The Super Football Conference revealed its preliminary divisional alignment for the 2024 New Jersey football season on Monday.
Schools still have until Wednesday to appeal their divisional placement. After the appeals process is complete, the alignment will be locked in by the first week of December. There are always appeals, and the SFC tries to help where it can, but that can sometimes create a domino effect. Moving one school from one division to another impacts other teams too.
The full SFC schedule will be revealed in early February during a show from American Dream.
Here are the big takeaways from the proposed alignment, followed by the complete list.
Paramus Catholic moves up
Paramus Catholic, which hasn’t beaten a fellow Big Six non-public team since 2017, is back in the upper division of the Super Football Conference.
The Paladins were placed in the United Red Division with traditional rivals Don Bosco, Bergen Catholic and St. Joseph.
The division only has four teams. Seton Hall Prep, which reached the Non-Public A semifinals, and St. Peter’s Prep, which finished 1-8 (the one win came against Paramus Catholic) are now in the United White Division, which is usually for the smaller North Jersey non-public powers.
Hudson Catholic goes independent
Hudson Catholic is going through a transition period, looking for a new coach after cancelling its season midway through the fall.
The Hawks have been listed as an independent program for 2024, and the SFC will design a schedule to fit what they need at a later date.
New faces, new places
Montclair has been placed in the Freedom Red Division alongside Essex County neighbors Bloomfield, East Orange and West Orange.
Wayne Valley has been placed in the Liberty Red Division, along with Bergen County powers Ridgewood, Northern Highlands and Ramapo.
Wayne Hills is now in the Patriot White Division, where it will have divisional games against West Essex and Caldwell, the 2022 Group 2 state champs.
Teaneck, Dwight Morrow move up
After successful runs in the Ivy Division in 2023, Teaneck has been placed in the Patriot Blue Division, basically swapping places with Demarest.
Dwight-Morrow has been put in the American Red, where it will have to deal with Ramsey, Mahwah and state power Westwood.
Building schedules
SFC administrators will meet with officials from other New Jersey football leagues to find crossover games to help fill in the schedule, especially in the early weeks of the season. Teams can drop games based on mutual consent.
The SFC also works with New York’s non-public leagues to find games for the North Jersey non-public schools, and is trying to foster relationships in Pennsylvania to do the same.
Changing Ivy divisions
The Ivy Divisions were created to help teams grow their programs and restore community pride with the chance to play like programs. Teams get to start their season later, and forfeit a shot at the playoffs to play for an overall Ivy League title.
Schools have to apply to the SFC to join the Ivy Division, but not every school that applies gets in.
The proposed Ivy Red would be made up entirely of Bergen County schools, with Demarest, which went 1-8 last year, and Ridgefield Park, which went 2-7 but was a couple of touchdowns away from being 5-4, joining for the first time.
SFC President John Fraraccio believes that the Ivy Divisions are increasingly more applicable for Group 4 and Group 5 programs that need to stabilize and would have trouble playing schools of like size. That’s proven by the fact that North Bergen and Belleville have been added to the Ivy White.
Proposed divisional alignments
UNITED RED DIVISION
Bergen Catholic
Don Bosco
Paramus Catholic
St. Joseph
UNITED WHITE DIVISION
Delbarton
DePaul
Pope John
Seton Hall Prep
St. Peter’s Prep
FREEDOM RED DIVISION
Barringer
Bloomfield
East Orange
Livingston
Montclair
West Orange
FREEDOM WHITE DIVISION
Bayonne
Columbia
East Side (Newark)
Irvington
Orange
Union City
FREEDOM BLUE DIVISION
Clifton
Eastside (Paterson)
Kennedy
Passaic
Passaic Tech
LIBERTY RED DIVISION
Hackensack
Northern Highlands
Ramapo
Ridgewood
Wayne Valley
LIBERTY WHITE DIVISION
Morris Knolls
Morristown
Mount Olive
Randolph
Roxbury
West Morris
LIBERTY BLUE DIVISION
Chatham
Mendham
Montville
Morris Hills
Parsippany Hills
Warren Hills
PATRIOT RED DIVISION
Dover
Lakeland
Jefferson
Sparta
West Milford
Vernon
PATRIOT WHITE DIVISION
Caldwell
Millburn
Nutley
Passaic Valley
Wayne Hills
West Essex
PATRIOT BLUE DIVISION
Bergenfield
Old Tappan
Paramus
Pascack Valley
River Dell
Teaneck
AMERICAN RED DIVISION
Dumont
Dwight Morrow
Mahwah
Pascack Hills
Ramsey
Westwood
AMERICAN WHITE DIVISION
Hanover Park
Madison
Morris Catholic
Mountain Lakes
Parsippany
Pequannock
AMERICAN BLUE DIVISION
Hackettstown
High Point
Kittatinny
Lenape Valley
Newton
Sussex Tech
NATIONAL RED DIVISION
Cedar Grove
Glen Ridge
Hoboken
Newark Collegiate
Newark Central
Verona
NATIONAL WHITE DIVISION
Immaculata
Lincoln
Shabazz
Snyder
Weequahic
West Side
NATIONAL BLUE DIVISION
Boonton
Hopatcong
Kinnelon
North Warren
Wallkill Valley
Whippany Park
INDEPENDENT
Hudson Catholic
IVY RED DIVISION
Bergen Tech
Demarest
Fair Lawn
Fort Lee
Indian Hills
Ridgefield Park
Tenafly
IVY WHITE DIVISION
Belleville
Cliffside Park/Ridgefield
Dickinson
Ferris
Kearny
Memorial
North Bergen
