only three groups for non-public schools. His team currently has a 22-day hiatus until its next game, a Thanksgiving rivalry with Hammonton (N.J.).

"I don't know why they went back to four groups," he said. "I know it's not fair to a lot of kids."