North 2, Group 4 Final Preview: Phillipsburg Stateliners vs. Montgomery Cougars

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 Final:
When: Friday, 7 pm
Where: Maloney Stadium, Phillipsburg
Matchup: #Montgomery (8-3) at #1 Phillipsburg (9-1)
Coverage: LIVE on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko, Alec Crouthamel (click here to listen)
Weather: 46 degrees, mostly cloudy, wind WNW 3 mph (crosswind from home stands toward visitor stands)

HEAD COACHES:

Phillipsburg: Frank Duffy (10th season, 84-25)
Montgomery: Sean Carty (1st season, 8-3)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

Phillipsburg:
First Round: def. #8 Newark Central, 55-14
Semifinals: def. #5 Colonia, 35-7

Montgomery:
First Round: def. #6 Westfield, 32-10
Semifinals: def. #2 Woodbridge, 20-15

Who’s next? The winner of this game will play the North 1, Group 4 winner in the Group 4 semifinals. That title game features top-seed Ramapo (10-0) hosting second-seed Northern Highlands (7-3) Friday night at 6:30. Phillipsburg is familiar with both teams, as they beat Ramapo in the state semifinals last year, a week after beating Northern Highlands in the sectional final. The Stateliners would host either opponent should they win, since they’re the overall No. 1 seed. However, if Montgomery pulls the upset and wins the North 2 title, the Cougars would play on the road, no matter who that game is against.

SERIES HISTORY:

This will be the sixth meeting between the schools, but their first since 2020. Phillipsburg has won all five matchups, with the closest one coming in 2016, a 14-6 win at Montgomery. The Stateliners also beat the Cougars in 2020, 2017, 2011 and 2010.

PREVIEWS:

• Phillipsburg’s focus will serve Stateliners well in North 2, Group 4 final against Montgomery
• Veteran-laden group leads Montgomery into North 2, Group 4 final against Phillipsburg for first-ever sectional championship appearance

FINALS HISTORY:

Phillipsburg:

The winningest program in New Jersey didn’t play in the NJSIAA playoffs for many years, since they played a Pennsylvania schedule. But they couldn’t play in the PIAA playoffs either, being an out-of-state team. They won one title in four finals berths from 1975 through 1979 – only missing the title game in 1976 – then after spending time with a Pennsy schedule, 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 in Group 5 for the 2022-2023 cycle, and made the finals both years, falling to sixth-seed West Orange, 28-7, the first of those years, and to No. 2 seed Union City, 24-17 in 2023. Last year, they moved down to Group 4, and beat Northern Highlands for the North 2 sectional title on a game-winning field goal by Alexie Moreira.

Playoff Berths: 29
Playoff Record: 48-20
Previous 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
2024: #1 Phillipsburg 13, #3 Northern Highlands 11

Montgomery:

Having only begun play in 2002, this is Montgomery’s first-ever trip to a sectional final. With a 3-8 mark all-time in the playoffs, two of those wins came this year. Their only other win came in 2007, as a four-seed in Central Jersey Group 4, against fifth-seed South Brunswick, 34-17. The Cougars would go on to fall to top-seed and eventual champion Howell, 49-20 in the CJ4 semifinals.

Playoff Berths: 9
Playoff Record: 3-8
Previous Finals Berths: 0
Sectional Titles: 0

2024 PHILLIPSBURG COVERAGE:

• Phillipsburg controls play up front as Wargo, Dech lead Stateliners to fourth straight sectional finals with 35-7 win over Colonia
• INSTANT REPLAY – North 2, Group 4 Semifinals: (1) Phillipsburg 35, (5) Colonia 7
• Phillipsburg seeking fourth straight sectional final bid when Colonia comes to Maloney Friday
• Both Big Central top-seeds advance, as Bridgewater-Raritan cruises past Linden, Phillipsburg blows out Newark Central; Woodbridge, Montgomery and Colonia also win in North 2, Group 4
• NJSIAA unveils 2025 football playoff brackets; Phillipsburg and Bridgewater-Raritan get top seeds as 25 qualify from the Big Central
• Cutoff Weekend Friday Playoff Update – Group 4: Phillipsburg claims overall top seed, seven Big Central teams will be in North 2, Group 4
• No. 6 St. Joseph-Metuchen dominates second half, stuns No. 1 Phillipsburg with 21-0 shutout, as head coach Bill Tracy earns 150th career win
• Friday Night Big Central Roundup: No. 1 Phillipsburg guts one out, Metuchen beats Turkey Day rival Highland Park, all seven unbeatens in action win, No. 4 Bernards narrowly keeps state, BCC streak in tact
• No. 1 Phillipsburg cruises past Hunterdon Central, 55-14, on four TD night from Sam Dech; Stateliners pick up program’s 750th win
• Saturday Big Central Roundup: New Providence and No. 1 Phillipsburg roll, but storms wreak havoc on later games on the schedule
• No. 1 Phillipsburg rolls in opener, blanking Westfield on the road, 28-0 behind 3 Dech TDs
• What do you do for an encore? In Phillipsburg, the answer is “Keep winning, beat Easton”

2025 MONTGOMERY COVERAGE:

• Montgomery overcomes mistakes, holds on 20-15 over Woodbridge in North 2 Group 4 semifinals to earn first-ever title game trip
• Rahway wins “playoff play-in,” clinching postseason berth with 28-7 win over No. 3 Montgomery behind Avent’s mammoth night, and a solid supporting cast
• No. 3 Montgomery, looking to finish strong in bounceback season, visits Rahway as Indians need “play in” win
• No. 10 Montgomery shuts down Jackson, pulls away for 43-15 road win at No. 5 Sayreville
• Montgomery dual threat QB Jack Kristjanson leads Cougars to Somerville upset, Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week honors in Week 2
• Week 2 upsets knock some teams down a peg, while Montgomery joins, Piscataway rejoins Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten
• Montgomery stuns No. 2 Somerville as Cougars rally to erase late deficit on the road with Kristjanson-McFadden connection, win 22-15
• Montgomery H.S. honors longtime football mentor Zoran Milich with field renaming
• Montgomery avenges loss in ’24 opener, rallies to beat Hopewell Valley in overtime, 35-28
• Marcus Borden’s 2025 Camp Caravan:  Montgomery on the clock, looking for bounceback season

NEWS & NOTES:

The Road More Traveled…

While Phillipsburg is back in the state title game, and Montgomery is making its first appearance, the Cougars took the same exact path to get here as Northern Highlands did in getting to the 2024 title game in this section.

Phillipsburg was the No. 1 seed then and now. Northern Highlands was the three-seed last year, and so is Montgomery, which faced the same two teams in the opening two rounds.

Last year, the Highlanders topped sixth-seed Westfield in the first round, 21-0. This year, the Cougars beat the sixth-seeded Blue Devils 32-10.

Then, in the semifinals, Northern Highlands got second-seed Woodbridge, and beat them 26-7, while Monty also got the second-seeded Barrons, and pulled out a 20-15 win on the road to avenge an earlier regular season defeat at home.

Easton vs. State Championship…

Since the 2023 season ended, Phillipsburg has set its sights on a state championship. Losing in the sectional finals the previous 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.

Last year, they got that sectional title, but lost to Easton, making them then 3-6 all-time against the Red Rovers in the nine seasons where they’ve won an NJSIAA championship. In the nine seasons where they lost in the sectional finals, their record is 2-6-1 against Easton, with those two wins coming in 2022 and 2023.

Something Old, Something New…

Phillipsburg is one of the oldest and most storied programs in New Jersey, now in its 120th season of football. This season, in a 55-14 win over Hunterdon Central on September 12th, the Stateliners earned their 750th all-time win, and now have 757.

Montgomery, meanwhile, has played 96 fewer seasons of high school football, more than many schools in New Jersey have actually played. They’re in their 24th season, and have 114 wins.

What’s been remarkable for Montgomery is they were just 1-9 last year, making them a plus-seven in terms of having a bounceback season – pretty remarkable under first-year head coach Kevin Carty, who had previously served as offensive coordinator under Zoran Milich, who

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 25 years ago, 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.

Until last year’s win, Phillipsburg had been the last Warren County school to win a championship, coming in 2018.