There weren’t too many unexpected results around the Big Central as divisional play opened for most teams, but the one surprise score came from out in the Lehigh Valley.
That’s where top-ranked Phillipsburg lost to Freedom (PA) – ranked No. 5 by Lehigh Valley Live – at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium, 32-31, in a back-and-forth affair that was their first meeting in 32 years, and which the local media out there are calling an instant classic.
Scroll through for recaps, scores, interviews, and the rest of the weekend schedule in the Big Central!
Liners take first loss heading into BCC play…
Phillipsburg scored first Friday night in their longtime rematch with Freedom on an 18-yard run by quarterback Dominic Bracco, but Freedom got the next three scores: two touchdowns sandwiched around a 37-yard field goal. but the ‘Liners Hunter Garrison connected from 47 to make it 17-10 Freedom at the half.
In the third quarter, a two-yard touchdown run by Xavier Campbell-Graham tied it, and his 49-yarder put P’burg up 23-17, after a blocked kick. Another TD by Freedom put then up 24-23 in the fourth, before Phillipsburg wrestled the lead back on a 34-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion pass., But Freedom would go ahead 32-31 on a touchdown run by Lashawn Johnson and his own two-point run. And they held on Phillipsburg’s final drive, forcing a turnover on downs on a fourth-and-20 for the Stateliners.
Bracco finished 8-of-16 passing for 157 yards, while running for 90 yards on nine carries, with two touchdowns. Shane Moore ran for 117 yards on 24 carries, and Campbell-Graham carried 13 times for 95 yards with two touchdown runs.
The Stateliners (2-1) will host Hillsborough next week before a brutal stretch: back-to-back road games at No. 2 St. Joseph-Metuchen and No. 9 Ridge, then No. 5 Bridgewater-Raritan at home.
Dayton flips the script on Brearley…
Last season, Brearley got a late 10-7 win over Dayton with a big defensive stand, keeping the Bulldogs out of the playoffs. This year, up in Kenlworth Friday night, they turned the tables with a 14-7 win on their own defensive stand at the two-yard line, a win that could help get them in the playoffs this year.
Tyler Fuscaldo opened the scoring for Dayton after the Bulldogs got the ball on the two following a Bears turnover, punching it in from a yard out. But Nate Bonnet’s 25-yard touchdown run for Brearley in the second quarter left it a 7-7 game at the half.
In the third, Fuscaldo scored again, this time from four yards out, to put Dayton back up by seven. Brearley threatened late, with Dayton appearing to have made a stop on fourth-and-two, but they’d have to do it again, after getting called for pass interference. And do it again they did, hanging on for a 14-7 win that puts them at 2-1 on the season after a season-opening loss at Governor Livingston.
Brearley took its first loss of the season and falls to 2-1.
Notes and Nuggets…
- Not only did fifth-ranked Bridgewater-Raritan see its best offensive output of the season at Basilone Field Friday night in a 40-14 win over Hillsborough, it was also the Panthers’ first win over their rivals from down Route 206 in almost nine years to the day. The last time Bridgewater beat the Raiders was in 2017, when they came up with a 31-30 home win on September 15th of that year. Many of those nine defeats were close, with all but one coming by 12 points or less.
- Senior and fourth-year starting quarterback Arique Fleming threw for 215 yards and a touchdown on a whopping 17-of-19 passing in a 19-7 road win at Union, handing the Farmers their first loss of the season. But they might need all that and then some next Friday night, when the Minutemen host No. 2 St. Joseph-Metuchen next Friday night at 6:00, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Alec Crouthamel and Dylan Allen on the call.
- Make it two straight wins for Monroe, which pounded North Brunswick, 42-7. Those are their first back-to-back wins since 2024, when the Falcons finished 4-6, and they have three very winnable games coming up: at home against East Brunswick next Friday, and a pair of road games at South Brunswick and North Hunterdon come to town. It’s also their first 2-1 start in four seasons under Nick Isola, and first overall since Dan Lee was coach in 2021.
- Plainfield’s 26-7 win over Colonia snapped its first two-game skid since 2022, putting the Cardinals at 2-1 heading into next Friday’s home matchup against Woodbridge, the first of two back-to-back home games, with Linden to follow.
- Back to our Thursday Night Big Central Roundup “Notes and Nuggets” section, we dug deep to find out the last time Highland Park – which beat JP Stevens 43-0 Thursday evening in North Edison – had shut out three straight opponents, which the Owls have now done in their 3-0 start by a combined 99-0 margin. Turns out it was 1964, when Rich Policastro was playing quarterback for Highland Park. Read more in our story posted earlier today on CJSR!
FRIDAY SCORES
- Freedom (PA) 32, #1 Phillipsburg 31
- #2 St. Joseph-Metuchen 28, Westfield 6
- #5 Bridgewater-Raritan 40, Hillsborough 14
- #8 St. Thomas Aquinas 40, Franklin 0
- #10 Rahway 42, Woodbridge 21
- Belvidere 42, Dunellen 2 (Coverage via Marcus Borden)
- Manville 35, Bound Brook 7 (Recap with Audio)
- Summit 13, Carteret 6
- Monroe 42, North Brunswick 7
- Plainfield 26, Colonia 7
- Perth Amboy 42, Roselle 6
- South Plainfield 35, JFK 0
- Dayton 14, Brearley 7
- Linden 14, New Brunswick 15
- Sayreville 41, Edison 6
- Elizabeth 19, Union 7
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
- Roselle Park at South River, 1 pm
- Delaware Valley at Hillside, 1 pm
THURSDAY SCORES:
- #3 Piscataway 42, East Brunswick 7
- #4 Old Bridge 21, South Brunswick 0 (Recap with Audio)
- #6 Somerville 54, North Hunterdon 6
- #9 Ridge 23, Hunterdon Central 17
- Highland Park 43, JP Stevens 0 (Coverage from Marcus Borden)
- South Hunterdon 21, Middlesex 15
- New Providence 27, Johnson 20
- Cranford 40, Scotch Plains-Fanwood 14
- Voorhees 14, North Plainfield 7
- Bernards 49, Governor Livingston 29
- Montgomery 32, Watchung Hills 14
- Spotswood 47, Metuchen 14
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