The Cedar Creek Pirates take the field before a Cedar Creek home game against Lower Cape May. Oct. 9, 2025Tom McGurk, Cherry Hill Courier-PostTue, November 25, 2025 at 10:15 AM UTC·3 min readThe Cedar Creek High School football team has certainly been tested the last three weeks, winning all three games with close decisions.
Now, the Pirates are poised for their final exam against the defending state champion.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCan Cedar Creek pull off another victory for the program's first state title?
More: Football 2025: Check out all of our content for the South Jersey high school season
Here's our preview:
State Group 3 Final
Cedar Creek (11-2) vs. Old Tappan (12-0)
When: Friday, 4 p.m.
Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford.
Coaches: Cedar Creek-James Melody; Old Tappan-Brian Dunn.
How they got here: Cedar Creek-Triton, 35-6; Pleasantville, 15-12; Mainland, 34-28; Holmdel, 48-38. Old Tappan-River Dell, 37-0; West Milford, 40-0; Wayne Hills, 42-14; West Morris, 35-0.
State titles: Cedar Creek 0; Old Tappan 2 (2022, 2024)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBy the numbers
69 – Points Cedar Creek has scored in the second half of its four postseason games. The Pirates have registered 27 of those points in the fourth quarter of those contests. In the team’s two losses against Old Bridge and Ocean City, the team failed to score a point in either of those second halves.
32 – Total touchdowns for Cedar Creek’s Frenchmon Bethea. The senior quarterback has thrown for 24 scores, rushed for two more and has two pick-6s on defense. The Stoney Brook commit has 11 TD passes and two interceptions in his four postseason games with one of those touchdowns coming on what could be the throw of the year to beat Mainland in the sectional final.
453 – Total points for Cedar Creek with 82 coming in its last two games.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement1,803 – Rushing yards for Cedar Creek’s Aamir Dunbar. The senior has been held to fewer than 100 yards in his last two games, but has rushed for a touchdown in each of those contests.
17 – Consecutive wins by Old Tappan dating back to last season. The team is 46-4 over their last 50 games.
7 – Touchdown catches for Old Tappan’s Shane Small. While Leo Etter leads the squad with nine TD receptions, it’s the 6-foot-4 Small that has coming up big as he creates matchup problems for defenses.
13 – Rushing touchdowns for Old Tappan’s Devyn Radoian. The senior has notched just one game with 100-or-more rushing yards, but he’s the team’s best running threat out of the backfield.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement27 – Touchdown throws for Old Tappan’s Zachary Miceli. The junior has accumulated 2,274 yards with only picks in 171 passing attempts.
Predictions
Tom Rimback: The Tappers are unbeaten through a dozen games. Creek will need to channel the excitement they showed in the last two weeks one more time. Old Tappan pulls out a 28-27 win.
Tom McGurk: Cedar Creek has thrived in some choppy waters in recent weeks, but can the Pirates pull off a victory when they enter unchartered territory this week? This could be the most competitive game of the state finals and Old Tappan's experience will pay huge dividends with another crown. Old Tappan wins, 21-20.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTom McGurk is a regional sports editor for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 35 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Cedar Creek football will play for the state Group 3 title this weekend
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