Phillipsburg’s sophomore RB, Shane Moore, rushed for two touchdowns to help lead the JV Stateliners to a 34-14 victory over Hillsborough at Noonan Field on Monday evening.
Stateliners Defeat Raiders in Week 4 JV Contest on Monday
HILLSBOROUGH, NJ – The Phillipsburg and Hillsborough game has become one of the biggest rivalries in the Big Central Conference over the past few years. With its 42-35 win over the Raiders in a thriller on Friday night, the Stateliners have won 3 of the last 5 meetings between the two schools. On Monday, the two schools went at it in a sub-varsity doubleheader at David A. Noonan Field.
Phillipsburg won both games going away. In the freshmen contest, the Stateliners took a 16-0 halftime lead and then added a score in the third and fourth quarters to wrap up a 30-0 shutout. The JV match-up was a bit more contentious of a battle. Hillsborough scored on its first drive of the game and its first drive of the second half to make things interesting, but Phillipsburg ultimately prevailed 34-14.
Freshman QB, Dom Bracco spearheaded the JV Stateliner’s offense with two touchdown passes and a QB sneak for a third score to wrap up the win. Sophomore running back, Shane Moore added scoring runs in the third and fourth quarters. Junior wideout Chase Doering and junior running back Sincere Gilmore each hauled in a TD pass.
Junior QBs Devon Khurana and Damian Amato each threw a scoring pass for Hillsborough. Junior wideout Shane Khurana caught a first-quarter TD pass for a 6-0 lead while junior wideout, Dominic Navarro hauled in a third-quarter score that helped the Raiders narrow the gap to 20-14. The JV Raiders weren’t able to get closer though as Moore scored a TD in the early moments of the fourth quarter and Bracco sneaked in for the final score and a 34-14 lead.
Phillipsburg’s defense also collected two turnovers with interceptions in the fourth quarter. One of them was almost returned for a touchdown, but both Amato and Navarro scrapped to knock the ball loose before the Stateliner defender was able to cross the goal line, and Hillsborough recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.
Hillsborough took the opening kickoff and drove down the field for a score and a 6-0 lead. The big play of the drive was a pass from Khurana to Curtis Smith for about 47 yards. Several plays later, Khurana threw to his right and found Shane Khurana in the end zone for a sliding TD catch. The extra point was no good, and the Raiders led by six.
Bracco and the Stateliners responded with the next three scores. Phillipsburg took the ensuing kickoff and drove down the field with runs from Moore and Gilmer, a reception of a deflection by Doering, and a catch near the sideline for a big gain by Gilmer. The Stateliners capped its first scoring drive with a 20-yard TD pass from Bracco to Gilmer. Phillipsburg added the extra point for a 7-6 edge with 1:59 left in the first period.
The Stateliners had a chance to increase their lead to seven in the second quarter with another solid drive. After stopping Hillsborough on downs thanks to a great open-field tackle by sophomore Noah Reid to end the first quarter, Phillipsburg started its next scoring drive near midfield. Bracco first connected with Doering for about a 20-yard gain to the JV Raiders’ 30-yard line.
However, Hillsborough’s defense tightened up and got a sack on Bracco to halt the drive. Phillipsburg prevented the Raiders from taking advantage of the defensive stop by forcing a three-and-out including a sack on Devon Khurana by junior Anthony Hiers. Once again, the JV Stateliners were back in business near midfield. Bracco opened the drive once more with a pass to Doering toward the Phillipsburg sideline for a solid gain with 1:29 left in the second.
Bracco followed that up with another completion to Doering along the Hillsborough sideline. Bracco then connected with Reid, who scrambled to get out of bounds at about the Hillsborough 15-yard line with under a minute to play in the first half. Moments later, Bracco hooked up with Doering for a 5-yard TD pass. Phillipsburg missed the extra point, but still led 13-6 going into the intermission.
The JV Stateliners were able to lengthen its lead further by taking the second-half kickoff and proceeding down the field for another score. Bracco mixed the play selection between the run and the pass. Gilmer started things with a nice gain past midfield into Hillsborough territory. Bracco followed that with another completion to Doering to put Phillipsburg at about the Hillsborough 15-yard line.
Several plays later, Moore rushed straight ahead into the end zone for a one-yard TD run and a 20-6 JV Stateliners lead. Damato helped Hillsborough get a much-needed response by orchestrating a fine second-half opening drive. Damato first connected with Sanjay Mills for a nice gain up the Phillipsburg sideline.
Then, Damato connected with Righteous James for a short gain before hooking up with Navarro for about a 50-yard TD score. Damato then rolled out and connected with Shane Khurana to convert the two-point play, and Hillsborough closed the gap to six again at 20-14.
Unfortunately, the JV Raiders were unable to get any closer. Phillipsburg took the ensuing kickoff and responded with another march down the field to end the third quarter.
Moore opened the drive with about a 20-yard run past the midfield stripe into Hillsborough territory. Bracco found Doering again for another completion and a gain of about a dozen yards to the JV Raiders’ 33-yard line. Gilmer then charged through the right side of the Phillipsburg line for a huge gain down to near the Hillsborough 5-yard line as time ran out in the third quarter.
Seconds into the fourth quarter, Moore collected his 2nd TD run of the game. The extra point was good for a 27-14 Phillipsburg advantage. The JV Stateliners’ defense tried to add to the lead when sophomore defensive end, Donovan Samson intercepted a deflected pass and made a charge to the end zone. Hillsborough was able to knock the ball away for a touchback and stay within two scores.
Phillipsburg was able to force Hillsborough to punt and then proceeded to put together its final scoring drive. The JV Stateliners’ push toward the end zone began with a Bracco pass to junior tight-end Michael Stallings for a first down, and then a nifty run by Gilmer. Phillipsburg drew closer as Gilmer grinded out a tough run to inside the Hillsborough five-yard line. Bracco then barged his way into the end zone for a score to round out the 34-14 victory.
