Delaware Valley, which has been a Group 2 school since the inception of the sectional tournaments in 1980, is moving to Group 1 under the draft version (now official) obtained by Open Mike. As such, the Terriers' longstanding rivalry with Raritan in the Central Jersey, Group 2 section is at an end.
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| Delaware Valley celebrates after winning the Group 2 title in 2017. |
Del Val, which has won 17 sectional and eight Group 2 championships, is 9-6 all-time against Raritan, including a 50-9 loss in last year's sectional semifinals -- the 12th postseason meeting between the schools.
"You knew going up against Raritan that you had to lay it on the line," said Fitz, who is 5-4 against Raritan in his 11 seasons as head coach. "Now we'll move on to a different challenge in life."
That next challenge will for Del Val will be in the North 2, Group 1 section, which includes Bound Brook, Roselle Park and Belvidere, on the area level. And of course, the Group 1 title will annually run through Paulsboro, while Kittatinny, which was in a rugged North 1, Group 2 section, along with High Point and Newton the previous two seasons, returns to North 1, Group 1.
Fitz said Delaware Valley, Bound Brook and Roselle Park are the most southern schools in North 2, Group 1, where the Terriers figure to stay for the foreseeable future.
"We're only going to be deeper [by enrollment] into Group 1 next year," he said.
South Plainfield, the reigning Group 3 champion, moves to Group 2 this season and will compete against Raritan and Point Pleasant Boro, last season's sectional champion in South Jersey, in the Central Jersey section. The loss of South Plainfield, which will compete at Newton's Henry Boresch Duals in January, along with Paulsboro, should make Group 3 wide open this season, while making Group 2 even more competitive. High Point scored a thrilling 30-25 comeback win over Raritan in last season's Group 2 final.
The only other big change, at least from a Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex perspective, is that Hunterdon Central and Howell are no longer both in Central Jersey, Group 5. The Red Devils remain in that section, while the Rebels, who prevailed, 29-20, in the sectional title match last season, slide back to South Jersey, Group 5. The teams gave us one of the most memorable matchups in Toms River two seasons ago with Howell scoring a 28-27 in an epic Group 5 final.
Everything else as far as HWS is concerned remains unchanged from 2017-18.
Here's the draft for all sections across the state in 2018-19:
GROUP 5
North 1
Bloomfield
Clifton
East Orange
Eastside
Hackensack
John F. Kennedy (Paterson)
Livingston
Montclair
Morristown
North Bergen
Passaic
Passaic Tech
Union City
West Orange
North 2
Bayonne
Bridgewater-Raritan
Columbia
East Side (Newark)
Elizabeth
J.P. Stevens
Perth Amboy
Piscataway
Plainfield
Ridge
Summit/Chatham
Union
Watchung Hills
Westfield
Central Jersey
East Brunswick
Edison
Franklin
Freehold Township
Hillsborough
Hunterdon Central
Manalapan
Marlboro
Monroe Township
New Brunswick
North Brunswick
Old Bridge
Sayreville
South Brunswick
South Jersey
Atlantic City
Cherokee
Cherry Hill East
Eastern
Egg Harbor Township
Howell
Lenape
Rancocas Valley
Southern
Toms River North
Trenton Central
Vineland
Washington Township
Williamstown
GROUP 4
North 1
Belleville
Cliffside Park
Fair Lawn
Kearny
Morris Hills
Morris Knolls
Mount Olive
Northern Highlands
Orange
Randolph
Ridgewood
Roxbury
Wayne Hills
Wayne Valley
North 2
Barringer
Colonia
Cranford
Irvington
JFK-Iselin
Linden
Middletown North
Middletown South
Millburn
Montgomery
North Hunterdon
Phillipsburg
Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Woodbridge
Central Jersey
Brick Memorial
Brick Township
Burlington County Tech
Colts Neck
Freehold Boro
Hamilton West
Hightstown
Jackson Memorial
Long Branch
Neptune
Northern Burlington
Princeton
West Windsor North
West Windsor South
South Jersey
Central Regional
Cherry Hill West
Clearview
Hammonton
Highland
Kingsway
Mainland
Millville
Moorestown
Pennsauken
Shawnee
Toms River East
Toms River South
Winslow Township
GROUP 3
North 1
Bergenfield
Dwight Morrow
Indian Hills
Montville
Demarest
Old Tappan
Paramus
Pascack Valley
Ramapo
River Dell
Sparta
Teaneck
Tenafly
West Milford
North 2
Bogota/Ridgefield Park
Brearley/Jonathan Dayton
Dover
Garfield
Leonia/Palisades Park
Lyndhurst/North Arlington
Mendham
Nutley
Parsippany Hills
Passaic Valley
Voorhees
Warren Hills
West Essex
West Morris
Central Jersey
Allentown
Bordentown/Florence
Carteret
Ewing
Steinert
Nottingham
Hopewell Valley
Lawrence
Matawan
Ocean Township
Rahway
Red Bank Regional
Somerville
Wall Township
South Jersey
Absegami
Burlington Township
Cumberland Regional
Delsea
Deptford
Gateway/Woodbury
Jackson Liberty
Lacey Township
Lakewood
Ocean City
Pinelands
Seneca
Timber Creek
Triton Regional
GROUP 2
North 1
Dumont
Glen Rock
High Point
Jefferson
Lakeland
Mahwah
Manchester Regional
Newton
Pascack Hills
Pequannock
Ramsey
Vernon
Waldwick/Midland Park
Westwood
North 1
Bernards
Caldwell
Elmwood Park
Fort Lee
Governor Livingston
Hackettstown
Hanover Park
Lenape Valley
Lodi
Madison
Newark Collegiate
Parsippany
Rutherford
Verona
Central Jersey
Johnson
Cinnaminson
Delran
Holmdel
Manasquan
Metuchen
Middlesex/Dunellen
Monmouth Regional
North Plainfield
Point Pleasant Boro
Raritan
Robbinsville
Rumson-Fair Haven
South Plainfield
South Jersey
Barnegat
Camden
Cedar Creek
Clayton/Glassboro
Collingswood
Haddon Heights
Haddonfield
Lower Cape May
Manchester Township
Middle Township
Oakcrest
Pemberton Township
Sterling
West Deptford
GROUP 1
North 1
Boonton
Butler
Cresskill
Emerson-Park Ridge
Hasbrouck Heights
Hawthorne
Hopatcong
Kinnelon
Kittatinny
Mountain Lakes
New Milford
North Warren
Pompton Lakes
Saddle Brook
Wallkill Valley
North 2
Becton
Belvidere
Bound Brook
Cedar Grove
Delaware Valley
Glen Ridge
New Providence
Roselle Park
Secaucus
Shabazz
Weehawken
Weequahic
Whippany Park
Wood-Ridge
Central Jersey
Asbury Park
Burlington City
Highland Park
Keansburg
Keyport/Henry Hudson
Manville
New Egypt
Palmyra
Point Pleasant Beach
Riverside
Shore Regional
South River
Spotswood
Willingboro
South Jersey
Audubon
Buena
Gloucester City
Haddon Township
Lindenwold
Maple Shade
Overbrook
Paulsboro
Penns Grove
Pennsville
Pitman
Salem
Schalick
Woodstown
NON-PUBLIC
North A
Bergen Catholic
Delbarton
Don Bosco Prep
Paramus Catholic
St. Joseph-Montvale
St. Peter's Prep
Seton Hall Prep
North B
Bishop Ahr
Cristo Rey Newark
DePaul
Morris Catholic
Newark Academy
Pingry
Pope John
South A
Christian Brothers Academy
Notre Dame
Paul VI-Haddonfield
Red Bank Catholic
St. Augustine Prep
St. John Vianney
St. Joseph-Metuchen
South B
Camden Catholic
Donovan Catholic
Holy Cross
Holy Spirit
Rutgers Prep
St. Joseph-Hammonton
St. Rose
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