Group 4 Finals Preview: Phillipsburg Stateliners vs. Winslow Twp. Eagles

Group 4 Semifinals:
When: Wednesday, December 4th, 7 pm
Where: SHI Stadium, Rutgers University, Piscataway
Matchup: Phillipsburg (11-2, North 2 Group 4 champs) vs. Winslow Twp. (13-0, South Group 4 champs)
Play-by-Play: LISTEN LIVE to Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino
Social Media: Follow Marcus Borden on Twitter for updates
Weather: 37 degrees, cloudy skies, wind S 9 mph (from left corner of South end zone to left corner of North end zone)

HEAD COACHES:

Phillipsburg: Frank Duffy (9th season, 78-24)
Winslow Twp: Bill Belton (3rd season, 29-7)

STRENGTH INDEX:

Phillipsburg: 96.35
Winslow Twp: 111.39 (+15.34)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Phillipsburg (#1 seed):
First Round: def. #8 Nutley, 42-0
Semifinals: def. #5 Chatham, 31-14
North 2, Group 4 Finals: def. # 3 Northern Highlands, 13-11
Group 4 Semifinals: def. North 1 champion #3 Ramapo, 35-6

Winslow Twp (#1 seed):
First Round: def. #8 Princeton, 69-6
Semifinals: def. #4 Manalapan, 49-8
South Group 4 Finals: def. #3 Shawnee, 32-8
Group 4 Semifinals: def. Central champion #1 Millville, 13-7

SERIES HISTORY:

This will be the first meeting between Phillipsburg and Winslow Twp., and they have no common opponents.

Phillipsburg Preview Story with Head Coach Frank Duffy:
Phillipsburg may be looking to make history, but they’re just focused on themselves heading into Group 4 Final against Winslow at Rutgers

Winslow Preview Story with Head Coach Bill Belton:
Unbeaten Winslow focused on just one more win: a state title. But, they’ll have to go through Phillipsburg

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: 28
Playoff Record: 46-19
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

Winslow Twp:

The Eagles are one of the top teams in the state, and the top-ranked public school in the NJ.com rankings. They’re also the top-ranked team in all of New Jersey – public or non-public – in the most recent state power rankings, which Central Jersey Sports Radio complies each week, based on the NJSIAA’s Strength Index. (See comparison above.)

But much of Winslow’s big success has been recent. They have made only 11 postseason appearances in 50 seasons of playoffs in New Jersey (since 1974, none in 2020 due to COVID), and have won two titles, both in the last three years, and those are the Eagles’ only finals appearances.

In 2021, under the previous coach, Kenneth Scott, Winslow won the Central Jersey Group 4 title, but fell in the South Group 4 Regional Championship to Millville, 45-35 at Rutgers, their last trip to Piscataway.

After a 6-4 season the following year, they went to their first of back-to-back finals in 2023, topping Long Branch for the Central Jersey Group 3 trophy, then lost to Mainland in their first trip to the “true” state semifinals.

Playoff Berths: 12
Playoff Record: 14-9
Finals Berths: 3
Sectional Titles: 3

Central Group 4
2021: #1 Winslow def. #2 Shawnee, 34-32 (Winslow lost to Millville, 45-35, in South 4 Regional Final at Rutgers)
Central Group 3
2023: #1 Winslow def. #6 Long Branch, 41-7 (Winslow lost to Mainland, 41-7, in Group 4 Semifinals)
South Group 4
2024: #1 Winslow def. #3 Shawnee, 32-8 (Winslow def. Millville, 13-7, in Group 4 Semifinals)

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 or 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.

After this year’s Turkey Day, overtime loss, In the years where Phillipsburg won their nine New Jersey state sectional titles, Phillipsburg is 3-6 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.

Secrbo rewrites history…

Phillipsburg has generally been a run-heavy team over the years, but with Jett Genovese at QB and Matthew Scerbo, Jr. at wide receiver for the last three seasons, the Stateliners have been putting the ball in the air.

And Scerbo has been catching it. A lot.

He’s now the career leader in three major categories. He’s first in receptions with 130, and by a large margin. He Broke Mike Lelko’s record at Ridge in late September, and is the first 100-catch wide receiver in Phillipsburg history.

He also now owns the career TD reception record at P’burg with 24. He tied Jim Clymer’s record of 15 against Ridge, then broke it against Hillsborough. However, he hasn’t had a touchdown catch in the last four games. He did haul in two TD passes in the opening round of the playoffs against Nutley.

The third big record is in the receiving yards category, and he’s got it by a lot. He has 2,264 in his career, well past Clymer’s 1,679.

Scerbo also had personal bests against Hillsborough. Two seasons ago, he had eight catches in a game against the Raiders, and when they played them this year, had 234 yards receiving.

Don’t forget Alexie…

Oh, yeah, Alexie Moriera also had a hand in rewriting the Phillipsburg record books. His 46-yard field goal to win the North 2, Group 4 title against Northern Highlands as time expired was a school record.

He kicked two three-pointers in that game, and at that point was only 3-for-3 as a kicker, with this being his first season of football. His only miss this year came in overtime against Easton on the opening possession.

Moreira also is 57 of 59 on PATs this season, with the 57 good kicks ranking him third in the state for most PATs. Sebastian Kovacs of Group 1 state runner-up Cedar Grove is tops with 72.

D1 U?

Winslow is enormously talented, and the number of scholarship offers they have are off the charts.

And many of them have come from Fran Brown, the Syracuse coach who has South Jersey ties – he’s from Camden – and spent two stints as an assistant at Temple, and a year at Rutgers under Greg Schiano in 2020.

Karon Ali, Nahmir Tucker, TJ Maddox, Mekhi McNair and Nakeem Powell all have offers from Brown, while only Cameron Miller is committed – to Wisconsin.

Signing Day…

Wednesday is the “early” – albeit now the main – National Letter of Intent Signing Day for college football, but for Miller and anyone else, ceremonies may be subdued considering there’s a pretty big game both teams are playing Wednesday night.

Besides all the Winslow players above, Felix Matos of Phillipsburg committed this week to Long Island University.