Phillipsburg to Face Former EPC Foe

Phillipsburg will be adding another former foe from the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference to its schedule starting in 2026.

Stateliners Add Home-and-Home Series with Emmaus in 2026 and 2027

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ – Earlier this season, Big Central Gridiron learned via Lehigh Valley Live that Phillipsburg will add another out-of-state game starting next season.  Phillipsburg will face former EPC foe Emmaus in a home-and-home series starting in 2026.  The Stateliners already have one out-of-state game with their Thanksgiving rival, Easton, another member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

The Liners are currently in a home-and-home series with West Orange, a team that defeated them in the 2022 North Jersey Section 2 Group 5 state playoffs.  Last year, Phillipsburg traveled to West Orange and defeated the Mountaineers (21-14).  This year, the Mountaineers head westward to take on the Stateliners at Bellis Field in Maloney Stadium on Friday night, October 3rd.

In 2022 and 2023, Phillipsburg only played one non-conference game since it had a crossover schedule that included the likes of Sayreville, North Hunterdon, Union, and East Brunswick.  In this current two-year cycle, the Liners have had only three crossover games with BCC American Gold foes Westfield, Union, and St. Joseph’s.  Phillipsburg will open its 2026 campaign on the road at Emmaus, and the Hornets will visit Bellis Field at Maloney Stadium in 2027.

The Stateliners have not played a school from the Keystone State other than Easton since 2005, when they opened that season against Northampton (lost 43-21).  Phillipsburg played Northampton three straight years with wins in 2003 and 2004.  The Stateliners competed in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference from 1975 to 1994 before moving into the Skyland Conference.  The last time the Liners faced Emmaus was in their final year in the EPC in 1994.

The Stateliners and Hornets played against each other 16 times.  Phillipsburg dominated the series 11-3-2, including a 6-0-1 mark in the last seven meetings.  Emmaus last defeated Phillipsburg in 1987 by the score of 7-6.  In the 16 meetings between the two schools, Phillipsburg outscored Emmaus by a margin of 392-163, or by an average of 25 to 10.  Phillipsburg held Emmaus to 7 points or less on seven occasions, including two shutouts in 1979 and 1982.

Emmaus’ largest margin of victory was only five points in 1984 (12-7).  The Hornets won all three of their victories in this rivalry during a four-year period from 1984 to 1987.  Phillipsburg’s largest margin of victory was 42 points in the last meeting between the two schools in 1994 (48-6).  Take a year-by-year look at the rivalry below:

Phillipsburg vs. Emmaus – 1975 to 1994

Year	Winner	Winning  Score	Loser	Losing Score
1975	Phillipsburg	14	Emmaus	14 (tie)
1978	Phillipsburg	22	Emmaus	13
1979	Phillipsburg	30	Emmaus	0
1982	Phillipsburg	28	Emmaus	0
1983	Phillipsburg	18	Emmaus	6
1984	Emmaus	12	Phillipsburg	7
1985	Phillipsburg	32	Emmaus	12
1986	Emmaus	15	Phillipsburg	14
1987	Emmaus	7	Phillipsburg	6
1988	Phillipsburg	23	Emmaus	16
1989	Phillipsburg	42	Emmaus	7
1990	Phillipsburg	18	Emmaus	3
1991	Phillipsburg	10	Emmaus	10 (tie)
1992	Phillipsburg	41	Emmaus	18
1993	Phillipsburg	39	Emmaus	24
1994	Phillipsburg	48	Emmaus	6