Paramus Catholic Football Faces Another Gauntlet as the Paladins Announce Their 2026 Schedule

The Paramus Catholic Paladins will once again play a demanding schedule, chock full of teams that finished in the final 2025 High School on SI New Jersey Rankings.

East Rutherford, NJ -- November 28, 2025 -- Paramus Catholic quarterback Marco Green (10) gets nabbed by DePaul tackler Logan Nagle (32) in the Non-Public B high school football championship on Friday at MetLife Stadium. Steve Hockstein/Special to NorthJersey.com | Steve Hockstein/Special to NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Football schedules for the 2026 season are starting to be announced all across the Garden State and High School On SI New Jersey will share these as we see them.

Paramus Catholic closed out the 2025 high school football season with a 6-7 record, yet they still managed to land at No. 13 in the final High School on SI New Jersey Football Football Rankings. That placement tells you everything you need to know about the caliber of opposition they faced throughout the year. In New Jersey, where the best programs routinely face murderous schedules, Paramus Catholic played one of the toughest slates in the state, week after punishing week.

A Championship Run That Fell Just Short

The season came down to the Non-Public B title game, where Paramus Catholic dropped a 21-12 decision to No. 9 DePaul Catholic. Junior running back Chukwuma Odoh carried the offensive load, finding the end zone twice in the losing effort. While the final record finished below .500, those late-season battles, and the way the team stayed competitive, left plenty of reason for optimism.

Signature Wins Proved They Belong

What stood out most were the quality victories sprinkled throughout the campaign. The Paladins knocked off No. 20 Red Bank Catholic not once, but twice, showing they could handle a strong opponent on repeat. Even more telling was their win over perennial powerhouse Delbarton, a result that served notice that Paramus Catholic can go toe-to-toe with New Jersey’s traditional heavyweights, even when the overall ledger shows more losses than wins.

Consistent Top-25 Presence All Season Long

From opening kickoff to the final whistle of 2025, the Paladins remained a fixture in the state’s Top 25 rankings. That staying power speaks to the program’s identity: tough, battle-tested, and unwilling to duck anyone. Now, with the 2026 regular-season schedule freshly released, it’s clear the staff plans to keep that reputation intact.

Another Gauntlet Awaits in 2026

Paramus Catholic has built its brand on scheduling the state’s elite and often venturing outside New Jersey borders for additional tests. The 2026 slate follows that same blueprint, featuring a mix of in-state rivals, road warriors, and out-of-area challenges designed to sharpen the team for another postseason push.

Early Tests will Set the Tone

The season opens against Winslow Township, a South Jersey program that successfully defended its Group 4 state title a year ago, and finished the season on an 11-game winning streak, good for the No. 4 spot in the final rankings. Next comes a two-game stretch vs. out of state foes in St. James Academy out of Virginia, followed by a road trip to Iona Prep in New York.

Rivalries That Define the Season

The middle stretch is where the schedule turns brutal. A home date with No. 2 Don Bosco Prep is always electric. The rematch with DePaul Catholic looms large on Oct. 23. Road games at No. 3 Bergen Catholic and 2025’s No. 1-ranked team, St. Joseph Regional, are circled in red ink every year, while No. 6 St. Peter’s Prep and Pope John XXIII round out a rugged stretch of Non-Public showdowns

The 2026 Paramus Catholic Football Schedule

Aug. 27 – Winslow Township

Sep. 4 – The St. James Academy (Va.)

Sep. 12 – at Iona Preparatory School (NY)

Sep. 18 – Don Bosco Prep

Sep. 25 – Hun School

Oct. 3 – at Pope John XXIII

Oct. 10 – at Bergen Catholic

Oct. 16 – St. Peter’s Prep

Oct. 23 – DePaul Catholic

Oct. 31 – at St. Joseph Regional