It’s time for playoff football in New Jersey. Seven public schools in the Trenton area will play in the first round of the NJSIAA state tournament this weekend in four different brackets. Sectional champions will be crowned in two weeks, and then the state semifinals and finals for each grouping will be played after that. The main team to keep an eye on is Hopewell Valley. The undefeated Bulldogs have the area’s first No. 1 seed in a bracket since Hopewell also earned one in 2014, and they have a solid chance to capture the area’s first sectional title since Allentown won Central Group IV in 2016. Meanwhile, the non-public playoffs don’t start until next weekend. Notre Dame has one more regular season game this Friday against Pennington before finding out its seed in Non-Public B on Sunday. Here’s what to watch for in this weekend’s six playoff games. Friday 8-Nottingham (3-6) at 1-Hopewell Valley (9-0), South Group III, first round, 6 p.m. This marks a rare occurrence of two teams meeting twice in football in the same year. Hopewell won the first matchup on the same field on Sept. 20, 45-12, but some elements have changed. The Bulldogs no longer have Division II-bound receiver Justin Klotz, who left the team in mid-October. The Northstars, meanwhile, won three games in a row after starting 0-5, although they come into this game fresh off a 34-0 loss to Steinert without their starting quarterback. It’s unclear whether Dante Vazquez will play. Either way, Nottingham will need to get its rushing attack on track with August Cassidy (476 yards, five TDs). Ultimately, Hopewell probably has too much firepower starting with Milan Desai (1,521 passing yards, 20 passing TDs, seven rushing TDs), Ben DeCore (1,169 rushing yards, 14 TDs) and Owen Lengle (571 receiving yards, 10 TDs). 5-Allentown (6-3) at 4-Ocean City (5-4), Central Group III, first round, 6 p.m. Allentown is averaging 30.9 points per game, but it enters the playoffs having lost star running back Sean McCaffery to an injury last week in a 31-28 loss to Notre Dame. Nick Visconti is now the main ball carrier. The Redbirds need a big game from Matthew Schweitzer (1,813 passing yards, 712 rushing yards, 24 total TDs). Anthony Visconti and Matthew Woode each have more than 400 receiving yards on the year. This is a tough matchup as Ocean City’s four losses came against teams who finished with at least six wins. The Red Raiders feature a dual-threat quarterback and three running backs who get carries and will test Allentown’s shaky tackling. They also have an advantage on special teams with a strong kicker who made a 33-yard field goal two weeks ago. 7-Delsea (2-6) at 2-Burlington Twp. (8-1), Central Group III, first round, 6 p.m. Delsea may not be as good as the past couple years when it won two sectional titles and the Group III state title last year, but like Ocean City, the Crusaders have faced a brutal schedule. They are strong up front and have rushed for 15 TDs with five different ball carriers. Delsea has also beaten Burlington three times in the past two years. But this is the Falcons’ chance for revenge. Outside of a one-point loss to Hopewell, they have an unblemished record with wins in every game by at least 19 points. Baron Davis (1,524, 16 passing TDs) is a big, strong quarterback with weapons like Aiden Binns (593 rushing yards, 10 TDs) and Yeator Tappia (546 receiving yards, 10 TDs). The defense has 21 sacks. This should be a highly physical game. 7-Steinert (4-4) at 2-Middletown North (7-0), South Group IV, first round, 7 p.m. This is Steinert’s first playoff appearance since 2017, back when the Spartans were in Group III. Their reward is a tall task against a Middletown North team that has won every game on its schedule by at least two TDs. The Lions are balanced with more than 1,200 yards both passing and rushing and double-digit TDs in both departments as well. For Steinert, Anthony Giglio (936 total yards, 11 TDs) can both throw and run it, while Isaac Pete (804 rushing yards, 6 TDs) is the offense’s top skill player. But the defense, led by Dylan Andrewsky’s five sacks, needs to play stout and force turnovers to give Steinert a chance to win. 7-No. Burlington (4-5) at 2-Brick Twp. (7-2), Central Group IV, first round, 6 p.m. Northern Burlington has reached the playoffs for the second straight year with a balanced attack with TDs by six different players, although the Greyhounds prefer to run the ball. Brent Walulak has passed for 881 yards, rushed for 425 yards and totaled nine TDs. He also has three interceptions on defense, as does Peter Appelget. But Brick Memorial is even more lethal offensively with 1,410 passing yards, 1,582 rushing yards and 31 TDs. The Mustangs also have four defensive TDs. Allentown came close to beating this team in the season opener, 23-20, but Brick is firing on all cylinders now and has a combined score of 71-0 in the last two games. Its only two losses are to Toms River North and Point Pleasant Boro, both of which are ranked in the state’s top 20 by NJ.com. Saturday 8-Princeton (5-4) at 1-Winslow Twp. (9-0), South Group IV, first round, 1 p.m. In making the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, Princeton now gets a date with arguably the top public team in New Jersey. Jalen Parker is one of the top quarterbacks in the state with 1,934 yards and 28 TDs as a passer. The Eagles have a boatload of weapons on offense plus a defense with 32 sacks and 20 takeaways. Only two opponents have even reached double-digit scoring against Winslow. Princeton will counter with standouts like Travis Petrone (933 passing yards, 163 rushing yards, 11 TDs), Carmine Carusone (629 rushing yards, 284 receiving yards, eight 8 TDs) and Ellinton Hinds (349 receiving yards, 107 rushing yards, four TDs, three INTs). The Tigers will need to play essentially a perfect game in order to compete.