Moving forward, ground game, and more.
Phillipsburg (2-1) at Hillsborough (2-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
Letting the loss go. The Stateliners were humbled by last week’s 30-7 home loss to Bridgewater-Raritan – a team that handed the Raiders their loss, 30-10 on their home field Sept. 16 – and the loss really stung. But P’burg head coach Frank Duffy has a 24-hour rule for remembering losses (though we suspect no one who ever puts on a Phillipsburg football jersey ever really forgets a defeat; they’re too competitive) and he likes the way the Stateliners have bounced back. “We have 24 hours to grieve, then we move on, don’t mention Bridgewater, we lean from our mistakes and we move forward.” And there’s much to move forward too. “The biggest thing is that our three goals – beating Easton, winning states and winning our division (Mid-State 38 Delaware) are still intact,” senior kicker Brendan Grube said. “We have to have a good week of practice. The best way to forget Bridgewater is to win Friday night.”
Run the ball. With senior Danny Fisher back at quarterback, the Stateliner aerial game that had some success in the opening pair of wins may take a back seat to Phillipsburg’s ground-and-pound power game. Duffy said there’d be plays designed for Fisher to run, and that kind of change-up from senior halfback Ja’Quan Jones’ slashes and senior fullback Garrett Boures’ power bursts could provide a key to unlock the Raiders’ ‘50’ defense designed to stop the run first. Bridgewater ran for 227 yards against Hillsborough, 118 by QB Nick Attanasio, so P’burg may follow that model.
Turn around turnovers. It’s just this simple: Phillipsburg cannot lose the turnover battle by a score of 3-0 and beat anybody, much less quality teams such as Bridgewater or Hillsborough. It was the first issue Duffy mentioned when asked what his team had learned from the Bridgewater loss. The turnover margin can be moved in two ways: making few mistakes on offense and making timely plays on defense to force fumbles or intercept passes. Expect the Stateliners to emphasize both.
Tackling the Twin Threats. Hillsborough boasts a pair of big-play threats in junior running back Tyler Boatwright (30 carries, 258 yards, 8.6 yards per carry, 4 TDs) and 6-foot-2 junior wide receiver Sterling Parham (10 catches, 177 yards, 2 TDs). Containing them will be critical – they’ll get their yardage but it can’t be in 20-yard chunks – and to accomplish that the Stateliners must must must tackle better than they did against Bridgewater. “Our tackling was a pretty glaring weakness against Bridgewater,” Duffy said.
Explosive addition? Phillipsburg could use a big play or two Friday night. They were lacking against Bridgewater but had been critical against Hunterdon Central and Franklin. The Stateliners aren’t going to beat teams with 49-point offensive explosions, to be sure, but one long run, or pass, or kick return, or defensive TD, would make every Stateliner’s task a lot easier.
Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.