Staff Report

Is it ever too early to start talking about the football season? Nah!

The West Jersey Football League released its 2024 schedule this afternoon, and it features a step up in competition for several schools, most notably Mainland Regional, Washington Township and Camden. Mainland went 14-0 this past season and won the Group 4 state championship while playing in the WJFL’s United Division, which featured Oakcrest, Atlantic City, Absegami, Egg Harbor Township and Bridgeton. The Stangs now enter the league’s premier division — the American — along with the likes of powerful teams such as Millville, Cherokee, St. Augustine Prep and Winslow.

Mainland beat both Millville and Winslow in the state playoffs last fall, but the Stangs are losing some key players, including all-state running back Stephen Ordille and receiver/defensive back Jamie Tyson, nj.com’s Defensive Player of the Year for the state in 2023.

That’s not the end of the challenge to Mainland’s schedule, though. The Stangs start off with a nondivisional crossover game against Hammonton, and the other games outside their division are against rival Ocean City, EHT and Delsea, another team that won a state championship this past fall.

Delsea is paired in the Classic Division in 2024 along with Washington Township — a team that made a run to the South Jersey Group 5 title game and returns a talented quarterback in Cole Aquino — Kingsway, Timber Creek and Williamstown, which welcomes the return of outstanding head coach Frank Fucetola.

Camden, a perennial Group 3 power and a defending sectional champion, now has to deal with Shawnee, Camden Eastside, Rancocas Valley and Lenape.

Another interesting division will be the Constitution, which features Holy Spirit, Hammonton, Atlantic City, Cedar Creek and Ocean City. Egg Harbor Township, going into its second year with former Barnegat head coach Rob Davis, gets a chance to rebuild in the Memorial Division, which features Deptford, Cherry Hill East, Triton, Bridgeton and Atlantic Tech, which is making its debut as a varsity program after a couple seasons of a junior varsity schedule.

Here’s a look at the 2024 divisions:

AMERICAN: Mainland, Millville, Cherokee, St. Augustine Prep, Winslow

CLASSIC: Delsea, Washington Township, Kingsway, Timber Creek, Williamstown

COLONIAL: Camden, Shawnee, Camden Eastside, Rancocas Valley, Lenape

CONSTITUTION: Holy Spirit, Hammonton, Atlantic City, Cedar Creek, Ocean City

CONTINENTAL: Willingboro, Haddonfield, Gloucester, Paul VI, Pleasantville, Seneca

DIAMOND: Woodbury, Woodstown, Salem, Glassboro, Penns Grove, Schalick

FREEDOM: Pennsauken, Highland, Vineland, Eastern, Cherry Hill West, Clearview

CAPITOL: Hopewell, Notre Dame, Nottingham, Allentown, Steinert, Hightstown

INDEPENDENCE: Haddon Heights, Cinnaminson, Burlington Township, Moorestown, Northern Burlington, Delran

PATRIOT: Paulsboro, West Deptford, Audubon, Overbrook, Collingswood, Camden Catholic, Pennsville

ROYAL: Clayton, Pitman, Mastery Charter, Gateway, Haddon Township, Gloucester Catholic, Sterling

UNITED: Palmyra, Buena Regional, Bishop Eustace, Wildwood, Holy Cross, KIPP Academy, Lindenwold

VALLEY: Robbinsville, West Windsor-Plainsboro, Ewing, Princeton, Hamilton West, Trenton

LIBERTY: Lower Cape May, Oakcrest, Middle Township, St. Joseph Academy, Absegami, Cumberland

MEMORIAL: Deptford, Cherry Hill East, Egg Harbor Township, Triton, Bridgeton, Atlantic Tech

NATIONAL: Burlington City, Maple Shade, Bordentown, Florence, Riverside, Pemberton, Lawrence