By Andy Loigu

Warren Hills football fans have traveled across the state to distant locales such as Cranford, Linden, Scotch Plains, and Summit in recent years to watch their Blue Streaks play. In addition, now,  Carteret,  Colonia, and South Plainfield may be long distance destinations in the near future as well. This, as a result of the Mid-State Conference and Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) announcing a merger which creates a 61-team “Super Conference.”

Thataway to Piscataway! They may end up playing North, South, and Plain old Plainfield in the same season.

Hackettstown has played in the much smaller Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NWJAC) since 2010, citing geographic proximity to rivals in lower Sussex and western Morris as the prime reasons for their departure from the Skyland Conference.

Officials hope to keep the traditional rivalry with Warren Hills, which has lasted for over 90 years, going on, because the games have been competitive and generate much community spirit and pageantry. Time will tell if it will be possible.

For the short term, the merge won’t impact the 2018 football schedule, which already was set in the spring. But the schedules for the 2019 and 2020 seasons will be ironed out during the coming academic year by a 10-person committee comprised of five representatives from each league. The name of the new league and arrangement of divisional alignments will be determined at a later date.

According to GMC Football Committee Chairman Ben LaSala, the reason for this merger is to create competitive balance for all the members.

In football, a lack of competitive balance can create an increased risk of injury. There is a reason you often see Group One teams playing Group Four teams in sports like basketball. volleyball, golf, and softball, but not in football. Athletic directors and school administrations are seeking opposing schools of similar skill level and enrollment, particularly in a sport like football where depth and numbers are paramount.

LaSala indicated that the groundwork and by-laws will be created with the objective of best meeting the needs of all 61 schools, which come from the GMC, Skyland and Union County conferences. That could be challenging to say the least.

Middlesex County schools do not want to lose rivalries such as East Brunswick versus Marlboro of Monmouth County and the Shore Conference, in which the two schools are just 15 miles apart. Many pros and cons will be discussed in the days ahead. Stay tuned.

The Hackettstown and Warren Hills baseball teams both faced uphill battles this spring, following the graduation of several talented players who have gone on to college. Both nines got into the state tournament, but suffered early exits.

The Tigers finished 9-9, and were eliminated in North 2 Group 2, where they were seeded sixth, by a 6-2 score at the hands of Newark Tech. The end for Warren Hills (8-11) came at Somerville in North 2 Group 3, by a 9-3 score.

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.