New Jersey High School Football: Top 25 teams – Sept. 23

Bergen Catholic, the preseason No. 1, still holds down the top spot in New Jersey High School football, according to the On3 Massey Ratings.

But there’s a new team at their heels looking to take over the mantle, along with a number of big risers and fallers after this weekend’s games.

Ahead of Week 5, here’s a look at the updated top 25 teams in New Jersey:

The On3 Massey Ratings, officially used during the BCS era, is a model that ranks sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule and margin of victory. According to the model — four teams from Alabama rank inside the nationwide top 100.

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1. Bergen Catholic

Previous Rank: 1
The Crusaders easily dispatched New York’s No. 1 team, Iona Prep, last weekend to move to 2-1 after facing Florida’s IMG Academy and Ohio power Washington in the first two weeks. Bergen followed that up by making swift work of Pope John XXIII in a 63-7 rout. One of the bigger games in the state all season will come on Saturday when they face off against Don Bosco Prep in a top-5 showdown.

2. Hun School

Previous Rank: 5 (+3)
The Raiders field a roster that features numerous Division I commitments, and they’ve made a huge move up the rankings early in the season. They opened the season with a massive upset win over Illinois powerhouse Mount Carmel, then followed it by beating Wyoming Seminary Upper School and Connecticut’s No. 2 team Avon Old Farms 35-7. Arguably their biggest challenge came over the weekend against a top-25 Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School (Ga.) program, which they survived 37-31.

3. St. Joseph Regional

Previous Rank: 2 (-1)
The Green Knights faced off against Paramus Catholic in a top-10 showdown over the weekend and mauled the visitors 44-19. With wins over Archbishop Stepinac and Seton Hall Prep already on the resume, they’re putting together one of the season’s most impressive early performances.

4. DePaul Catholic

Previous Rank: 3 (-1)
Another team that has faced a daunting early schedule, DePaul came into this weekend’s showdown against Seton Hall Prep 3-0. After a sound 34-12 shellacking of the visitors, they remain undefeated ahead of another big game at Paramus Catholic.

5. Don Bosco Prep

Previous Rank: 4 (-1)
Don Bosco faces one of the nation’s most challenging schedules, which already included Akron (Ohio) Archbishop Hoban and Red Bank Catholic, a pair of games they split. After beating New York St. Anthony’s in a rout last weekend, they had the weekend off before a huge tilt with No. 1 Bergen Catholic.

6. Millville

Previous Rank: 6
The Thunderbolts have been utterly unstoppable early in the season, outscoring their first three opponents 124-13. This past weekend was much of the same, as they downed then-No. 12 Washington Township 36-7. A top-10 showdown against Winslow Township is up next.

7. Delbarton School

Previous Rank: 9 (+2)
Delbarton opened 2024 in dominant fashion by beating Iona Prep, New York’s No. 1 team, 34-7 at home. They welcomed one of Pennsylvania’s top programs, Malvern Prep, the following weekend but came out on the wrong end of 27-17 final score. However, they rebounded quickly by beating top-25 Monsignor Farrell (N.Y.) 28-0. St. Peters Prep gave them some early troubles over the weekend before the Green Wave ultimately pulled away for a 44-21 victory.

8. Toms River North

Previous Rank: 8 
The Mariners are one of the season’s biggest early rankings movers after after shutting down Downington (Pa.) East 31-2 in the season opener then following that with a 55-0 bludgeoning of Toms River East, beating their crosstown rivals handily. In Week 3, they rolled Jackson Memorial 54-10 to extend the winning streak to three. After being idle in Week 4, they’ll travel to Point Pleasant Borough for another road challenge.

9. Winslow Township 

Previous Rank: 15 (+6) 
After three big wins over unranked opponents to start the year, Winslow got its first big challenge on Friday against St. Augustine Prep. Led by a suffocating defense, they downed 21-7 to set up a major top-10 showdown with Millville and it’s high-powered offense.

10. St. Augustine Prep

Previous Rank: 7 (-3) 
St. Augustine Prep avenged its lost to Donovan Catholic in Non-Public A quarterfinals a year ago by routing them 35-6 in Week 1. They were dominant again in Week 2, shutting out Paul VI 29-0. And it was more of the same in Week 3, beating top-25 opponent Cherokee 21-7. Winslow Township shut down their high-powered offense over the weekend though, holding the Hermits to just 7 points.

Teams 11-25 in latest New Jersey High School Football rankings

11. Mainland Regional (+6)
12. Seton Hall Prep (-1)
13. Paramus Catholic (-3)
14. Old Tappan (+7)
15. Washington Township (-3)

16. Holy Spirit (+6)
17. Rumson-Fair Haven (+2)
18. St. Peter’s Prep (-2)
19. Red Bank Catholic (+1)
20. Camden (-7)

21. Phillipsburg (-7)
22. Passaic County Technical Insititute (+2)
23. Cherokee (-5)
24. Ridge (previously unranked)
25. Northern Highlands (previously unranked)