Cinnaminson Football to Change Divisions

saw its football program win its first playoff game in 20 years when the Pirates defeated , in the first round of the South Jersey Group 2 Tournament in November.

On Thanksgiving Day, the to claim a share of the WJFL Patriot Division Title.

The West Jersey Football League (WJFL) debuted in the fall of 2010 with new divisional alignments that would last a total of two seasons (2010 and 2011). The WJFL is made up of 65 teams from four conferences: the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, and the Tri-County Conference.

“It’s a two-year contract with the schedules and there’s been some tweaking that needed to be done, especially with the smaller schools,” head coach Mario Patrizi said. "You look at a team like Maple Shade, they had a good team, but their record didn’t show it. They had to play up and now they are where they should be.”

The WJFL announced last week the divisions would be realigned for the 2012 and 2013 football seasons after the athletic directors and head coaches voted in favor of the new division breakdowns.

For the 2012 and 2013 seasons, the Pirates will compete in the Liberty Division, which will include six teams. The Pirates previous division had only five teams. The increase in the number of teams adds a fifth division game to the schedule for the Pirates.

“I remember coming in here 17 years ago that you played teams from Burlington County and that was it. It’s interesting. I like seeing different teams. You always want to play new teams. Playing Woodstown in the playoffs was cool because we never see them,” Patrizi explained.

The Liberty Division will include familiar Patriot Division opponents Holy Cross and Delran while new opponents Ewing, Robbinsville, and Bordentown enter the fray. The two teams that will continue to play in the Patriot Division for the next two seasons include Burlington Township and Willingboro.

“Ewing is a very athletic and good team. Last year they were very good. Robbinsville is up and coming. Bordentown is up and coming,” Patrizi said. “They lost some tough games this year but they were actually pretty good. Delran is obviously good, Holy Cross is obviously good, and we are pretty good. So it’s a good division.”

The four games the Pirates will need to pick up on their schedule will likely come from the Patriot Division. The teams in the Patriot include Northern Burlington, Willingboro, Burlington Township, Pemberton, Lawrence and Princeton. Those games would not count as divisional games; they would only count towards playoff power points.

“What they are trying to do, to their credit, is better it (the WJFL),” Patrizi explained. “I know a couple years ago they started the league but there were some tweaks obviously. You look at our schedule this year; if we didn’t go 6-2 we weren’t in the playoffs.”