WJFL all shook up

As Riverview Sports News reported three weeks ago, the WJFL Diamond Division is shaken up with Glassboro, Woodstown, Penns Grove all out, Pennsville in; 76 teams in different divisions than a year ago

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

The Diamond Division of the West Jersey Football League may look a lot different than it has in the past, but it still appears to be just as strong as it’s ever been.

The ”SEC West” of Group I football is still no country for old men.

Two-time reigning state champion Glassboro may have been moved out in the latest two-year shakeup of WJFL division alignments, but there is still a lineup of heavy hitters residing there.

All six teams in the new division lineup were playoff teams in 2025. But the biggest takeaway locally is both Woodstown and Penns Grove are out, vanquished to the Independence Division. They had been Diamond Division teams since the inception of the WJFL in 2010.

Riverview Sports News has reached out to officials from Woodstown and Penns Grove for comment.

The new Diamond Division has Pennsville, Schalick, Salem, Burlington City, Overbrook and Paulsboro. The new Independence Division is Penns Grove, Woodstown, Buena, Clayton, Pitman and Woodbury.

Schalick was 5-7, but played in the sectional title game for the third year in a row. Pennsville (5-5, Patriot) was a South Jersey Group I quarterfinalist and Salem (6-5) and Paulsboro (9-2) played in the Group I semifinals. Burlington City, which won an appeal to come out of the Constitution Division and replaces Gloucester in the Diamond reshuffle, was the No. 2 finisher in the South Jersey Group I UPR and No. 1 seed in the Central Jersey bracket and Overbrook (6-4, Patriot) was a playoff team in Group II.

The WJFL granted five of the 11 appeals it heard. More than 20 were said to be filed. Fifteen teams changed divisions from the pre-appeal alignment. Seventy-six of the league’s 96 teams will be playing in different divisions than they did in the 2024-25 realignment.

In the new Independence Division, only Clayton (5-5) had a non-losing record and Woodbury (3-7) was the only team that made the playoffs. Penns Grove went 0-9 and is looking for a new coach, and Woodstown went 3-7 in a season beset by injuries.

“We feel like our division will be challenging, but we must challenge ourselves to get better,” Pennsville athletics director Jamy Thomas said earlier this month . “We are familiar with the teams in our division and we are getting back a few Salem County rivals.”

Teams are now awaiting word on their scheduling crossovers. The new alignments may make filling schedules easier.

It has been rare that all five Salem County teams played in the same division. Pennsville plays an annual trophy game with Penns Grove. The last time the Eagles played all four of the other Salem County teams in the same season was 2019.

“(It) would be nice if the scheduling committee added Woodstown as one of our cross-overs so we would once again play all of the Salem County schools during the regular season,” Thomas said.

WEST JERSEY FOOTBALL LEAGUE
DIAMOND: Burlington City, Overbrook, Paulsboro, Pennsville, Salem, Schalick.
INDEPENDENCE: Buena, Clayton, Penns Grove, Pitman, Woodbury, Woodstown.
AMERICAN: Winslow, Washington Twp., Kingsway, St. Augustine, Atlantic City, Millville.
CLASSIC: Camden, Glassboro, Mainland, Cedar Creek, Holy Spirit, Ocean City.
COLONIAL: Cherokee, Shawnee, Rancocas Valley, Burlington Twp., Pleasantville, Delsea.
CONSTITUTION: Paul VI, Delran, Haddonfield, Seneca, West Deptford, Willingboro.
CONTINENTAL: Cherry Hill East, Eastern, Lenape, Northern Burlington, Williamstown, Pennsauken.
FREEDOM: Camden-Eastside, Cherry Hill West, Cinnaminson, Gloucester, Moorestown, Triton.
MEMORIAL: Absegami, ACIT, Egg Harbor Twp., Hammonton, Lower Cape May, Oakcrest.
LIBERTY: Bridgeton, Cumberland, Timber Creek, St. Joe’s (Hamm.), Vineland, Highland.
CAPITOL: Allentown, Ewing, Hightstown, Hopewell Valley, Princeton, Trenton.
VALLEY: Hamilton, Lawrence, Notre Dame, Nottingham, Robbinsville, Steinert.
NATIONAL: Audubon, Bishop Eustace, Collingswood, Gateway, Haddon Heights, Sterling.
PATRIOT: Bordentown, Camden Catholic, Florence, KIPP, Maple Shade, Riverside.
ROYAL: Clearview, Deptford, Holy Cross, Mastery, Pemberton, WW-Plainsboro.
UNITED: Gloucester Catholic, Haddon Twp., Lindenwold, Middle Twp., Palmyra, Wildwood.

Salem County WJFL History

YEARSCHALICKPENNS GROVEPENNSVILLESALEMWOODSTOWN
2026DiamondIndependenceDiamondDiamondIndependence
2025DiamondDiamondPatriotDiamondDiamond
2024DiamondDiamondPatriotDiamondDiamond
2023HorizonDiamondRoyalDiamondDiamond
2022HorizonDiamondRoyalDiamondDiamond
2021UnitedDiamondUnitedDiamondDiamond
2020UnitedDiamondUnitedDiamondDiamond
2019DiamondDiamondDiamondDiamondDiamond
2018DiamondDiamondDiamondDiamondDiamond
2017ClassicDiamondDiamondDiamondDiamond
2016ClassicDiamondDiamondDiamondDiamond
2015DiamondDiamondClassicClassicDiamond
2014DiamondDiamondClassicClassicDiamond
2013DiamondDiamondClassicClassicDiamond
2012DiamondDiamondClassicClassicDiamond
2011DiamondDiamondClassicClassicDiamond
2010DiamondDiamondClassicClassicDiamond

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