Starting this season, the Greater Middlesex Conference signed on to play its non-conference schedule against teams from the Shore Conference. Through the first two weeks of play in the 2009 Football Season, the Shore has jumped out to an early advantage. In 22 games played between the teams in the two conferences, the Shore Conference has won 13 while losing 9. This includes games won on Saturday by Bishop Ahr (over Monmouth Regional 37-14) and Cardinal McCarrick (over Mater Dei 40-21). In these twenty-two games, the GMC has been outscored by the Shore, 424-351 including a 170-71 outscoring in all the games played on September 12th.
Breaking things down by Division, the GMC Red is 3-2 vs. their Shore Conference opponents while the White is 3-4. The Blue Division is now 1-3 thanks to Ahr’s win while the Gold is 2-4. Red Division teams have outscored Shore squads by a combined total of 104-102 while GMC White teams have outscored their Shore counterparts by a 106-89 margin. Despite Bishop Ahr’s manhandling of Monmouth Regional, the GMC Blue has been outscored by the Shore, 96-49 while the conference made of Monmouth and Ocean County schools have outscored GMC Gold opponents by a 137-92 margin.
Howell leads the Shore in success with a 2-0 record versus GMC competition after beating Piscataway (26-14) on opening day, and then rolling past Woodbridge on Thursday night (37-7). New Brunswick is 0-2 against the Shore with losses to Freehold Boro (34-10) and Middletown South (27-6). Perth Amboy has split against Shore teams by defeating Marlboro 38-0, and then losing to Colts Neck 7-0. Speaking of Marlboro, the Mustangs are 0-2 against the GMC following a defeat on Thursday to J.P. Stevens. Speaking of the Hawks, they are also 1-1 following an opening week loss to Middletown North. Sayreville, Monroe, and Spotswood are 1-0 against the Shore thanks to victories over Brick Memorial (29-26), Red Bank Catholic (14-3), and Red Bank (14-13) respectively.
Last season in the various state tournament and consolation games, the Shore Conference played the Greater Middlesex Conference 14 times, and went 11-3. The Shore, which went 6-3 in the state tournament meetings, and 5-0 in the consolation game meetings, outscored their GMC opponents by a margin of 348-131. In addition, the Shore won all four Central Jersey sectional championships with Asbury Park becoming the CJ Group I champ, Manasquan winning CJ Group II, Freehold Boro winning in CJ Group III, and Brick Memorial winning in Central Jersey Group IV. Only Piscataway earned a sectional championship for the GMC by winning in North Jersey Section 2 Group IV.