Double power points awarded to North Jersey teams leave some teams incapable of achieving top seeds.
St. Augustine Prep football coach Mark Reardon’s goal is to compete against – and defeat – the power Non-Public Group 4 teams up North.
He knows as well as any how talented they are, having been sent home from the playoffs the last four years by one of those teams.
Reardon has wholeheartedly supported a rule change this year that gave automatic entry to the playoffs for the nine teams in the Super Football Conference Red and White Divisions. Last year, a 3-5 Paramus Catholic team didn’t qualify for the eight-team Non-public Group 4 field.
But the change to the power-point system – one that caught many in South Jersey off-guard – this year where teams were awarded 2x or 1.5x power points for playing a team from one of the two divisions isn’t one Reardon supports. The problem with the system, according to Reardon and many in South Jersey, is that teams are receiving points for winning even when they lose and receiving double power points for playing each other.
POWER POINTS: Through Week 3
While the proposal was voted on and approved after last season as a way to encourage non-power teams to play one of the top teams – and not force them to go out of state for games – members of South Jersey’s West Jersey Football League balked in September when finding out some of the rules they said had been slipped into the proposal without their knowledge.
Currently, DePaul has 90 power points to lead the entire state, which is 53 more than Camden Catholic, the second-highest point-getter in Non-Public Group 3. But the Spartans – who won the state Group 3 title as a seventh seed and finished just 6-6 last year – are 0-3 with losses to Paramus Catholic, Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco.
Paramus Catholic received 13.5 points for beating DePaul, while DePaul has received 32 points for losing the game.
St. Augustine, which is 4-0, is sitting in fourth place in Non-Public Group 4 with 60 power points – four behind 0-3 Seton Hall Prep, which is not considered one of the state’s powerhouse teams but does play some of them. And after all the power points are handed out in the next few weeks, the Hermits could run the table and still finish no better than the seventh seed.
Using last year’s formula, DePaul would have five points currently and Seton Hall Prep would have four.
“My thing with it is if a public school wants to play them and get double points win or lose, that’s fine,” said Reardon. “If Montclair agrees to play St. Joe’s, then that’s fine. But to give it to teams within the conference when they’re already playing each other …. When Seton Hall Prep is 0-3 and has more power points than us, when DePaul is 0-3 and has 90 and we have 60, how does that make sense? I had no idea they were getting double power points for playing each other.
“I do agree, their schedule is daunting. When Bosco has three out-of-state games, then plays St. Peter’s, St. Joe’s (Montvale) and (Paramus Catholic) back-to-back I have no problem with you getting them in. But giving a team double power points for losing. … I don’t know the specifics of how this got in there, I don’t want to question anybody’s integrity, but I’m starting at a 7 or 8 seed and I don’t love it. At this point, there’s no reason to look at the power points any more. There’s no variables to the system. It’s done.”
Last year, St. Augustine was the No. 1 seed in Non-Public Group 4 but lost in the first round to St. Joseph (Mont.). Reardon agreed the Hermits probably shouldn’t have been No. 1. But he sees no reason they shouldn’t be in the mix for a home game with a perfect record over a team which is sub-.500.
There was plenty of discussion at the League and Conferences meeting about revisiting the proposal once everyone knew what they were voting on, but NJSIAA assistant director Jack DuBois said this week there won’t be any changes this season.
The West Jersey Football League will likely continue to seek a complete North-South split of the playoff system for non-public schools this winter, a proposal that was first presented but shot down after the rule awarding automatic qualification was put in place last year. Under that format, a 6-2 Paul VI team would have been left out of the postseason last year in place of 3-5 Paramus Catholic.
“We can’t change it mid-stream, so we’ll see how it plays out and take a look at it at the end of the season,” said DuBois. “But if the WJFL legislative proposal passes, it’s probably a moot point.
Reardon said the system has put his Hermits in an unfair situation with no ability to secure a coveted home game. He dismisses the argument he has heard that St. Augustine should go play one of the powerhouse teams and get in on the double-power-point bonanza.
“I don’t need to go play them, I need to get in that division,” said Reardon. “One game isn’t going to do me any good. I need to be in that division and get double power points four or five times. But I’m not driving 2 ½ hours every week for a conference game.
“Everybody should be playing by the same rules and we’re not. This system had no regard for St. Augustine or anybody in South Jersey. I don’t care if I’m 1, 2, 3 or 4. If I’m one of those seeds, I’m at home (the first round). To go on the road three straight weeks and beat one of those teams Is rough. It was great last year for the community, for the kids, for people to come see them play win or lose in the playoffs.”
St. Augustine is the team most affected by the changes but they trickle down through the other non-public groups – and to some of the North Jersey publics for the few teams that agreed to take on a game against a White or Red Division team.
St. Joseph (Hamm.) has won seven straight small-school non-public titles but will likely finish behind Hudson Catholic – the team it beat for the non-public Group 2 title last year – because the Hawks play White Division teams DePaul and Pope John.
Wildcats coach Paul Sacco said he didn’t know Hudson Catholic was going to be affected by the rule, believing it just impacted the bigger schools. He added, though at this point, it’s not really his concern.
“I’m just trying to play for a home game,” admitted Sacco. “When you’re talking about Immaculata, Hudson Catholic, (Montclair Kimberley) … Normally at this point I’m following those teams up North, but this year I’m not. I have a tough game against Pennsville this week, then I have Oackrest, Cedar Creek, St. Augustine. We need to win some football games.”
Asked if the system seems fair to him, Sacco said he always believed the problems were all in North Jersey.
“From the word go, I thought it was their problem, let them take care of it,” said Sacco. “But you look at it and you have St. Augustine, who is probably going to be undefeated, and they’re going to end up in a bad way with a lower seed.”
And that is exactly what has Reardon so upset on the rare occasions he glances at the power points, which shows the inevitability of his team’s fate.
“This is about the kids. It’s not about the adults, it’s about the kids,” said Reardon. “And my kids lift weights, practice hard and work their butts off and all they want is to be able to reap some of the rewards but the system is set up against them.”
Bill Evans can be reached at bevans@njadvancemedia.com or by leaving a note in the comments below. Follow him on Twitter @BEvansSports. Find the NJ.com High School Football page on Facebook by following this link.