The Jersey Blitz - NJ.com's high school football podcast

This week’s episode features a Jersey Blitz first - a guest appearance. Dan Sabella, head coach of N.J.’s new No. 1 team, Don Bosco, talks with reporter Ryan Patti about his team’s huge win over then-No. 1 Bergen Catholic and about Bosco’s upcoming game against No. 3 DePaul. Mike Kinney talks about big games in the Big Central in Week 5 and upcoming in Week 6. Kevin Minnick talks South Jersey and Donovan Hugel and Ryan Patti talk more about some other key SFC matchups. 0:00 - North roundup with focus on two huge games – Bergen-Bosco and SJR vs SPP 16:28 - Big Central roundup, with focus on STA-Elizabeth, upcoming Sayreville-Piscataway and upcoming W.Orange at P’burg 25:57 - South Jersey roundup with focus on Burling Twp’s big win and upcoming test, brief mention of Winslow, upcoming West Deptford vs Haddonfield 32:34 - Dan Sabella interview 42:17 – Top 20 talk – Paramus Catholic’s exit, Rancocas Valley will miss its QB, Camden back in the mix, St. Aug finds a way, P’burg keeps climbing, St. Joseph (Met.) handles its business. 53:54 - Previewing Week 5’s top games – No. 1 Bosco at No. 3 Depaul, No. 8 NVOT at No. 12 Northern Highlands, The Battle of Wayne (Patti) Haddonfield at West Deptford (MINNICK) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's episode of The Jersey Blitz, NJ Advance Media's football reporters react to the big game: Bergen Catholic's win over Winslow. Plus, is the Big Central weak this year? We're talking that, along with the rest of the news and notes from around the state in Week 2 0:00: Intro and fallout from BC dominating Winslow14:53: Chaos down the shore20:26: Is the Big Central a weak conference? 34:29: Players not yet mentioned this year who deserve a call-out43:31: Top 20 roundtable 51:45: Previewing Week 3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a thrilling Week 0, The Jersey Blitz is back to recap the opening weekend of the New Jersey high school football season. Host Dan Long, along with reporters Ryan Patti, Bill Evans and Donovan Hugel recap the Week 0 slate, where some of N.J.'s top teams faced tremendous tests. The crew also debates the new Top 20, where there were plenty of moving pieces. 0:00: Intro & Bergen Catholic's crazy win 6:01: Don Bosco goes to Texas ... and wins 10:51: What to make of Winslow's matchup against national powerhouse 17:32: A chaotic opening weekend in the Shore Conference 26:23: St. Peter's Prep beats PC and more non-public talk 31:48: Top 20 analysis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our final episode for the 2024 season, our six football reporters — along with host Dan Long — analyze and review the seven state championship games before talking final thoughts and takeaways from the 2024 season. State championship recap: Non-Public A: Bergen Catholic 25, Don Bosco Prep 7 Non-Public B: DePaul 33, Pope John 21 Group 5: Toms River North 41, Union City 14 Group 4: Winslow 35, Phillipsburg 0 Group 3: Old Tappan 28, Mainland 16 Group 2: Rumson-Fair Haven 26, Shabazz 24 Group 1: Glassboro 56, Cedar Grove 14 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the final two weekends of the high school football season approach, our NJ.com football reporters are here to preview all of the action slated for this weekend. But before a look ahead to the 14 state semifinals on the schedule, our crew analyzes two games that could go down as Game of the Year: Union City's wild come-from-behind win over Passaic Tech and Phillipsburg's miraculous win on the leg of a 46-yard field goal as time expired. Led by host Dan Long, our staff previews the state semifinals in this order: NON-PUBLIC A Bergen Catholic vs. St. Joseph (Mont.) Don Bosco Prep vs. St. Augustine NON-PUBLIC B DePaul vs. Holy Spirit Pope John vs. St. John Vianney GROUP 5 Union City vs. East Orange Toms River North vs. Washington Township GROUP 4 Phillipsburg vs. Ramapo Millville vs. Winslow GROUP 3 Old Tappan vs. Pascack Valley Somerville vs. Mainland GROUP 2 Shabazz vs. Hanover Park Point Pleasant Boro vs. Rumson-Fair Haven GROUP 1 Cedar Grove vs. Butler Glassboro vs. Woodstown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Long is joined by Mike Kinney, Luis Torres and Ryan Patti to break down all 10 of the North Jersey sectional finals slated for this weekend. We're breaking down: North 1, Group 5: East Orange vs. West Orange North 2, Group 5: Union City vs. Passaic Tech North 1, Group 4: Morris Knolls vs. Ramapo North 2, Group 4: Phillipsburg vs. Northern Highlands North 1, Group 3: Pascack Valley vs. River Dell North 2, Group 3: Old Tappan vs. West Essex North 1, Group 2: Bernards vs. Shabazz North 2, Group 2: Glen Rock vs. Hanover Park North 1, Group 1: Butler vs. Mountain Lakes North 2, Group 1: Cedar Grove vs. New Providence The podcast wraps up with our three reporters' biggest games and storylines to watch in this weekend's Non-Public playoffs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luis Torres, Ryan Patti and Mike Kinney — along with host Dan Long — analyze all 10 state playoff brackets in North Jersey. From heavy favorites that have legitimate state championship aspirations to brackets filled with multiple title contenders, our crew breaks down all the intriguing storylines and things to know before the playoffs begin. Teams mentioned in this episode (listed alphabetically): Bayonne, Bernards, Bridgewater-Raritan, Butler, Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Chatham, Cranford, East Orange, Elizabeth, Glen Rock, Hanover Park, Hasbrouck Heights, High Point, Lakeland, Lyndhurst, Madison, Mendham, Montclair, Montville, Morris Knolls, Mount Olive, Mountain Lakes, New Providence, Northern Highlands, Old Tappan, Pascack Valley, Passaic, Passaic Tech, Passaic Valley, Pequannock, Phillipsburg, Piscataway,, Plainfield, Rahway, Ramapo, Ramsey, Ridge, Ridgewood, Shabazz, Snyder, Sparta, Summit, Union City, Watchung Hills, Wayne Valley, West Essex, West Morris, West Orange, Westfield, Westwood, Woodbridge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The playoffs are nearly here and NJ.com's high school football reporters are here to break down all the action — and what's to come. In this week's episode of The Jersey Blitz, we dive into all of the playoff projections, from the games that matter the most on cutoff weekend to the sections that will be the best come November. We also recap last weekend's chaos with a couple of ranked teams going down and look ahead to this weekend's championship game in the NJIC and a couple of marquee showdowns involving non-public teams. Teams mentioned in this episode (listed alphabetically): Atlantic City, Becton, Bergen Catholic, Bishop Eustace, Bridgeton, Butler, Caldwell, Camden, Cedar Grove, Chatham, Cherokee, Cherry Hill East, Colonia, Cranford, Delbarton, Delsea, DePaul, Freehold Township, Glen Rock, Hanover Park, High Point, J.P. Stevens, Kingsway, Kipp Cooper Norcross Academy, Lenape Valley, Linden, Livingston, Lyndhurst, Madison, Matawan, Mendham, Middletown North, Millville, Montclair, Montville, Morris Knolls, Mount Olive, Newton, Northern Highlands, Old Tappan, Paramus Catholic, Pascack Valley, Passaic Valley, Pequannock, Phillipsburg, Pinelands, Plainfield, Point Pleasant Boro, Rahway, Ramapo, Rancocas Valley, Randolph, Red Bank Catholic, Red Bank Regional, Ridge, Rumson-Fair Haven, Rutherford, Schalick, Shabazz, Snyder, Sparta, St. Augustine, St. Joseph (Mont.), Summit, Toms River North, Waldwick, Wall, Wallkill Valley, Washington Township, Wayne Hills, Wayne Valley, Weequahic, West Essex, West Morris, West Orange, Westfield, Winslow, Woodbridge, Woodbury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices