If anyone was wondering who would pick up the the reins of the Phillipsburg football program after being hit hard by graduation this past June, fear not Stateliner fans, the cupboard is not bare!
In a dominant performance at Hunterdon Central this past Friday, a packed house at Stewart Field found out how Phillipsburg’s defense would force the Red Devils to punt just 1:05 into the game, then score on a Sam Dech 11-yard run after a faking punt on their first series.
The Stateliners would race out to a 34-7 halftime lead with Dech scoring again and fellow backfield mate Zihyan McGurn scoring on two long runs while sophomore quarterback Dominic Bracco found Jaysen Blacknall on a deep strike over the middle.
Dech would score two more times in the third quarter with a running clock as he and the starters were relegated to cheering on their second team brothers on offense and defense in the final stanza. The backups put the finishing touches on a 55-14 victory which should send a clear message to their future opponents: WE DIG!
Saturday afternoon’s game between the Roselle Rams and the Metuchen Bulldogs was ultimately decided in the final three minutes of the contest.
Metuchen trailed 12-7 in the fourth quarter, forcing the visiting Rams to punt with 6:02 remaining in the game. They would begin their drive at the Roselle 45-yard line.
After a short run the Bulldogs took to the air along the Roselle sideline while getting first down by a pass interference call on the Ram’s defender. On the very next play the Roselle defender was called for defensive holding as Metuchen took to the air again.
Metuchen would milk the clock running on four consecutive plays with quarterback Cam Hayes-Durina getting a first down to the five-yard line. A counter play to Josiah Bourne would get the ball to the one-yard line with 1:49 on the clock.
Bourne would not get up and the training staff would work on comforting the senior running back, placing his leg in an air cast. Both teams were at their sidelines until Josiah was loaded on a stretcher and wished well by his teammates. The game would resume after a brief warm-up by both squads.
Metuchen would line-up at the Roselle 1-yard line as the signal for play allowed the Bulldogs to let the clock run down while Hayes-Durina would bully his way into the end zone, putting the Bulldogs up 13-12 with 1:20 remaining in the game.
Roselle would go offsides on the point after attempt allowing the home team to go for a two-point conversion, which would force the Rams to score a touchdown or kick a field goal to tie the game. But Metuchen would fail to cross the goal line as the Rams were up to the challenge.
Roselle was ready for the squib kick and took the ball around their forty-five yard line. After an incomplete pass, the Rams would run a quick screen to Raekwon Anderson who would get the ball to the Metuchen 35 yard line.
After another incomplete pass, Anderson would catch an out route from quarterback Deion Nelson, getting the ball out of bounds. Roselle would call a timeout with 43 seconds on the clock.
The Rams would run a screen to their sideline getting out of bounds with :27 left in the game and the ball on the Metuchen 19-yard-line. Nelson would then loft a prayer to Anderson on a fade pattern to the end zone with two Bulldog defenders in position to intercept the ball.
The Rams’ junior receiver went up and maintained his focus on the ball as it was tipped into his hands while he got both feet down for the touchdown resulting in a wild celebration on the Roselle sideline.
With 18 seconds remaining on the clock, the Rams two-point attempt would fail, keeping the score 18-13. A penalty would allow the Rams to squib the ball down the field with senior Kevin Sanchez recovering the fumbled kick, securing Roselle’s first win of the season.
Here are my Week 2 Top Tens for the entire Big Central Conference, plus the BCC West, Middlesex County and Union County:
