Tag: Frank Duffy

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg Stateliners repeat as sectional champs, No. 1 in Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten in 2025… and once again are Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Big Central Team of the Year

Everyone knows the Phillipsburg mystique, but Frank Duffy prefers to call it “the standard.” The measuring stick by which all Stateliner teams are judged.

That stick has 758 marks on it, one for every win the program has, the most in New Jersey history, spread across 120 years of football that sometimes has taken them to Pennsylvania, more often here at home in the Garden State, and – like next year – will see a mix of Pennsy and Jersey schools on the schedule.

But in 2025, after losing key contributors like Jett Genovese, Matthew Scerbo Jr., and Felix Matos to graduation, Phillipsburg barely skipped a beat.

They went into the playoffs at 7-1, their lone loss coming to St. Joseph-Metuchen. In the last two years, they’ve lost to just one New Jersey pubic school (Ridge last season).

And with three playoff wins, they took the North 2, Group 4 title with ease, starting with a 55-14 joke of a blowout win against a horribly over-matched eight-seed in Newark Central, then a 35-7 win over Colonia, and a 41-21 victory over Montgomery to claim their second straight state sectional title.

For that, Phillipsburg is crowned – once again, for a second straight year – Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Team of the Year.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Phillipsburg head coach Frank Duffy, and seniors Sam Dech and Aedan Hywel about their 2025 season:

by Mike Pavlichko

Ramapo’s Revenge: Phillipsburg falls in Group 4 semis rematch to Raiders, 41-20

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:

by Mike Pavlichko

Last ride at Maloney for Phillipsburg seniors, looking for another trip to Rutgers

In 2024, Phillipsburg became the first Big Central Conference team to make the NJSIAA’s state football finals, in the third year sine the playoffs expanded.

In 2025, they’re looking to make the return trip.

To do so, they’ll need to beat the same team they did last year, North 1 Group 4 champion Ramapo. That’ll be the last game at Maloney Stadium this season for Phillipsburg, as the North 2, Group 4 champion Stateliners take on the Raiders at 7 pm this Friday night in the Group 4 semifinals. Both teams are 10-1.

You can hear that game Friday on the “Big Central Game of the Week,” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, with Mike Pavlichko and Chris Tsakonas calling all the action. Pregame is set for 6:45 pm. Click here to listen.

Phillipsburg – though they have one loss this season, coming at the hands of St. Joseph-Metuchen – has maintained a steady focus on the prize – or should we say prizes, plural – this year.

That includes winning a sectional championship (already done, their tenth overall), beating Easton on Thanksgiving (that’s next week) and winning a state title. A win Friday gets them there, and then they’ll have to beat either defending champ and 2025 South Jersey Group 4 champ Winslow, or Central 4 champ Brick Memorial.

Last week, in the North 2, Group 4 title win over Montgomery, everyone played a role. Four different players scored, including the usual suspects like Sam Dech and Dominic Bracco, but so did Shane Moore – on a big TD pass – and tight end Donovan Samson in the second half.

Defensively, there were big plays at key moments, including a first-half safety after an Montgomery interception down near the goal line. And special teams recovered an early kick that Montgomery couldn’t.

Now if Phillipsburg likes to run they rock – and they do – Ramapo likes to toss it. Senior quarterback Casey Grusser has thrown for 2,100 yards this season, and he has three receivers who’ve caught 30 or more passes: Sal Livoti, Joseph SantoYessis, and Michael Ballan.

Click below to hear Phillipsburg coach Frank Duffy talk about the Stateliners and Friday’s Group 4 semifinal against Ramapo with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg is all business in 41-21 win over Montgomery to claim back-to-back state titles, tenth NJSIAA crown in school history

If you had just walked into Maloney stadium with a couple of minutes left in the fourth quarter, and stuck around for the ending, if it wasn’t for temperatures in the 40s, you might have thought it was a mid-season game between Phillipsburg and Montgomery.

The Stateliners led by 27, looking to run out the clock. The Cougars got a late touchdown to cut it to 20; too little, too late. The clock ran down to zero, and Phillipsburg celebrated like any other win.

Except, it was the program’s tenth NJSIAA state championship, Phillipsburg’s second in a row in North 2, Group 4, as the top-seeded Stateliners took control in the first half after falling behind 7-3 and never looked back, winning the North 2, Group 4 title 41-21 in a the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, and heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Phillipsburg (10-1) will get to play one more time this season at Maloney, hosting Ramapo in the Group 4 state semifinals at 7 pm next Friday. The Raiders (10-1) beat Northern Highlands at home, 28-27, in overtime Friday, holding off the Highlanders as they went for two on their turn in OT.

For the first time since an early October loss at St. Joseph-Metuchen, Phillipsburg found itself trailing in the game, only the second time they’d been behind in the first half all year – the other to West Orange the week before.

They got on the board first, with a 39-yard field goal off the foot of Alexie Moreira, but went down 8-3 after Montgomery QB Jack Kristjanson connected with Obinna Obuba for a 35-yard touchdown, then got a two-point conversion run.

But Phillipsburg would get the next five scores in the game.

First, sophomore QB Dominic Bracco – who was 7-of-10 passing for 109 yards and three touchdowns – hit Shane Moore out of the backfield for a 67-yard TD strike to make it 11-8 after a two-point run with 1:41 to go in the opneing quarter. Sam Dech scored on the next drive just 1:58 into the second on a one-yard run, and then – after Montgomery interception a yard out of their own end zone, Phillipsburg got a safety to make it 20-8 with 1:41 to go before the half, then added one more for good measure with five seconds to go before the break, a 13-yard touchdown run by Bracco to make it 26-8 going into the locker room.

By that point, Montgomery (8-4) – which had made some good defensive stops up front – had been worn down by a punishing Phillipsburg offensive line.

Senior runningback Sam Dech – who carried 17 times for 136 yards and a score, and also went 24 yards for a first down on a fake punt in the first half on fourth-and-four – scored from one-yard out late in the third to make it 34-8 before Monty could get back on the board again, though by that time, the game was pretty much in hand.

Bracco would hit tight end Donovan Samson with a four-yard TD pass at the 5:27 mark of the fourth to end the scoring.

And that business-like attitude? Well, it’s the reason for that muted celebration. And that muted celebration is part of the Phillipsburg mantra, D.I.G.: Discipline, Ignore The Noise, and Grit.

They just go about their business. This is the standard, what’s expected. And they do it.

They can celebrate later, when the season’s over. After all, there’s still more football to be played at Maloney, against Easton on Thanksgiving, and maybe Rutgers the week after.

Click below for Alec Crouthamel with postgame reaction from head coach Frank Duffy, QB Dominic Bracco, and RB/LB Sam Dech, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg’s focus will serve Stateliners well in North 2, Group 4 final against Montgomery

Montgomery is an interesting opponent for Phillipsburg this championship weekend.

They’re a young program, not even in existence for 30 years, while the Stateliners already had nearly 100 years in the books before the Cougars ever stepped foot on a field.

They had a solid 2023, lost a ton to graduation and won just one game last season, but now are 8-3 under first-year head coach Sean Carty, and playing in their first-ever title game.

But as far as Phillipsburg is concerned, they might as well be a nameless, faceless opponent.

It’s trite saying when a coach tells you “we just have to play our game,” and ‘Liners head coach Frank Duffy doesn’t even bother to say it. They just stick to the mantra: D.I.G.

For the uninitiated, that’s Discipline. Ignore the noise. And grit.

It has served the program well, as this Friday night at Maloney Stadium, the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 final will be its fourth straight sectional title game appearance, as Phillipsburg seeks back-to-back titles.

And it doesn’t matter whose name is on the other jersey. Sure, they respect opponents. But they know, if they just play their game, and do what they’re coached to do, they can – and will – come out on top.

You can hear that title game Friday night live on Central Jersey Sports Radio – featuring No. 1 seed Phillipsburg (9-1) and third-seed Montgomery (8-3) – with kickoff at 7 pm, and pregame at 6:45 with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Click here to listen.

P’burg has been solid nearly all year long. The only blip was a 21-0 loss at St. Joseph-Metuchen back on October 11, a game win which sophomore quarterback Dominic Bracco threw two interceptions. For the record, he had not thrown one before that game – and he hasn’t since.

The focus is the ground game. And more ground game. And then the ground game some more, all to the tune of nearly 3,000 yards rushing, led by senior Sam Dech and his 1,250 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also set a program record for the longest touchdown run, and run of any kind, with a 95-yarder in the season opener at Westfield.

Junior Shane Moore has rushed for 409 yards and a score, while fellow junior Tyler Wargo has 253 rushing yards and seven TDs, three of which came last week in the sectional semis against Colonia.

On defense, Aedan Hywel, a senior, has 12 1/2 sacks and 19 TFLs to lead the team in both categories, while seniors Mike Bracco and Jaysen Blacknall each have four of the team’s eleven interceptions.

Click below to hear Phillipsburg coach Frank Duffy talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about the Stateliners and Friday’s title game:

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg controls play up front as Wargo, Dech lead Stateliners to fourth straight sectional finals with 35-7 win over Colonia

For all the talent Colonia had this season – and an excellent one it was – the Patriots knew a trip to Phillipsburg would be an immense hurdle.

And for a while, they were right in it. Even though the Stateliners had he ball for more than 14 of the game’s first 20 minutes, and even down 21-7 at halftime.

But when the rain came again – after light precipitation a bit in the first half – in the third quarter, it was easy to tell this might not be their night for a comeback win.

Ultimately, top-seed Phillipsburg (9-1) got three touchdowns from Tyler Wargo and two more from Sam Dech en route to a dominating 35-7 win over 5th-seed Colonia (7-4) to advance to the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 final for the second year in a row, and their fourth straight sectional title game overall. (Their first two of the stretch came in Group 5.)

And they will get the chance to win back-to-back titles for the first time since 2013 and 2014 when they host third-seed Montgomery (8-3) next Friday night at 7 pm at Maloney Stadium.

Phillipsburg got the ball first and Tyler Wargo capped a ten-play, 63-yard drive that took six minutes flat with a one-yard touchdown run. And after Colonia held the ball for five minutes but failed to score in the red zone, the Stateliners put together an even longer drive: 14 plays, 68 yards in 8:26, capped by another one-yard run by Wargo to make it 14-0.

Colonia got one back on a short drive just before halftime, on a 15-yard TD catch by R.J. Wortman, the state’s top receiver, who unofficially finished the game with 12 receptions to give him an even 100 on the season, leading the next closest on the list not by a few, but like by at least 20 catches after Friday night action.

But Wargo scored again on a one-yard run on Phillipsburg’s third possession, and they took a 21-17 lead into the temporary locker rooms both teams were using while the stadium gets a new fieldhouse that should be set for next year.

After the break, the rains came down heavier, and it was hard for anyone to get any footing. Ultimately, the ‘Liners got two more touchdowns, one on a 70-yard run by Sam Dech that started the possession where he came out of the pile with nothing but green in front of him, with 3:06 to go in the third, and a 22-yarder with 4:45 left in the game.

Phillipsburg – now 14-0 at Maloney Stadium over the past two seasons – will meet Montgomery next Friday night as the Cougars beat Woodbridge in the other semifinal, 20-15, less than a month after falling to the Barrons at home despite having a lead at halftime. It’ll be the Cougars’ first-ever trip to a final.

Click below for postgame reaction from Phillipsburg runningback Sam Dech and head coach Frank Duffy with Justin Sontupe, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Logo of Sportsplex at Metuchen featuring icons of various sports including volleyball, soccer, basketball, and hockey, along with contact information.
by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg seeking fourth straight sectional final bid when Colonia comes to Maloney Friday

Discipline. Ignore the Noise. Grit.

Every team has a slogan, a manta, and this is Phillipsburg’s.

D.I.G.

Perhaps more than most teams in the state, that middle part may be the most important for the Stateliners.

They are the equivalent of a Michigan, a Southern Cal, an Alabama. It doesn’t matter the coach or the players, they are football royalty. They could be 0-8, but a win over them is to be celebrated. They are a name program.

Of course, they’re never 0-8. (Well, they’ve only lost that many games four times since their inaugural season in 1899!) But one thing Phillipsburg gets is a lot of attention, whether it be around town, or in the press. And there’s a lot of press that “follows” Phillipsburg. Not just covers them a few times a year. Follows them.

Tuning it all out is a process, ingrained in Phillipsburg football early on. Focus on the game, all the rest will take care of itself.

And that will be no different this Friday, when the top-seeded Stateliners (8-1) take on five-seed Colonia (7-3) at Maloney Stadium in Phillipsburg in the North 2, Group 4 finals. And the ‘Liners will be looking to make it to their fourth straight sectional final, after falling in the North 2, Group 5 final in 2022 and 2023, then beating Northern Highlands last year on a field goal as time expired by Alexie Moreira to win North 2, Group 4.

You can hear the defending sectional champions and the Patriots do battle here on Central Jersey Sports Radio, in our “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving. Kickoff is at 7, but Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe join you from Maloney at 6:45 with the pregame show; click here to listen.

Phillipsburg is coming off a 55-14 blowout win over 8th-seed Newark Central, a team that was overmatched in every facet of the game last week, despite being a six-win team out of the Super Football Conference. Head coach Frank Duffy was emptying the bench early in the second quarter.

And while that certainly was the sportsmanlike thing to do, it wasn’t without its advantages for the Stateliners, as Duffy and his staff got to evaluate his backups and third-team under the lights in live game action. That’s something that happens often around these parts, and its one reason this year’s team is as successful as it is, considering the graduation losses of players like Jett Genovese, Felix Matos, and Matthew Scerbo, Jr., the most decorated receiver in ‘Liner history.

Against Colonia, they will be challenged. This is a Patriot team that knocked off fourth-seed Ridge, 20-19, last Friday night in the opening round, thanks in large part to Harsimran Mann, who blocked not one, but two extra points, in a game the Pats won by one.

Click below to hear Phillipsburg head coach Frank Duffy talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about the Stateliners’ playoff matchup with Colonia:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 1 Phillipsburg faces stiff road test Saturday afternoon at No. 6 St. Joseph in battle of undefeated teams

There have been 14 different teams ranked in the Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Top Ten this season, but not a huge amount of matchups between ranked teams.

One of the biggest in the league this season will take place Saturday afternoon in Metuchen when 6th-ranked St. Joseph faces No. 1 Phillipsburg, in a battle of two 5-0 teams.

And both might very well be playing some of the best football since the BCC’s inaugural, COVID-shortened season of 2020.

The Stateliners have had double-digit wins the last three seasons and are likely headed toward that again. They’ve been to three straight sectional finals, getting over the hump last year with a win over Northern Highlands, and became the first Big Central team to reach the NJSIAA’s state group finals, falling to Winslow Twp. at Rutgers in the last game of the high school season in New Jersey.

St. Joseph went 5-5 in Bill Tracy’s first season, then improved to 7-3, but slipped back last year to 5-5, following a 5-0 start. Their first loss came out at Phillipsburg, then they lost three more in the regular season before falling to Don Bosco in the opening round of the playoffs.

This season? The Stateliners picked up right where they left off, despite graduation losses of key players like Jett Genovese, Felix Matos and Matthew Scerbo, Jr. Sophomore Dominic Bracco has managed the games, and he and others like Jayson Blacknall, Tyler Wargo and Sem Dech do their things.

The Falcons, meanwhile, have been solid again with guys like senior Justin Scaramuzzo at quarterback and Reggie Bropleh, Dylan Pierce and others making plays. The defense has held three teams to single-digit scoring – with a shutout of Westfield – and has allowed an average of just 11 points a game all season.

The Stateliners also shutout Westfield this season, but have allowed 20 points in each of the last two games, wins at Hillsborough and at home last week against West Orange. And last week was the first time Phillipsburg had trailed in a game after the first quarter.

You can hear Saturday’s game right here on Central Jersey Sports Radio (click here to listen) with kickoff set for 1:00 in Metuchen. Pregame is at 12:45 as Mike Pavlichko calls all the play-by-play with Max Scheiner serving as analyst.

Click below to hear preview interviews from both head coaches:

Phillipsburg head coach Frank Duffy
St. Joseph-Metuchen head coach Bill Tracy

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 1 Phillipsburg cruises past Hunterdon Central, 55-14, on four TD night from Sam Dech; Stateliners pick up program’s 750th win

Sam Dech had a historic night in the season opener for Phillipsburg back on Saturday, scoring on a 95-yard touchdown run in a 28-0 win at Westfield that set two program records: it was the longest touchdown run, and longest run in Stateliner history, a pretty remarkable achievement when you think of how long they’ve been playing football out on the state line.

What he was a part of Friday night in Flemington was even bigger. No. 1 Phillipsburg beat 7th-ranked Hunterdon Central 55-14, behind four touchdowns from Sam Dech, and earned the program its 750th win all-time.

The machine that is Phillipsburg – they don’t rebuild, they reload, and sometimes even stronger – just continues to roll along, as the Stateliners improved to 2-0 on the young season ahead of a matchup with Ridge next week.

Dech was again incredible for P’burg. He scored from 11, 46, 17 and nearly 50 yards out in the game, running with power, nearly impossible to bring down.

Phillipsburg is now 2-0, with Ridge (1-1) coming to Maloney Stadium next week. Ridge was the only team in the Big Central to beat the ‘Liners last year, doing so at home. Hunterdon Central drops to 2-1, and will visit Bridgewater-Raritan next Friday night in the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy and Son Paving on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Kickoff is set for 6 pm.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Marcus Borden with head coach Frank Duffy and senior runningback Sam Dech, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg Stateliners finish their business, win title, make history… and are Central Jersey Sports Radio 2024 Big Central Team of the Year

Of all the excellent teams in the Big Central Conference in 2024, only one did what Phillipsburg did. And they’re the first to do it in league history.

The reached the state finals.

New Jersey only started playing to overall Group Champions in 2022, and in the third year, Phillipsburg became the first Big Central team to play in one of those title games.

And while they fell to a very good Winslow Twp. team at Rutgers last Wednesday night, the title game berth was historic. Coupled with an 11-3 season and the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 title, that makes Phillipsburg our Big Central Team of the Year in 2024.

They were also No. 1 in our final Top Ten rankings, which don’t always correlate to the Team of the Year. But this season, it did.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Phillipsburg head coach Frank Duffy about their 2024 season: