Midpoint swing games ..

We are at the midpoint of the regular season for both high school football and the Monmouth University season and each of our games this week have striking similiarties. They are what we would call a swing game as a win and your season either takes a major upturn or at the very least you keep alive chances for something positive to happen later on during the fall. A loss can be dooming on so many levels for any of these three teams which we will see this weekend.

Let's start first with our Friday night game between Toms River North and Southern Regional. This has developed into a pretty solid rivalry over the last few years and was very one sided until the state playoffs last season when the Rams finally won a game. The 2009 game features several sidebars that will dictate how far either of these teams can go.

A win for TRN and the Mariners keep alive their chances for a share of an American division championship and bolster their state playoff chances with a win over a fellow group 4 school. A loss and it will be anchors away at the division title and a second loss will mean no more slip-ups before the state playoff cutoff or it will be very tough to qualify. On the flip side, the Rams already have two losses, only one of which is the division, and still have to play the #1 team in the Shore (Howell). The way things shake out right now for both Southern & TRN is that they each need to keep winning and the Rebels to lose at some point in the division to have a shot at a co/tri championship. So this becomes a divisional elimination game coupled with the fact that a third loss for Southern will likely doom their chances of getting back into the state playoffs.

For Monmouth, there are some of the same aspects that follow the Hawks into their game with Sacred Heart this Saturday. A disappointing effort last weekend against Wagner has MU with their backs against wall in what now is a must win game before Albany comes to West Long Branch on October 24th. Monmouth can ill afford a second conference loss if they have any chance of a NEC title or a postseason birth. With a win, there will be a lot of juice for the Albany game as going into the season most would have figured that the Hawks were one of the only teams that could challenge the Great Danes. A win also gets MU back to .500 at 3-3 overall. A loss this weekend against Sacred Heart and the season could take a downward swing that would tough to change.



Broadcast Information ..

THURSDAY: The High School Football Show 6PM - 8PM .. Live from Boston's (Toms River)
FRIDAY Game Of The WeekSouthern @ Toms River North6:45PM pre-game on 1160 WOBM AM, FoxSports1310 & 105.7 The Hawk
SATURDAY Monmouth University FootballMonmouth @ Sacred Heart12:50PM pre-game on 1160 WOBM AM and FoxSports1310