Columbia HS football team loses to top-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan in the playoffs

MAPLEWOOD, NJ – The eighth-seeded Columbia High School varsity football team lost at top-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan, 42-0, in the first round of the state North Jersey Section 2, Group 5 playoffs on Friday night, Nov. 11. Bridgewater-Raritan improved to a 10-0 record.

Under first-year head coach Gary Mobley, the Cougars qualified for the playoffs with just one win on the season and finished with a 1-9 record.

The lone win came against East Orange Campus, 34-28, in the second game of the season on Sept. 17 in East Orange.

East Orange Campus, seeded fourth, lost to fourth-seeded Elizabeth, 42-13, in the same Section 2, Group 5 playoffs in the first round on Nov. 11.

The playoffs consisted of the top eight teams in the power-points standings through the first eight games of the season.

The Cougars were aided by the fact that they gained significant power points by playing non-public Seton Hall Prep, which beat Columbia, 42-6, on Oct. 15 in the sixth game of the season.

Columbia (1-9)

Sept. 9, Loss, Bloomfield, 42-6

Sept. 17, Won, at East Orange Campus, 34-28

Sept. 23, Loss, at West Orange, 36-7

Sept. 30, Loss, Morristown, 36-26

Oct. 7, Loss, at Livingston, 13-12

Oct. 15, Loss, Seton Hall Prep, 42-6

Oct. 21, Loss, at Randolph, 42-7

Oct. 29, Loss, at Morris Knolls, 35-12

Nov. 4, Loss, Montclair, 42-0

Nov. 11, Loss, at Bridgewater-Raritan, 42-0*

*North Jersey Section 2, Group 5 playoffs