Hightstown Football Team Battles For Playoff Spot This Weekend

With one game left before the cutoff date, the Hightstown High School football team is in position to make a playoff appearance. Hightstown (4-4, 73 points) is in eighth place in NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4, according to the power points standings released on Monday.

A team earns six points for a win, plus between one and five points, depending on what group the team it defeated is in, and a residual point for each win that team has. A team's first eight games count toward its final point total, but the lowest point total among these games is dropped, so seven total games count toward the final tally. The top eight teams in each group qualify for the playoffs. Matchups will be announced next week.

One point separates Hightstown from ninth place Middletown South (3-4, 72 points). Hightstown hosts Ewing (4-4) on Friday night, 7 p.m. Middletown South hosts Wall (4-3) on Friday night, 7 p.m. Here are this week's NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 power points rankings, as posted on nj.com:

1. Brick Memorial (7-2) 133;
2. Nottingham (7-1) 128;
3. Allentown (5-3) 115;
4. Long Branch (6-1) 113;
5. Brick Township (4-4) 100;
6. Jackson Memorial (5-3) 87;
7. Freehold Borough (5-3) 81;
8. Hightstown (4-4) 73;
9. Middletown South (3-4) 72;
10. Middletown North (3-4) 66;
11. Northern Burlington (3-5) 59;
12. Colts Neck (1-7) 47;
13. Neptune (0-7) 31;
14. West Windsor-Plainsboro South (1-7) 31;
15. Princeton (0-8) 19.

Patch file photo