Phillipsburg visits East Orange in the North 2, Group 5 semifinals at Paul Robeson Stadium on November 7, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
In high school football, many things come and go, many things change, and some things stay the same.
One of those being Phillipsburg playing for a championship at Maloney Stadium.
The third-seeded Stateliners (8-2) are back in the hunt for a title in their return to Group 5 — as part of the NJSIAA’s competitive balance formula — after back-to-back sectional titles in Group 4.
And for the fifth consecutive year, that trophy will be awarded to a team at Bellis Field.
Phillipsburg will host fourth-seeded Passaic Tech, with the Bulldogs (8-3) fresh off back-to-back 35-0 victories over high-level Big Central opponents in fifth-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan and top-seeded and previously unbeaten Elizabeth.
Passaic Tech has won six straight games and are playing like the hottest team in the state, while the Stateliners have remained steady through years of title chases, shaping up for a heavyweight battle at Maloney Stadium, set for Friday at 7 pm. Alec Crouthamel and Chris Tsakonas will call all the action, with pregame starting at 6:40; click here to listen.
The bracket may not have lined things up this way to start, but the Stateliners will have a chance for their third straight sectional title (across two groups) on their home field.
They got here with two workmanlike efforts, defeating sixth-seeded Ridgewood 38-27, then second-seeded East Orange 31-13 on the road, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
In the win over the Jaguars, three touchdowns from senior tailback Shane Moore propelled Phillipsburg to victory, as well as its usual stout defense, holding an explosive East Orange offense to just six points for much of the afternoon, while adding a score of its own on a 40-yard pick-six by linebacker David Pacewicz, one of two interceptions on the day.
But even with all the pomp and circumstance that comes with yearly deep postseason runs, Stateliners’ 11th-year head coach Frank Duffy upholds a culture that doesn’t put any one game over another. It’s all ingrained in their program mantra: D.I.G. (Discipline, Ignore the Noise, Grit.).
Duffy and his staff consistently preach the same message: Do your job, follow the process, and the results will follow.
That process will certainly be tested by a white-hot Passaic Tech team, led by dual-threat southpaw quarterback Bryce Longo. A transfer from St. Joseph Regional in Montvale, Longo made his season debut on September 25th, a 17-14 double-overtime loss to Ramapo (the now-eliminated top seed in North 1, Group 5), but since then, the Bulldogs have been nearly unstoppable, with six straight wins while scoring at least 30 points in all of them.
Longo didn’t even need to carry the offense with his arm against the top-seeded Minutemen, completing three of his four pass attempts for 50 yards. He did add 102 yards and a score on seven rush attempts, as Passaic Tech racked up 357 yards and four scores on the ground. But the Bulldogs have shown they can win in multiple different ways on offense, against two strong teams comparable to Phillipsburg, at that.
But two programs with champion pedigrees will face off playing their best football, and only one can walk away with the sectional crown.
Click below to hear Phillipsburg head coach Frank Duffy preview the Stateliners’ North 2, Group 5 final matchup against Passaic Tech with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:
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