The Mater Dei Prep football team held onto the No. 1 spot in the Central Jersey Top 10 for the last three weeks of September. But now in the first week of October, the Seraphs have been knocked off the top of the hill.
On Oct. 5 at home in Middletown, Mater Dei lost to Wall High School, 14-7, dropping to 4-1.
Meanwhile, the other most dominant team in Central Jersey, Notre Dame High School, stayed undefeated with a 42-7 victory over Steinert High School on Oct. 4 at home in Lawrenceville. The 5-0 Irish have outscored their opponents 236-38.
That’s not just good.
It’s Central Jersey No. 1 good.
(Ranking. Team, Record.)
1. Notre Dame, 5-0: The Irish are four victories away from an undefeated regular season.
2. North Brunswick, 4-1: North Brunswick senior running back Myles Bailey has been ridiculous the past two weeks, with 28 carries for 342 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
3. Mater Dei Prep, 4-1: The Seraphs will try to rebound from their first loss next week, but it won’t be easy. They are traveling to Rumson-Fair Haven High School to play a 3-2 team coming off a big victory over Manalapan High School.
4. Rumson-Fair Haven, 3-2: The talented, well-rounded Bulldogs will go for their first winning streak of the season on Oct. 11 against Mater Dei.
5. Saint Joseph Regional, 4-1: The Falcons increased their winning streak to four games this week, beating powerful Piscataway High School, 15-14, in Metuchen.
6. Old Bridge, 4-0: The undefeated Knights are real. They beat a fast South Brunswick High School team, 36-22, this week, ending the Vikings’ three-game winning streak and clinching at least a share of the Greater Middlesex Conference’s Red Division title.
7. Red Bank Catholic, 3-2: The Caseys have rebounded from a 1-2 start to win two straight games, holding both opponents, Long Branch High School and Toms River High School North, to single digit points.
8. Montgomery, 4-1: Montgomery is on a three-game winning streak, beating all three opponents by double digits.
9. Hopewell Valley, 4-0: The Bulldogs stayed unbeaten with a gutty 14-12 victory at Nottingham High School on Oct. 5, scoring a late touchdown to win it.
10. Holmdel, 3-1: Holmdel has won two straight games to improve to 3-1, holding its last two opponents, Red Bank Regional High School and Lacey Township High School, to seven combined points.
