Group 4 Semifinals Preview: Phillipsburg Stateliners vs. Ramapo Raiders

Group 4 Semifinals:
When: Friday, 7:05 pm
Where: Maloney Stadium, Phillipsburg
Matchup: Ramapo (8-3, North 1 Group 4 champs) at Phillipsburg (10-1, North 2 Group 4 champs)
Coverage: Follow Marcus Borden on Twitter.
Weather: 38 degrees, 71% chance of rain, wind WSW 4 mph (from right corner of South end zone, to right corner of North end zone)

HEAD COACHES:

Phillipsburg: Frank Duffy (9th season, 77-23)
Ramapo: Nick Guttuso (1st season, 8-3)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Phillipsburg:
First Round: def. #8 Nutley, 42-0
Semifinals: def. #5 Chatham, 31-14
North 2, Group 4 Finals: def. # 3 Northern Highlands, 13-11

Ramapo:
First Round: def. #6 Westfield, 21-0
Semifinals: def. #2 Woodbridge, 26-7 (Woodbridge was 10-0)
North 1, Group 4 Finals: def. #1 Morris Knolls, 35-28

Who’s next? The winner of this game will play the winner of the other Group 4 semifinal game, featuring Central winner Millville (9-2) against South winner Winslow Twp. (12-0). (Yes, both are South Jersey teams.)

Should Phillipsburg win, they would play Wednesday, December 4th at Rutgers’ SHI Stadium in Piscataway. While there are expected to be four title games at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands on Black Friday, and possibly more the Sunday after Thanksgiving at Rutgers, the Stateliners play their annual rivalry game with Easton on Thanksgiving up at Lafayette College. So, they can’t do the quick turnaround, and thus would play Wednesday.

If it’s Ramapo, the game date would depend on who they face. Winslow doesn’t have a Turkey Day game, but Millville does. Should they face Winslow, the Group 3 final would likely be Friday or Sunday, but should they draw Millville, it would get pushed to Wednesday at Rutgers.

SERIES HISTORY:

This will be the first meeting between Phillipsburg and Ramapo, but they have two common opponents.

Phillipsburg lost at Ridge on September 20th, 28-21, while Ramapo beat the Red Devils in the North 1, Group 4 semifinals, 28-27.

The Stateliners were 13-11 winners over Northern Highlands in last week’s North 2, Group 4 final – on a school-record 46-yard field goal by Alexie Moriera – while Ramapo beat them 25-23 in overtime on Cutoff Weekend.

Phillipsburg Preview Story with Head Coach Frank Duffy: Phillipsburg, settled down after wild title win, ready and focused on Ramapo in Group 4 semis

Ramapo title game recap: Ramapo scores often, gets key defensive stops to claim back-to-back North 1, Group 4 titles; will visit Phillipsburg Friday in Group 4 semis

FINALS HISTORY:

Phillipsburg:

The winningest program in New Jersey didn’t play in the NJSIAA playoffs for many years. They won one title in four finals berths from 1975 through 1979 – only missing the title game in 1976 – then joined the NJSIAA in the mid-90s. It took them until 2001 to reach a final, their second overall, and first in a span of seven titles in 11 appearances over nearly two decades from 2001 to 2018.

The Stateliners were the No. 1 seed in North 2, Group 5 the last two seasons, but fell to 6-seed West Orange, 28-7, in 2022, and to No. 2 seed Union City, 24-17 last season. Back down to Group 4, they won their ninth New Jersey sectional title last Friday, 13-11, over Northern Highlands.

Playoff Berths: 40
Playoff Record: 35-33
Finals Berths: 18
Sectional Titles: 9

North 2, Group 3
1975: #1 Morris Hills def. #2 Phillipsburg, 7-0
1977: #2 Phillipsburg def. #1 Parsippany, 26-0
1978: #4 Rahway def. #3 Phillipsburg, 23-10
1979: #2 Rahway def. #1 Phillipsburg, 14-6
North 2, Group 4
2001: #5 Phillipsburg def. #2 Montclair, 10-7
2004: #1 Piscataway def. #2 Phillipsburg, 27-26 (OT) at Rutgers
2005: #1 Phillipsburg def. #2 Piscataway, 15-6 at Rutgers
2006: #3 Elizabeth def. #1 Phillipsburg, 14-9
North 2, Group 3
2008: #4 Phillipsburg def. #6 Rahway, 20-6
2009: #2 Phillipsburg def. #5 Ridge, 34-7 at Kean
North 2, Group 4
2013: #1 Phillipsburg def. #6 Mendham, 39-0
2014: #2 Phillipsburg def. #1 Colonia, 28-21 (OT) at Rutgers
2015: #1 Middletown South def. #2 Phillipsburg, 35-7
2017: #2 North Hunterdon def. #1 Phillipsburg, 21-20
2018: #1 Phillipsburg def. #3 Irvington, 42-7
North 2, Group 5
2022: #6 West Orange def. #1 Phillipsburg, 28-7
2023: #2 Union City def. #1 Phillipsburg, 24-17
North 2, Group 4
2024: #1 Phillipsburg def. #3 Northern Highlands, 13-11

Ramapo:

While the Raiders have won 14 sectional title in 19 trips – an astounding 14-5 record all-time in sectional finals – much of their success in the post season has come in the last quarter decade of the playoffs than the first.

From 1974 through 1998 – the first 25 years of playoffs in New Jersey, which started in 1974 – Ramapo had won four titles in five appearances. Their first came in 1974, when they beat Dumont to win a two-team field (as the playoffs were in that first season). They also won North 1, Group 3 titles in 1983, 1993 and 1997, their only loss in that span coming in 1988.

But from 2000 on, they’ve been to the finals 14 times and won ten crowns. BY now, they have not missed a sectional final since 2016. They went to the finals in 2017 and lost, but won the next two before the COVID year – where there were no playoffs, then made it again in 2021 and 2022, and won sectional titles last year and this season.

Playoff Berths: 31
Playoff Record: 52-18
Finals Berths: 19
Sectional Titles: 14

North 1, Group 3
1974: #1 Ramapo def. #2 Dumont, 46-14 (two teams qualified)
1983: #4 Ramapo def. #3 Wayne Valley, 13-7
1988: #3 Wayne Valley def. Ramapo, 49-10
1993: #1 Ramapo def. #2 Wayne Hills, 23-17
1997: #2 Ramapo def. #1 Hoboken, 21-14
2000: #2 Ramapo def. #1 Wayne Hills, 14-7
2001: #1 Ramapo def. #3 Wayne Hills, 14-10
2002: # 1 Wayne Hills def. #3 Ramapo, 19-0
2003: #2 Ramapo def. #5 Demarest, 31-28
2009: #7 Ramapo def. #1 Wayne Hills, 16-8
2012: #2 Ramapo def. #5 Sparta, 37-34
2015: #2 Ramapo def. #1 River Dell, 45-15
2017: #2 River Dell def. #1 Ramapo, 28-7
2018: #1 Ramapo def. #3 River Dell, 31-7 (Ramapo def. Summit, 42-22, in North 3 Regional Championship, finished 13-0)
2019: #1 Ramapo def. #3 Pascack Valley, 28-23 (Ramapo def. Parsippany Hills, 38-21, in North 3 Regional Championship, finished 13-0)
North 1, Group 4
2021: #1 Northern Highlands def. #2 Ramapo, 35-30
2022: #4 Northern Highlands def. #2 Ramapo, 49-42
2023: #1 Ramapo def. #3 Northern Highlands, 14-10 (Ramapo def. Mount Olive, 24-19, in Group 4 semifinals) (Ramapo def. Mainland, 56-0, in Group 4 final at Rutgers)
2024: #3 Ramapo def. #1 Morris Knolls, 35-28

2024 PHILLIPSBURG COVERAGE:

*Phillipsburg won the North 2, Group 4 title with a dramatic 13-11 win over Northern Highlands at Maloney Stadium on November 15, 2024. (Photo: Marcus Borden)*

NEWS & NOTES:

Easton vs. State Championship…

Since the 2023 season ended, Phillipsburg has set its sights on a state championship. Losing in the sectional finals the last two seasons with loaded teams that earned the No. 1 seed both years didn’t sit well with the Stateliners, even though they beat Easton on Thanksgiving back-to-back years for the first time since 2002 and 2003.

In the years where Phillipsburg won their eight prior state sectional titles, Phillipsburg is 3-5 against Easton. In the nine seasons where they lost in the sectional finals, their record is 2-6-1, with those two wins coming in the last two years.

Offense/Defense…

Last year, Phillipsburg scored 431 points, or 35.9 per game, and they topped 40 seven times, with a season-high 54 scored against North Hunterdon (which went winless in 2023).

This year, they have scored 40 or more six times, with two more chances to match last year’s total. This year, they have scored 391 points in eleven games, for a 35.5 average.

The North 2, Group 4 final win over Northern Highlands, 13-11, was the Stateliners’ lowest offensive output of the season.

Defensively, they’ve held six of their 12 opponents to single-digit scoring. And while they have three shutouts to their credit, the lowest point total Phillipsburg has allowed otherwise is the ten they allowed last week. Three others scored 14.

Last year’s team had no shutouts, but held half of their 12 opponents to single digits.

Best Football, Right Time…

Ramapo is a great story, having started the year 0-3, but recovering nicely, not only to make the playoffs, but to win the North 1, Group 4 title. They opened with an out-of-state loss to Somers (NY), then followed it with home losses to Ridgewood and Old Tappan.

But things turned around in Week Four, picking up a ten-point road win over Montclair. Then they beat Passaic Tech at home, 21-7, in one of their signature wins this season. (The Bulldogs were sectional finalists, falling to Union City by five last week.)

Their Northern Highlands win also was a high water mark, beating the Highlanders at home, 25-23, in triple overtime, after missing a field goal that would have won it in regulation with under ten seconds left. It was their sixth straight meeting decided by a touchdown or less, with three of them – but not that one – coming in sectional finals.

Repping Warren County…

There are only five football-playing public high schools in Warren County, a fairly sparse part of New Jersey, population-wise. Besides Phillipsburg, there’s North Warren, Warren Hills, Hackettstown and Belvidere. Combined, the county has claimed just 12 sectional titles over the years, with nine going to the Stateliners.

Warren Hills is the last Warren County school besides Phillipsburg to win a sectional title; that came in 2000, in the North 2, Group 3 section. Belvidere won its only title in North 2, Group 1 in 1999. And Hackettstown won the North 2, Group 2 title in 1981. North Warren has never won a title.