Defense allows first TD
by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
Two streaks came to an end for the Hillsborough High football team in last Friday night’s game at Noonan Field.
The Raiders (2-1) lost for the first time and gave up their first touchdown of the season against visiting Phillipsburg. The Stateliners improved to 2-0 and took early command in the Delaware Division race with a 13-7 victory in a game played during a steady drizzle.
Hillsborough stayed in the game early thanks again to its outstanding defense, which denied Phillipsburg entry to the end zone on three drives inside the red zone. The Stateliners came up empty on their opening drive when star running back Alex Deery was stopped at the Hillsborough 2-yard line. They missed a field goal later in the first period and hit one midway through the second for a 5-0 lead.
”We had another goal line stand, another good defensive effort against a very good team,” HHS head coach Vinnie Coviello said afterward. “They’re a good ball club. They can run, they can pass and they play good defense. They’ve got a lot of guys. They’re the complete package.”
Phillipsburg scored its first points of the evening on a safety midway in the first quarter. HHS punter E.J. Williams tried to recover his blocked kick and was called for an illegal forward advance of the ball while trying to bat it out of the end zone. The officials called a penalty in the end zone, which resulted in a safety and 2-0 Phillipsburg lead with 6:40 to play in the quarter.
The Raiders could not move the ball in the first half, managing only two first downs and 45 total yards. Phillipsburg spent the entire first half in the HHS end of the field and finally took advantage with the game’s first touchdown late in the half.
After benefiting from a controversial call on an apparent fumble at midfield, Phillipsburg gained possession with 43 seconds remaining in the first half. The Liners broke Hillsborough’s season long streak of not allowing a touchdown with seven seconds left before the intermission. Phillipsburg quarterback Justin Scuorzo lofted a beautiful spiral to the left corner of the end zone and found Albie Moran for a 16-yard scoring play. Scuorzo hit Deery for the two-point conversion to make it 13-0 at the half.
Hillsborough got back in the game on the opening drive of the third period. Senior quarterback Mike Daly capped a six-play drive with a 30-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Anthony D’Ovidio, who was open in the right corner of the end zone. Daly scrambled right and fired downfield to D’Ovidio to put the Raiders on the board with 9:35 remaining in the third quarter.
”We didn’t really make any adjustments, we just our adjusted our attitude a little bit,” Coviello said. “We had to play together and play focused.”
The HHS defense clamped down on Phillipsburg in the second half, allowing the visitors only one first down until their final drive clinched the victory. Deery, who ran for almost 200 yards in Phillipsburg’s 38-14 victory at Franklin the previous week, finished with 117 yards on 26 carries, but did not score.
”We had another good defensive effort,” Coviello said. “They put up 38 on Franklin and other than that one series, we did a pretty good job containing them.”
Hillsborough had possession in Phillipsburg territory twice later in the game but could not score again. Senior linebacker Zach McGavisk recovered a fumble at the Liner 25 midway though the third period but four straight incomplete passes turned the ball back to the visitors. Daly’s fourth down pass to Jason Smartt at the goal line was broken up by the Phillipsburg secondary.
After sticking to the ground game in their victories over Warren Hills and Watchung Hills, the Raiders aired it out much more against the Liners. Daly completed 9-of-27 passes for 81 yards, hitting five different receivers. The Raiders picked up only 45 rushing yards in the game. Daly attempted 21 passes in the second half.
”You have to take what the defense is giving you,” Coviello said. “We were throwing the ball well. That’s how we scored.”
The Raiders scored just one touchdown for the third straight game but a stingy defense has kept the team in every game. Hillsborough ended September’s three-game homestand with a 2-1 record and will travel to Franklin for its first road game next Saturday at 2:30 p.m.