The schedule for the 2016 high school football season was released by the West Jersey Football League (WJFL) last week and it is an interesting one to say the least.
First, a little backstory.
WJFL Approves Merger
There had been talk for at least two years of the WJFL expanding its membership from 66 teams to as many as 95.
Those discussions finally came true when the league’s athletic directors voted to accept teams from the Cape-Atlantic League, which is now defunct, and the Colonial Conference.
“You have some strong competition,” head coach Mario Patrizi said. “It’s a big league and I think they did a nice job with the parity too when you look at the schedule. It looks like every schedule looks comparable to school size and competition size. I think they did a pretty good job with it.”
With the approval of the merger, the league now features 95 teams spread across 16 divisions. Fifteen of those divisions will be home to six teams and one division will be home to five teams.
With the merger, the WJFL went from a strong football conference to one that could become a dominant super conference in the state of New Jersey.
“I’m excited about it because you’re playing different teams,” Patrizi said. “It’s not just the same old schedule.”
Divisional Alignment Changes
Once the merger was approved, the league had to determine which teams would switch divisions to make all 95 teams feel right at home.
Cinnaminson will not switch divisions this year, staying in the Liberty with all of its members in-tact except for Pemberton. The Hornets have moved to the Patriot.
Returning to the Liberty once again will be Willingboro.
The Pirates will also have divisional games against Robbinsville, Holy Cross, Bordentown and Delran.
The Pirates claimed a share of the Liberty title in 2015 by going 4-1 along with Pemberton and Holy Cross.
Willingboro has been in the Pirates division in recent years, and on the schedule when not in the division, so there is nothing new there.
Welcome to the Schedule
So, who are the new opponents for the Pirates in 2016? There are four of them: Sterling, West Deptford, Glassboro and Collingswood.
“There’s a lot of power points to be had. Last year, we were 7-1 and were a five-seed and even if we went 8-0 at the cutoff we still would’ve been a five-seed,” Patrizi said. “This gives us an opportunity to get the power points plus gives us an opportunity to play different teams. We’re playing teams very similar to us with school size.”
Sterling, West Deptford and Collingswood will all be in the WJFL Colonial Division this year and Glassboro will be in the WJFL Diamond Division.
So, how did these four new teams to the Pirates schedule do in 2015? Let’s take a look.
Sterling finished with a record of 3-7 overall and 1-4 in the old Colonial-Liberty, losing to Delsea 49-7 in the first round of the South, Group 3 Tournament.
“Sterling is a nice Group 3 team coming from the Colonial Conference,” Patrizi said. “We played them in the playoffs 10 years ago.”
Collingswood finished 6-4 overall and 3-2 in the old Colonial-Liberty, losing to Cedar Creek 21-20 in the first round of the South, Group 2 Tournament.
West Deptford finished 11-1 overall and 5-0 in the old Colonial-Liberty. Their lone loss came in the South, Group 2 title game to Cedar Creek, 28-27.
“Going into West Deptford, you’re going to see as a program where you’re at,” Patrizi said. “It’s different. It’s like a playoff-type thing. It’ll be a good situation. It’s good competition.”
Glassboro went 5-6 in 2015 and 4-1 in the WJFL Diamond Division. The Bull Dogs claimed a share of the title with Woodstown and Penns Grove. Glassboro lost in the second round of the South, Group 1 Tournament 34-21 to Clayton after knocking out one-seed Salem in the first round as the eight-seed.
Cinnaminson lost in the first round of the South, Group 2 Tournament to Buena, 28-7. So, two teams added to the Pirates schedule for this year were in the SJ2 bracket last season, with one losing in the championship game.
“You look at our schedule; every week is a great game,” Patrizi said. “Every week is going to be a competitive game.”
A Nod to the Returning Teams
Now, let’s take a look at the teams returning to the Pirates schedule for at least another season.
The Pirates open the 2016 slate with Willingboro, whom they beat 23-16 in week two last year. The Chimeras finished the year 3-6 overall and 2-3 in the WJFL Patriot and did not make the playoffs.
Robbinsville finished 2015 with an overall mark of 3-7 and a 1-4 mark in the Liberty. They also missed the playoffs and lost on opening night 27-0 to Cinnaminson.
Holy Cross went 5-5 in 2015, including 4-1 in the Liberty, and lost to Immaculata 35-0 in the first round of the Non-Public Group 2 Tournament. The Lancers shocked the Pirates 34-33 on homecoming last in 2015.
Delran went 2-8 overall and 1-4 in the Liberty in 2015 to miss the playoffs. The Pirates throttled the Bears 41-16 on Thanksgiving Day. The Bears and Pirates will meet again in 2016 on Thanksgiving Day.
“In our division, outside of us and Delran, Bordentown still plays a Thanksgiving game,” Patrizi said. “We looked into switching our Thanksgiving game, and moving some things, but teams don’t want to do it.”
Bordentown went 3-7 and 1-4 in the Liberty in 2015, missing out on the playoffs and lost 38-0 to the Pirates in week three.
Goodbye to You
The teams no longer on the Pirates schedule are Pemberton, Hamilton West, Lawrence and Burlington City.
The Pirates picked up a huge statement win over Group 3 Pemberton late in the 2015 campaign, 45-34.
“Last year, Pemberton flip flopped with Willingboro and now Willingboro came back,” Patrizi said. “It pretty much stays the same. You look at our division and any given week anybody can beat you. As for Pemberton and Willingboro, they usually flip-flop every other year.”
Cinnaminson used a widespread offensive attack to dominate Burlington City 38-0.
Lawrence walked into a buzzsaw the week after the Pirates were stunned by Holy Cross, falling 57-28 in what turned out to be the highest scoring output in a single game under Patrizi.
Cinnaminson took down Group 3 Hamilton West 15-9 that gave the Pirates a 4-0 record early in the season.
One Final Note
If you thought the Pirates 2015 season was a fun one, just wait until kickoff against Willingboro week one in 2016.
“Our main focus is Willingboro,” Patrizi said. “They’re going to be good. They’re very athletic. You can’t look ahead, no matter who you’re playing, because things change quick.”
With the removal of some weaker teams, minus Pemberton and Hamilton West, and the addition of some perennial South Jersey powers; the 2016 season should be quite entertaining for Cinnaminson football fans.
“It’s like a playoff game each week,” Patrizi concluded.
