Veteran Colonia heads out to Phillipsburg for first meeting in a decade, with trip to North 2, Group 4 finals on the line

Last week, under the lights on a cold night in a do-or-die playoff game at Ridge, every time Colonia needed to make a play, a senior stepped up and delivered. 

Down 6-0 early and back on defense in the second quarter, senior R.J. Wortman’s pick-six helped give Colonia its first lead. Down 13-7 late in the first half, senior Julien Jones rumbled in from six yards out to tie the game just before the break.

Then, on the first drive of the second half, Wortman caught a short touchdown pass from senior quarterback Dylan Chiera to put Colonia ahead 20-13. Even when Ridge scored again early in the fourth quarter, senior Harsimran Mann blocked his second extra point of the night to keep the Patriots ahead, 20-19.

With Ridge driving to win late in the fourth quarter, it was Julien Jones again leading the charge on a fourth down stop on Colonia’s own 29-yard line to seal the deal.

Senior, senior, senior, senior.

The result: a 20-19 road win over the fourth-seeded Red Devils in the first round of the North 2, Group 4 playoffs and a date with top-seeded Phillipsburg Friday night in an all-Big Central sectional semifinal.

The Stateliners will present all types of challenges. For one, it’s an hour-plus bus ride west for Colonia on Friday afternoon. For another, Phillipsburg is 8-1, ranked 2nd in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, and their only loss is to No. 1 St. Joseph-Metuchen.

Last year, the Stateliners captured the North 2, Group 4 title over Northern Highlands on a 46-yard field goal by Alexie Moreira – who’s back this year – as time expired. Colonia head coach Tom Roarty called Phillipsburg “a top-five team in the state every year.”

At this stage of the season, though, experience is everything. And Colonia has it in droves. Dylan Chiera has thrown for over 2,185 yards and 22 touchdowns. R.J. Wortman has over 1,160 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns. Julien Jones has 6 touchdowns on offense and 8 sacks on defense. Harsimran Mann, George Simpson, and Yisrael Custudio all have double-digit tackles for loss. All are seniors. 

“Now we’re 7-3, but our three losses are to Sayreville, Woodbridge, and Old Bridge. They’re all in the second round of the playoffs, too,” said Colonia’s 13th-year head coach Tom Roarty. “I told the kids ‘Why not us?’ We have to believe we’re a good team and we’re just as good as anybody that we play.”

The senior-laden Patriots will have a huge opportunity to prove it and advance Friday night at Phillipsburg in the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving. You can hear the game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio with pregame at 6:45 and kickoff at 7:00. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will be on the call; click here to listen.

It’ll be the first meeting between the schools since they faced each other in the semifinals of this very same section in 2015, a 28-13 Colonia loss. They also played the year before in the finals at Rutgers, with the Patriots falling in overtime, 28-21, when a fourth-down pass play fell short of the line-to-gain.

Click below to hear Colonia head coach Tom Roarty preview the game with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Justin Sontupe: