Hillsborough’s Jackson Jankowicz celebrates his touchdown in the first quarter of a 14-13 win over Phillipsburg at the Rumble on the Raritan at SHI Stadium in Piscataway on September 24, 2023. (Photo: Marcus Borden)
After a tough, 28-7 loss to Ridge in Week 3 (Game 4) of the 2023 season, in preparation for a daunting challenge against the then-No. 1 team in the Central Jersey Sports Radio Top Ten, Hillsborough head coach Kevin Carty said he was looking forward to seeing how his team rebounded.
The rebounded well, beating the Stateliners in a tight one, 14-13 at Rutgers’ SHI Stadium in the Rumble on the Raritan.
Going into the playoffs with a loss is never what anyone wants to do, but Hillsborough did just that, losing 17-0 to Westfield at home on Cutoff Weekend.
But again, Carty was intrigued to see how his team responded. They did so just as they did after that first loss, with a win, this time 17-0 over 7-seed Howell in the South Jersey Group 5 first round.
How’s that for an encore?
The bad news is there can be no more slip-ups. If the Raiders are going to recover from another loss, it’ll be after the current seniors graduate, and not until August/September 2024.
The good news is: the Raiders looked really good last week.
This week, it’s 2nd-seed Hillsborough (8-2) entertaining 3rd-seed Marlboro (7-2) in what very well could be the final home game of the year for the Raiders.
The Mustangs beat 6th-seed South Brunswick last week, 26-16, a team ‘Boro beat 29-8 all the way back in Game One on august 25th. They also beat common opponent Howell 17-7 back on September 14th.
Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Kevin Carty, Jr., about the Raiders and their second-round game against Marlboro: