Phillipsburg coach Frank Duffy talks to his team after a 41-20 home loss to Ramapo in the Group 4 semifinals on November 21, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
As soon as the Ramapo football team stepped onto Bellis Field at Maloney Stadium in Phillipsburg Friday night, the Raiders huddled up, and psyched themselves up even more for Friday night’s game, if that was even possible.
The sting of a 35-6 defeat here last year was fresh, and one of the captains shouted “We want revenge! Let’s get ’em!”
And right from the get-go, that’s what they did in the Group 4 semifinals, heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, ultimately leading to a convincing 41-20 win over the Stateliners.
Ramapo (11-1) will play in the state Group 4 finals for the second time in three years, and will face the winner of Saturday’s other Group 4 semi, with Brick Memorial (10-2) visiting Winslow Twp. (10-2).
Phillipsburg (10-2) will play Easton on Thanksgiving at Lafayette College. The Red Rovers (13-1) took their first defeat of the season Friday night, falling to LaSalle, 49-7, in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals.
Ramapo won the opening toss, took the ball, and needed just three plays to score on a four-yard run by 6’3″, 185 pound runningback Liam Hayward to go up 7-0. Win or lose, this would not be like last year.
Phillipsburg answered with an eleven-play drive, with ten of those plays going to Sam Dech, who capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to tie it.
And things looked pretty good after they got Ramapo behind the sticks on their next possession, forcing a three-and-out. And while the Stateliners settled for a 32-yard field goal from Alexie Moreira to give them their first lead of the game at 9:03 of the second quarter, they left points on the board.
And it would be their only lead, despite Ramapo only running seven offensive plays to that point.
They scored on their next turn on a three-yard run by Gino Gorga to make it 14-10, then got it back on a Dominic Bracco interception over the middle – picked off by Jack Schneider – and punched in an eight-yard touchdown run by quarterback Casey Grusser, who stretched the ball over the end zone as he was being tackled, making it 21-10 Raiders at halftime.
Phillipsburg failed to score on its opening possession of the half, and Gorga would punch in his second touchdown of the night from three yards out, capping a 12-play, 81-yard drive to make it 28-10.
From there, the Stateliners were in a massive hole, and without a significant passing game, had little time to make a push.
Sam Dech would score on a quick, four-play drive – helped by one of his trademark 48-yard runs – to get it to 28-17, but Ramapo answered back on a 21-yard TD catch by No. 1 receiver Joseph Santo-Yessis, his 14th of the season. Moreira would add another field goal, and Grusser would hit tight end Mike Visksjo with 4:44 to go, but by then, the game was well in hand.
Dech finished with a typical Dech night: 24 carries unofficially for 160 yards and two touchdowns, which puts him at at 2,760 yards heading into his final high school game on Turkey Day against the ‘Liners biggest rivals.
Click below for postgame reaction from Phillipsburg head coach Frank Duffy, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
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