Eagles Post 5th Shutout of Season in Win Over Liners
PISCATAWAY, NJ – It was a very tall order to start with for Phillipsburg. Entering its Group 4 State Championship Game against Winslow Township at Rutgers University’s SHI Stadium on Wednesday night, the Stateliners were going against a dominant Eagles’ team.
Winslow scored four times in the first half and added another score late in the third before coasting to a 35-0 victory over Phillipsburg. The win was Winslow Township’s fifth shutout of the year. The Eagles concluded their perfect season at 14-0 while Phillipsburg finished up at 11-3 with two straight losses to end its season.
Before Wednesday night’s state final, Winslow averaged 40 points a game on offense, and allowed less than 7 points on defense, and posted four shutouts. The Eagles had the highest strength index in the state thanks to a schedule that included such WJFL American division foes Millville, St. Augustine, and Mainland.
Mainland was the fourth-place team out of five in this division of the WJFL at 1-3 and wound up stunning Somerville in overtime two weeks ago to advance to the Group 3 State Championship. Winslow beat Millville twice including a hard-fought 13-7 victory in the South Jersey Group 4 Regional Championship.
The Hermits of St. Augustine were the 2nd place team in the WJFL American this year, and they knocked off Delbarton in the opening round of the 2024 NJSIAA Non-Public A State Tournament in Morristown on November 16th (9-7). Cherokee was the fifth-place team in this division at 0-4, and still not only qualified for the playoffs but knocked off Old Bridge in the opening round of the CJ Group 5 tourney.
Winslow Township was to Group 4 in 2024 what Mainland was to Group 4 in 2023. The Eagles were simply as dominant as the Mustangs were a year ago. Mainland Regional went 14-0 en route to the Group 4 title last year. The Mustangs defeated Millville for the sectional title, Winslow in the state semi, and then thumped a Ramapo program (56-0) that is one of the best in the state year in and year out.
The Eagles rolled past all of those division foes except its second game against Millville in the state semis. The latter match-up against the Thunderbolts was the only one-score game Winslow played in all year, and it found a way to win that one after being down at halftime. The Eagles’ speed and athleticism were a big reason why for this dominance and Phillipsburg saw it up-close and personal on Wednesday night.
Phillipsburg didn’t help itself either. On their first two drives of the game, the Stateliners found themselves in third and very long situations. On its opening drive, the Lines were facing a 3rd and 25, and ended up punting thanks to a Winslow sack of QB Jett Genovese. The second drive was even worse.
After Winslow scored on its opening possession on a 15-yard TD pass from sophomore QB Jalen Parker to Cameron Miller at the 6:20 mark of the first, Phillipsburg put together a promising second drive. The Liners drove down to around the Eagles’ 25-yard line.
However, a poor snap from n the shotgun backed up the Stateliners to the Winslow 40-yard line and they faced another 3rd and very long. On 3rd and 22, Winslow took advantage with Nyqir Helton intercepting a pass thrown into triple coverage and ran it back 65 yards for a 14-0 lead with 2:01 to go in the first quarter.
Jayden Lucas came up with a couple of nice defensive plays that halted Winslow drives. One of them came early in the second quarter that forced the Eagles to punt from their own 48-yard line. Disaster almost struck again as Phillipsburg muffed the punt and Helton apparently recovered in the end zone for another Winslow touchdown with 9:11 remaining in the first half.
However, the officials ruled that there was no turnover, and instead a touchback. The Eagles would eventually score again though. Winslow got the ball back and went up 21-0 on a two-yard TD run by Nakeem Powell with 4:29 to play in the second. The South Jersey Group 4 champs weren’t done yet either.
Following another Helton interception near midfield at the 4:11 mark of the 2nd, Winslow got in position to score and put the ball in the end zone on another 15-yard pass from Parker to Miller for a 28-0 lead. Parker was only 3 of 4 for 38 yards in the first half, but two of those completions were for touchdowns. The Eagles had another opportunity to score before the half.
Trying to generate some momentum, Phillipsburg decided to go for it on fourth down and 9 from its 47-yard line but was stopped to force a turnover on downs with 56 seconds to play in the first half. Once more, Winslow moved into scoring position but had to settle for a field goal try. However, the 27-yard attempt went wide right as time ran out in the second. Winslow still led 28-0 at the half.
As sports reporter, Warner Wolf would say long ago, “You can turn your sets off there.” Winslow added a final score with 28 seconds to go in the third on a 28-yard TD run by KaRon Ali to take a 35-0 lead. From that point on, the running clock was in effect, and the Eagles were able to coast to its first-ever state championship.
It was a tough end to a great season for Phillipsburg. After losing in North 2 Group 5 sectional championships in 2022 and 2023, the Liners finally broke through with a 13-11 victory over Northern Highlands for the 2024 NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 crown several weeks ago. Then, PBurg rolled past another state powerhouse in Ramapo in the state semis.
The overtime loss to Easton (17-14) on Thanksgiving was a very painful one for the Liners. Phillipsburg had won the previous two meetings against its arch-rival and led 14-0 at the half. Before Easton rallied, the Stateliners had outscored the Red Rovers by a margin of 96-26 over the last 10 quarters. To its credit though, Easton was a much better team this year, and nothing less than a thriller was expected.
The state championship loss to Winslow on Wednesday night just added insult to injury. Nevertheless, Phillipsburg still finished at 11-3 overall and has good talent coming up next year. With juniors such as wideout Chase Doering and running back Sincere Gilmer, a talented sophomore class led by the likes of Shane Moore and Tyler Wargo, and freshman QB Dom Bracco, the future is bright for the Stateliners.
