Football: 5 takeaways from the 2024 NJIC schedule announcement

Football in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference will have a significantly different look in the 2024 season.

The small-school league made up largely of North Jersey schools released its regular-season schedules for the 2024 season on Tuesday night.

Years ago, the NJIC introduced an unprecedented scheduling system in which teams have openings on weeks 6, 7 and 8. The first six weeks of the season (Week 0 though Week 5) are saved for divisional games. In the subsequent weeks, teams are matched up with out-of-division opponents with similar records. Division winners play each other in the conference semifinals in Week 7 and the winners of those games meet in the NJIC title game in Week 8.

This year's NJIC title game will be the ninth in league history and it will be played on either Oct. 25 or 26. Rutherford has won the last three championships.

Here are the biggest things to know about the NJIC format and schedules for 2024.

New faces in new places

The NJIC kept the same four division names − Colonial, Meadowlands, Liberty and Patriot − but each division is almost completely different because of changing enrollment numbers, meaning new divisional opponents in the regular season.

The NJIC divides its four divisions into an East and West for purposes of the conference playoffs. The two East division champs play in one semifinal, the two West division champs play in the other.

Below is the new breakdown of divisions and what division the school was in previously in parentheses.

EAST

Colonial (7): Palisades Park/Leonia (Union), Garfield (Colonial), Lodi (Colonial), Elmwood Park (Union), Becton (Colonial), Lyndhurst (Liberty), Cresskill/Emerson (Liberty)

Meadowlands (6): Hawthorne (Meadowlands), Secaucus (Liberty), New Milford (Liberty), Saddle Brook (Meadowlands), Butler (Patriot), Hasbrouck Heights (Meadowlands)

WEST

Liberty (6): Manchester (Union), Glen Rock (Colonial), Rutherford (Colonial), Waldwick/Midland Park (Liberty), North Arlington (Meadowlands), Pompton Lakes (Meadowlands)

Patriot (6): Weehawken (Union), Wallington (Patriot), Wood-Ridge (Patriot), Bogota (Union), Park Ridge (Patriot), Saint Mary (Patriot)

No more Union Division

In the last few years, the NJIC had teams in a fifth division, called the Union Division, similar to the Super Football Conference’s Ivy Division. That was for teams who had struggled to build up participation. The NJIC did away with the Union Division for 2024, bringing five teams back into the main field while Harrison opted to drop its varsity football program.

In exchange for a more competitive schedule, teams in the Union Division forfeited any eligibility for the New Jersey state playoffs. Instead, teams competed for a Union Division championship.

Weehawken won the last two Union Division titles, beating Elmwood Park in the finals each time.

One of the biggest storylines for the NJIC in 2024 will be how the Union Division schools will do facing established varsity programs. Can any of them return to the state playoffs?

The streak is on

There are two teams in North Jersey entering 2024 on a 13-game winning streak.

I’ll bet you can come up with one: Westwood, which won the Group 2 title in December and finished the season 13-0.

It may take you more time to come up with the other. No, it’s not Bergen Catholic.

Weehawken is tied for the longest active win streak in North Jersey at 13 games. The Indians will be tested in their 2024 season opener, taking on Park Ridge, which made the NJIC finals last year and has been one of the dominant programs in the conference, appearing in three title games.

How about the champs?

Rutherford shifted out of the Colonial Division into the Liberty Division, which has six teams. The Bulldogs went 10-1 last year and will face a formidable regular season schedule, taking on Pompton Lakes and Waldwick/Midland Park.

Rutherford has only faced Pompton Lakes four times in school history. The Bulldogs are 3-1 against the Cardinals.

Both Pompton Lakes and Waldwick/Midland Park will have new coaches for 2024. The Cardinals hired longtime assistant coach Justin Jones, while Waldwick/Midland Park brought in Dan DiStasi from Don Bosco.

Rivalry games

The new breakdown of the five divisions means some traditional rivalry games are not scheduled for Week 0-Week 5. But remember, they could be added in as crossover games later in the season.

I personally will miss Hawthorne-Pompton Lakes, and Lyndhurst-New Milford to name two, but the NJIC still has several core rivalry games scheduled, including:

Week 0 - Lodi at Garfield

Week 1 - Glen Rock at Pompton Lakes

Week 3 - Hawthorne at New Milford; Wood-Ridge at Wallington

Week 4 - Butler at Hasbrouck Heights

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ football: 5 takeaways from 2024 NJIC schedule announcement