FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Bridgewater-Raritan and Westfield meet in N2V final for third straight year

WHAT: New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association North 2 Group V football final

WHO: No. 3 seed Bridgewater-Raritan (9-2) vs. No. 1 Westfield (11-0)

WHEN/WHERE: 8 p.m. Thursday/MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Bridgewater-Raritan blanked No. 6 Watchung Hills 41-0 in the first round, before toppling No. 3 Piscataway 27-6 in the semifinals. Westfield beat No. 8 Ridge 17-10 in the opening round and topped No. 4 Elizabeth 13-6 in the semis.

THE HISTORY: These teams are meeting in the North 2 Group V final for the third straight season, with Westfield having claimed both previous meetings, 15-13 last year and 10-7 in 2015. It’s also the fourth year in a row they’ve faced off in the playoffs after the Blue Devils 24-14 win in the first round in 2014. Overall, this is the eighth meeting between the programs since Bridgewater-Raritan merged into one school in 1991, with Westfield holding a 6-2 advantage, including having won six straight.

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BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN REPORT: The Panthers are in the final for the third straight season after never having previously gone to a championship game, and are looking for their first title in program history. B-R is in the playoffs for the fourth straight season and for the seventh time in the past nine campaigns, after making it just three times in the program’s first 18 years of existence.

Bridgewater-Raritan enters this game with a different feel than the past two years, as losses to Phillipsburg and North Hunterdon have denied the Panthers a third straight undefeated regular season, and they won’t have the added pressure of maintaining a perfect campaign like they did the past two finals. Those setbacks are also a good example of how battle-tested the Panthers are, especially compared to Westfield. BR has also had a tougher playoff road, especially in the semifinals, where it dominated the GMC’s top team in Piscataway.

If there was any uncertainty surrounding the Panthers coming into the season it was on the offensive side of the ball, where BR suffered its biggest graduation losses, including quarterback Nick Attanasio. And that question mark was further amplified early in the year when one of the Panthers lone returning offensive weapons – senior back David Usewick – went down with an ACL tear.

But Bridgewater-Raritan has hardly skipped a beat, actually producing a slightly higher points-per-game average this season, putting the Panthers sixth in the conference in scoring. Junior running back Anthony Goffe has done a phenomenal job replacing Usewick, tallying 1,386 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, while senior Justin Bryant has also done good work as Goffe’s No. 2. Quarterback Greg Verano has steadily improved, giving BR a solid presence under center, limiting mistakes, while making plays with his legs and his arm, especially in utilizing the Panthers lone returning offensive weapon in tight end Brandon Myers, who has caught 32 passes for 520 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The offensive line, which was an area coach Scott Bray felt was one of his biggest concerns in the preseason, has done a tremendous job, led by seniors Nick Celli and Josh Glussky, along with junior Robert Stasheck and sophomore Johnny Confalone.

As expected, the Bridgewater-Raritan defense has been a strength, as senior linebackers Bryant and Chike Nwankwo have led a unit that’s allowed just 12.6 points per game, fourth-best in the Mid-State 37 Conference. Seniors Celli, Lawrence Nice and Allen Choy have had a big impact on the defensive line, while Verano and Tyler Ball have led the way in the secondary.

WESTFIELD REPORT: Amazingly, the 36-game winning streak the Blue Devils are on isn’t the longest in program history, as they still have 12 more to go to match the 48-game streak Westfield put together in the early 70s. The program hasn’t been as dominant during the playoff era as it was for much of the 20th century, but Westfield has still had plenty of success since the state added a postseason in 1974, qualifying 18 times, making five sectional finals and winning four championships, including the past two years.

The Blue Devils’ continued success has taken a lot of people by surprise, especially the fact they enter this game undefeated for the third year in a row. Westfield got hammered by graduation last spring, but it clearly hasn’t impacted its success. The Blue Devils lost virtually their entire offense, outside of a pair of linemen, and three members of its vaunted defensive line, but have proved the system works, as Westfield has been even more dominant on defense, bringing its point-against average down over two points per game since last year.

Senior three-year starter Jake Vall-Llobera is the lone returners on the D-line and he’s been fantastic, leading a unit that’s allowed just 7.5 points per game, nearly 4 points fewer than the conference’s next-best defense. Returning linebackers Jake Dayhon and Shea Elliott – both also three-year starters – have also been key, along with senior returning linebacker Drew Ortiz and returning defensive backs Adam McDaniel and Stevie Barden.

Offensively, Westfield isn’t breaking any scoring records – its 21.6 points per contest is second-worst among conference teams with winning records – but the Blue Devils have seemed to score just enough, regardless of the opponent, to get the W. Sophomore quarterback Hank Shapiro has shown steady improvement as the season has progressed, helped by a sound running attack led by senior Juandre House, sophomore Tim Allegrio and Vall-Llobera, who handles much of the short-yardage out of the wildcat formation. Three-year starter Jack McCauley has led the offensive line.

READ: Westfield football captures 36th straight, beats Plainfield on Thanksgiving

ANALYSIS: After proving me wrong by beating Piscataway in the semifinals, several members of the Bridgewater-Raritan program – coaches, players, etc. – came up to me postgame and asked to make sure I pick against the Panthers again in this contest. But as much as I like to make the people happy, I don’t know if I can do that here.

The fact is that Westfield has been playing with fire all season. The Blue Devils’ defense has been beyond phenomenal, but when you take a closer look at Westfield’s schedule – especially comparted to the gauntlet Bridgewater-Raritan has had to run – and there is some question as to how much the Blue Devils have really been battle tested.

Westfield’s regular-season opponents this season have a record of 31-59, with only one – Immaculata at 6-5 – finishing over .500. And five of the Blue Devils’ 11 victories have come by a touchdown or less, including eight of those games in which Westfield has scored 23 points or fewer. The Panthers, on the other hand, have played teams that have gone 50-43, including two who will be playing for sectional titles this weekend. The Panthers have also outscored their opponents by 24 points in victories, while a 30-7 loss to P’burg and a 21-14 setback to North Hunterdon are the only games in which Bridgewater-Raritan scored fewer than 27 points.

So what does all this mean? This isn’t the first year BR has played a decisively tougher schedule, nor is it the first time these clubs have entered this game with the Panthers having put up better offensive numbers. But I keep getting back to that playing-with-fire concept. Honestly, I’ve been expecting Westfield to get picked off for a few weeks now. There have been several teams I thought had a chance to end the Blue Devils’ streak, but none have been able to get it done, regardless of how close those games might have been.

But this Bridgewater-Raritan team is head and shoulders better than any Westfield has faced this season, and simply doing enough to win is probably not going to work. The Panthers possess a better offense and a better defense than the Blue Devils have seen this year, so it’s going to take a stellar effort on both sides of the ball if Westfield is going to keep its winning streak intact.

Westfield has prided itself on only once allowing more than one touchdown – in a 35-14 week 9 victory over Scotch Plains-Fanwood. So it’s pretty simple; do that Thursday night and the Blue Devils have a chance, even against Bridgewater-Raritan’s vaunted defense. But if Westfield thinks it’s going to let its opponent dictate what type of game is being played and then simply find a way to win, this is the wrong team to try that against.

At the same time, while I’m sure BR’s defense will keep Westfield from running away from it, the Panthers need to find a way to reach the end zone at least 2-3 times, which, obviously, isn’t an easy task against one of the great high school defenses in state history, and that means big games from a pair of rookies in Goffe and Verano.

Flip a coin for your winner, just like the last couple of years, but my gut says the third time’s the charm.

PINCUS’ PICK: Bridgewater-Raritan 23-16

Simeon Pincus can be reached at SPincus@GannettNJ.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN