Delbarton will challenge its inclusion in the recently formed North Jersey Super Football Conference at a Leagues and Conferences Committee hearing at NJSIAA headquarters next Tuesday as the Green Wave seeks to become an independent and avoid clashes with powers Don Bosco Prep, Bergen Catholic and St. Joseph Regional.

The outcome of the hearing could threaten the face of the non-public side of the NJSFC, which had been hailed as a groundbreaking merger of four major conferences that included a separation of public and non-public schools for the sport of football for the first time in state history.

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“We don’t want to have to play all the big guys,” Delbarton athletic director Dan Whalen said Tuesday morning. “That’s an unfair schedule for us. We’re not like those guys. We’re not like them in philosophy. We’re not like them — the whole deal.”

The 115-team NJSFC is broken into three non-public school divisions and the most competitive two are scheduled to play against each other starting this fall. Delbarton is in the second-tier White division, along with Pope John, DePaul and Seton Hall Prep -- schools scheduled to play against each other and also the top-tier Red division comprised of Don Bosco, Bergen Catholic, Paramus Catholic, St. Peter's and St. Joseph Regional.

At least seven members of the Leagues and Conferences Committee will preside over next week’s hearing and render a decision to either allow Delbarton to go independent or require it to play in the NJSFC, NJSIAA assistant director Jack DuBois said. Both Delbarton and the NJSFC will bring attorneys and present arguments.

Whalen said his school has already come up with a contingency plan if it's allowed to go independent and will play a schedule that includes Pope John, Seton Hall, DePaul, Paramus Catholic and Hudson Catholic and out-of-state foes Haverford (Pa.) School, Brunswick (Ct.) School, Poly (N.Y.) Prep and St. Anthony (N.Y.).

"We’ve gone out and found non-publics that are more like us philosophically," Whalen said.

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Nutley High athletic director Joe Piro, who is also president of the NJSFC, said Delbarton's attempt to go independent sets a bad precedent. Delbarton previously was a member of the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, which voted to join the NJSFC; because of the conference's move, Piro said Delbarton belongs in the new league.

“They claim that their educational theologies and philosophies differ from those of St. Joe’s, Don Bosco and St. Peter’s," Piro said. "That being said, what we find ironic is that they still play them in lacrosse, they still play them in baseball, they still play them in soccer. They play them in the sports they can win."

Meanwhile, Whalen said his school has voted against joining the NJSFC every step of the way.

"We voted 'no' on everything all the way through," Whalen said. "Our contention is that we’re being used to fill those schedules for the Bergen County guys. We don’t want to force anybody to play us, but we don’t want to be forced to play anybody else, either. We don’t want to be the solution for their issues up there."

Ever since the NJSFC merger was announced last year several non-public schools in the league have raised issues with their schedules. The NJSIAA's Executive Committee even approved two proposals in February designed to entice teams to play the NJSFC non-public powers by offering bonus power points even in losses to opponents and allowing all teams in the Red and White divisions to automatically make the playoffs.

"My hope is that it will work out," DuBois said. "It is a good solution."

Whalen said his school isn't interested in trying out the new league even on a two-year basis.

"Football is different," he said. "Size [of school] doesn’t really matter. If you say, 'We only have 30 guys in our program.' Well, if it’s the right 30 you can beat anybody. Of those 30, if you have 20 Division 1 football players, you’re going to be able to play with anybody."

Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at mstanmyre@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattStanmyre. Find NJ.com on Facebook.