Hunterdon Central wins, 32-14
By:Rudy Brandl
A difficult week became even tougher to handle for the Hillsborough High football team on Saturday afternoon.
Playing in front of a huge home crowd at David A. Noonan Field on a perfect afternoon for football, the Raiders fell apart for the second straight week. This time, Hunterdon Central ran roughshod over Hillsborough to the tune of a 32-14 defeat.
Hillsborough tied the game at 14-14 on the first play of the second quarter but didn’t score again. The Red Devils (2-0) came right back and turned a see-saw game into a blowout.
"We’ve got a lot of excuses, but we still have to play," HHS head coach Rick Mantz said afterward. "We felt confident and prepared, but Central made a couple of adjustments. Give Jim (Meert) credit, his team played hard."
Meert felt the Red Devils turned the game around by scoring on the drive after Hillsborough had tied the game. Central marched right down the field covering 59 yards in four plays.
Quarterback Dean Conforti did most of the damage through the air, accounting for 50 of those yards. The final 16 came on a little pop pass to tight end Jeff Roposh.
The Raiders didn’t get a first down in the second or third quarter and finished the game with just five. Central dominated the game with 20 first downs.
Red Devil running back Rob Toresco was the workhorse, rushing 37 times for 190 yards and two touchdowns, both coming in the first quarter when the game was still a contest.
The Raiders (0-2) lost their first two games in 1999 and still wound up playing in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals at Rutgers Stadium. Mantz is hoping for the same kind of magic this year, but it must start Friday night when Franklin comes to town.

