No. 1 Phillipsburg faces stiff road test Saturday afternoon at No. 6 St. Joseph in battle of undefeated teams

There have been 14 different teams ranked in the Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Top Ten this season, but not a huge amount of matchups between ranked teams.

One of the biggest in the league this season will take place Saturday afternoon in Metuchen when 6th-ranked St. Joseph faces No. 1 Phillipsburg, in a battle of two 5-0 teams.

And both might very well be playing some of the best football since the BCC’s inaugural, COVID-shortened season of 2020.

The Stateliners have had double-digit wins the last three seasons and are likely headed toward that again. They’ve been to three straight sectional finals, getting over the hump last year with a win over Northern Highlands, and became the first Big Central team to reach the NJSIAA’s state group finals, falling to Winslow Twp. at Rutgers in the last game of the high school season in New Jersey.

St. Joseph went 5-5 in Bill Tracy’s first season, then improved to 7-3, but slipped back last year to 5-5, following a 5-0 start. Their first loss came out at Phillipsburg, then they lost three more in the regular season before falling to Don Bosco in the opening round of the playoffs.

This season? The Stateliners picked up right where they left off, despite graduation losses of key players like Jett Genovese, Felix Matos and Matthew Scerbo, Jr. Sophomore Dominic Bracco has managed the games, and he and others like Jayson Blacknall, Tyler Wargo and Sem Dech do their things.

The Falcons, meanwhile, have been solid again with guys like senior Justin Scaramuzzo at quarterback and Reggie Bropleh, Dylan Pierce and others making plays. The defense has held three teams to single-digit scoring – with a shutout of Westfield – and has allowed an average of just 11 points a game all season.

The Stateliners also shutout Westfield this season, but have allowed 20 points in each of the last two games, wins at Hillsborough and at home last week against West Orange. And last week was the first time Phillipsburg had trailed in a game after the first quarter.

You can hear Saturday’s game right here on Central Jersey Sports Radio (click here to listen) with kickoff set for 1:00 in Metuchen. Pregame is at 12:45 as Mike Pavlichko calls all the play-by-play with Max Scheiner serving as analyst.

Click below to hear preview interviews from both head coaches: