Hillsborough’s Shayne Powell scores a touchdown in the second quarter of a 14-13 win over Phillipsburg in the Rumble on the Raritan at SHI Stadium in Piscataway on September 24, 2023. (Photo: Marcus Borden)
Touchdown runs from Jackson Jankowicz and Shayne Powell – and some solid defense – were all Hillsborough would need to pull off the biggest upset of the year so far in the Big Central Conference.
The 8th-ranked Raiders hung on, surviving a late score by the top-ranked and previously-undefeated Stateliners when they failed on a two-point conversion that would have given them the lead, for a 14-13 win in the Rumble on the Raritan at SHI Stadium in Piscataway.
No one threw up any gaudy numbers. In fact, the game saw neither team have a hundred-yard rusher despite rainy conditions one might think would keep the ball on the ground. And neither quarterback could muster 100 yards passing either.
It was a fairly even game stat-wise, but they key number for Hillsborough was this: 3-for-3 defensively on Phillipsburg fourth downs, inlcuding a 13-play drive they stopped cold to start the second half.
Hillsborough is now 4-1 on the year, while Phillipsburg falls to 3-1, taking its first loss. Hillsborough had just lost to Ridge the week before, and now the top three teams in the American Silver Division – the Raiders, Red Devils and Stateliners – all have one loss.
Click below from postgame reaction from Marcus Borden, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: