Phillipsburg and West Orange to tussle for North 2, Group 5 title one day earlier

Phillipsburg has turned around and played Thursday games after Fridays many times before.

The most recent was November 2018, when they won a sectional title on a Friday night at Maloney Stadium, then came back to play their longtime arch-rival Easton on Thanksgiving.

But this one will be a little different. The North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 title game between the top-seeded and undefeated Stateliners and West Orange was supposed to be Friday night at 7 at Maloney, but with bad weather in the forecast from the remnants of Hurricane Nicole, the school announced Wednesday it would move the game up 24 hours to 7 pm Thursday, on less than 36 hours’ notice.

But head coach Frank Duffy is okay with that. And not because West Orange (7-3) probably needs more time to game plan for the Stateliners than Phillipsburg (10-0) needs to plan for them, with P’burg being a heavy favorite to win it all in the first season ever the NJSIAA will have football teams playing for group championships.

Many schools are off tomorrow due to the teachers’ convention being held Thursday and Friday, so Duffy can bring the kids in early to get ready. Having the game at home helps, too, since Phillipsburg won’t have to worry about travel.

And the weather will be better, too – cloudy, 51 degrees, with no more than a 15-percent chance of rain throughout the game – all the better for sophomore QB Jett Genovese to open up the passing game.

Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas will be covering the game, with updates on Twitter – follow him here – and will have a recap and postgame reaction after the contest on cjsportsradio.com.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko preview the North 2, Group 5 title game with Phillipsburg head coach Frank Duffy: