This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Big Matchup of Hot Teams Highlights Week 7

Hillsborough takes on Union in a game that could have playoff impact.

The Hillsborough Raiders have rolled past their last two opponents with ease, two weeks ago and last week, bringing their record from 2-2 after Week 4 to 4-2 after Week 6. But this Friday, Hillsborough will face Union, the team that last week in Elizabeth, dealing it its first loss of the season.

Both Hillsborough and Union are 4-2 going into the game, but it’s hard to tell who will have momentum: Hillsborough has won two straight and, although Union two weeks ago, they just beat one of the best teams around.

The Ridge Red Devils have not won since late September against North Hunterdon, and that has been the only win the 1-5 team has seen this season. Last week, the Red Devils took an early lead against Hunterdon Central, one of the best teams in the conference at 5-1, but Ridge gave up the lead in the second quarter and never regained it.

This week, Ridge will face another team with a losing record, Linden (2-3). But Linden’s three losses have come against teams ranked in The Star-Ledger’s top 20 in the state: Immaculata, Elizabeth, and Hunterdon Central.

After six weeks, there are left in the Mid-State 39 Conference: Manville, Hillside, Voorhees, Bridgewater-Raritan, and Watchung Hills.

The Watchung Hills Warriors will face the toughest team of those five when it travels to Elizabeth this Friday for a 7 p.m. game, but the Warriors can’t be counted out: they have played well against most of the teams they faced this season, including undefeated Immaculata, which Watchung Hills, despite losing, held to only 12 points .

Bridgewater-Raritan will travel to Montgomery (2-4) on Friday night for a 7 p.m. game. Montgomery, like Linden, despite having a losing record, has lost to many of the better teams in the conference and has played well against a few of them, including Union, Phillipsburg, and Hillsborough. Last week, Montgomery defeated Plainfield by one point in a low scoring 7-6 game.

For a complete schedule of games in the Mid-State 39 conference, see below:

Friday

Plainfield (1-4) at Immaculata (6-0), 7 p.m.

Watchung Hills (0-6) at Elizabeth (5-1), 7 p.m.

Hillsborough (4-2) at Union (4-2), 7 p.m.

Linden (2-3) at Ridge (1-5), 7 p.m.

Governor Livingston (1-4) at Johnson (3-2), 7 p.m.

Dayton (3-3) at North Warren (3-3), 7 p.m.

Roselle (3-2) at Brearley (3-3), 7 p.m.

Bernards (5-0) at Roselle Park (2-4), 7 p.m.

Pingry (3-3) at Bound Brook (1-5), 7 p.m.

Hunterdon Central (5-1) at Phillipsburg (4-1), 7 p.m.

Bridgewater-Raritan (0-6) at Montgomery (2-4), 7 p.m.

Delaware Valley (5-0) at Warren Hills (2-4), 7 p.m.

Somerville (4-2) at Voorhees (0-6), 7 p.m.

Scotch Plains (1-5) at North Plainfield (1-5), 7 p.m.

Saturday

Westfield (4-1) at Rahway (3-2), 2 p.m.

New Providence (5-0) at Summit (6-0), 1 p.m.-These teams play in different divisions of the conference, but still, one team will end the other’s undefeated streak this week. Next week, Summit will face division rival Cranford, another 6-0 team going into week seven.

Cranford (6-0) at Hillside (0-6)-In NJ.com’s preseason predictions, Cranford was predicted to take fourth out of six teams in the Mountain Division, while Hillside was predicted to take third. After six weeks, though, Cranford is undefeated and tied for first with Summit and Hillside is at the bottom of the division, one of five winless teams left in the conference.

North Hunterdon (2-3) at Franklin (4-1), 2 p.m.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?