Realigned South Jersey football

This year, Shawnee finally has a chance to meet Mainland in the playoffs. It's a development that has come a year too late.

Last season, Shawnee was 12-0 in winning the South Jersey Group 3 title and earning The Inquirer's No. 1 ranked South Jersey rating. Mainland also went 12-0, won the South Jersey Group 4 title and finished No. 2.

Now, the schools could possibly meet this year because in the NJSIAA Group alignment, Shawnee has moved up from South Jersey Group 3 to S.J. Group 4.

The NJSIAA uses enrollment figures for grades 10-12. What's interesting is that in terms of enrollment, Shawnee is the second-smallest school in the S.J. Group 4, with a total of 1,165.

The smallest?

That would be Mainland at 1,162.

It's possible that they could meet in the playoffs since both have quality programs, but this game would have generated so much more interest a year ago.

There were several other moves involving teams from the seven-county South Jersey area.

Pennsauken, which competed in the Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs last year, has moved back to South Jersey Group 4.

It would surprise nobody if both Pennsauken and Shawnee were playoff teams in their new surroundings.

Cherry Hill West moves from S.J. Group 4 down to S.J. Group 3. Northern Burlington goes from South Jersey Group 3 to Central Jersey Group 3.

Besides Pennsauken, two teams to move from Central to South Jersey are Burlington Township and Delran. Burlington Township, which was a Central Jersey Group 2 playoff team last year, moves to South Jersey Group 3.

Delran, after suffering a 21-20 Central Jersey Group 2 playoff loss to Manasquan, now moves to South Jersey Group 2.

Pemberton moves from S.J. Group 2 to S.J. Group 3.

Woodstown is moving from S.J. Group 1 to S.J. Group 2.

Riverside goes from Central Jersey Group 1 to South Jersey Group 1. Bordentown is going from Central Jersey Group 1 to Central Jersey Group 2.

In another move, and one that isn't being celebrated at Bishop Eustace, the Crusaders go from Non-Public 2 to Non-Public 3. The difference in the two groups is sizable: Eustace might have been a contender in Non-Public 2, where Holy Cross is the two-time defending two-time state champion.

Conversely, Gloucester Catholic drops from Non-Public Group 3 to Non-Public Group 2. The Rams won't be complaining about this move.

The NJSIAA uses enrollment totals for grades 10 through 12 to determine its group alignments. Here are the enrollment figures for each school:

Group 4

School            Enrollment

Washington Twp.      2,084

Vineland             1,892

Cherokee             1,851

Egg Harbor Twp.      1,823

Cherry Hill East       1,636

Toms River North       1,630

Eastern                1,578

Absegami             1,552

Millville                1,536

Atlantic City          1,479

Lenape                1,434

Southern Regional   1,428

Williamstown          1,353

Toms River East       1,266

Oakcrest             1,256

Toms River South      1,176

Pennsauken          1,168

Shawnee             1,165

Mainland             1,162

Group 3

Triton                1,156

Cherry Hill West       1,135

Clearview             1,131

Winslow Twp.          1,124

Kingsway            1,107

Lacey                1,086

Moorestown          1,073

Seneca                1,051

Timber Creek          1,050

Ocean City             1,020

Central Regional       966

Cumberland          948

Hammonton          925

Pemberton             884

Burlington Twp.       870

Highland             853

Pinelands             850

Deptford             841

Manchester Twp.      833

Group 2

Lower Cape May      802

Delsea               796

Point Pleasant Boro   779

Sterling                746

Middle Township       742

Barnegat             738

West Deptford          736

Camden             717

Bridgeton             692

Pleasantville          678

Delran                650

Cinnaminson          655

Buena                627

Woodrow Wilson       626

Collingswood          624

Overbrook             622

Willingboro             600

Haddonfield          592

Woodstown          571

Group 1

Haddon Heights       553

Haddon Twp.          505

Audubon             497

Glassboro             485

Gateway             467

Gloucester             467

Penns Grove          457

Pennsville             422

Schalick                410

Maple Shade          408

Lindenwold          401

Salem               382

Riverside             337

Pitman                335

Paulsboro             324

Woodbury             320

Palmyra                264

Clayton                248

Wildwood             187

Non-Public Group 4

Seton Hall Prep       1,380*

St. Peter's             1,314*

Don Bosco Prep       1,288*

Paramus Catholic    1,191

Bergen Catholic       1,150*

Notre Dame          966

St. Augustine          958*

Paul VI                877

Red Bank Catholic   784

St. John Vianney       760

Non-Public Group 3

Monsignor Donovan    724

Delbarton             710*

St. Joseph Montvale    702*

Pope John XXIII       689

Bishop Ahr             675

DePaul                674

Camden Catholic       646

Immaculata          624

Holy Spirit             621

Bishop Eustace      569

Non-Public Group 2

Holy Cross             557

Gloucester Catholic   549

St. Joe Hammonton   481

Hudson Catholic       438*

Queen of Peace       409

Pingry                397

Morris Catholic       367

Marist                354

Dwight-Englewood   331

Montclair Kimberly    314

Non-Public Group 1

Cardinal McCarrick   309

Newark Academy      296

Morristown-Beard    293

Paterson Catholic      288

Mater Dei             269

St. Mary's Rutherf'd   238

St. Anthony            190

Immaculate Con.       167

Trenton Catholic       161

South Jersey teams in Central Jersey groups:

Group 4: Rancocas Valley, 1,629. Group 3: Northern Burlington, 884. Group 2: Bordentown, 597. Group 1: Burlington City, 434; New Egypt, 412; Florence, 332.

*All-boys' school, so enrollment size doubled.

- Marc NarducciEndText