Phillipsburg 42 Bridgewater-Raritan 19 

October 6, 2023

Phillipsburg jumped off to a quick 21-0 start and beat Bridgewater-Raritan, 42-19, giving them breathing room and enabling them to control the game. 

I am doing this from the broadcast on YouTube by Morris Sussex Sports. 

First Quarter: Phillipsburg began the game on their 31 and went on a nearly-seven minute drive, capping it off on a 1-yard run by John Wargo. The score was set up on the previous play, a 27-yard run by Felix Matos out of the Wildcat. On the ensuing drive by Bridgewater-Raritan, Jack Bray found Dane Sorenson for 62 yards to the 12. A penalty on the following play brought the ball back to the 27 and Wargo stepped in two plays later with an interception, going all the way down the left sideline for a 66-yard touchdown and a 14-0 P-burg lead. Bridgewater-Raritan caught a break in Phillipsburg’s following drive, when a fumbled handoff gave the Panthers the ball at midfield, but they ended up punting. 

Second Quarter: On the quarter’s first play, Nick Stettner found Patrick Day for a 61-yard touchdown and the Stateliners owned a commanding 21-0 lead. P-burg began their next drive on the 41 of Bridgewater-Raritan and a 12-yard run by Wargo brought the ball to the 19. But three penalties by the offensive line  hurt them and they turned the ball  over on downs. 

Third Quarter: Bridgewater-Raritan came out with the ball and moved primarily through the air and scored on a 19-yard pass from Jack Bray to Colin Woodring to make it 21-7. Key plays on the drive were passes to Joe Spirra and Dane Sorenson, followed by a 16-yard run by Frankie Verrano. Phillipsburg responded by going on a nine-minute drive and scored on a 19-yard run by Wargo, where he hurdled a defender on the way. A Bray pass to Sorenson went 13 yards to the 50 and a personal foul by P-burg brought the ball to the 35. Two plays later, Bray found a wide open Varrone for a 36-yard touchdown with seven seconds left in the quarter.  

Fourth Quarter: The Stateliners came back once more and Matos found Matthew Scerbo for 22 yards to the 14 out of the wildcat and kept it himself on the following play for a 14-yard touchdown. Bridgewater-Raritan scored again when Bray connected with Sorenson on a 22-yard touchdown pass after the two completed a 44-yard pass on the previous play. The Stateliners added one more score on a 24-yard run by Sam Dech with three minutes left. 

Comments:. Phillipsburg controlled the game and the big star was Wargo with three touchdowns: two on offense and one on defense. He rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns as a traditional fullback, reminding me of the old-time fullbacks, such as Jim Taylor, Marv Hubbard, Mike Alstott, and Tom Rathman. The Stateliners were without quarterback Jett Genovese and tailback Caleb Rivera, who were out with injuries. Stettner had a good night managing the game at quarterback and Ziyahn McGurn and Dech ably filled in for Rivera.  

Bridgewater-Raritan had a big night from Sorenson, who caught five passes for 150 yards and one touchdown. The Panthers kept battling when down, 21-0, but Phillipsburg would always answer back. They have had tough luck and are now 1-6. Each of their previous five losses were by 10 points or less, but they found a team that was able to get off to a good lead and keep it. 

The live feed provided a poor quality of picture and it was hard to identify Bridgewater-Raritan players with their black and silver uniforms. It was frustrating at times, but I managed things. Upon checking on a play later, the picture was much sharper. Morris Sussex, who covered the game does a very good job and the fact the picture was better on the rebroadcast means, to me, they were aware of the problem.