Rapid Recap -- Phillipsburg 62, Wayne Hills 26
In the absence of star running back Matt Quetel, Phillipsburg’s football team chose to stick with their power offense and ran by committee.
In the top seeded Stateliner’s NJSIAA North 2 Group 4 quarterfinal matchup against eighth seeded Morris Hills, they ran right over the Scarlet Knights.
Four different runners had touchdown carries for Phillipsburg (8-1) as it moved on to a semifinal game against Wayne Valley with a 62-26 victory at Maloney Stadium on Friday night.
Turning Point: Trailing 35-14 with halftime approaching, Morris Hills embarked on a 15-play, 68-yard drive. On fourth-and-four, Nick Carlotti’s pass towards the end zone fell incomplete but a pass interference call on Phillipsburg gave the Scarlet Knights the ball at the nine with two seconds left in the half.
Carlotti completed a pass out in the flat to Josh Babe, but the speedy sophomore was wrapped up in open space by Stephen Gural around the five and Wayne Hills longest drive of the game yielded no points.
The Stateliners built a four-touchdown lead on the first drive of the second half when Ben Ries found Robert Martin on a fade route for a 20-yard touchdown.
Top Performers: Running back Chaz Sutton, who took the bulk of the workload with Quetel out, scored four touchdowns while adding 129 yards on 27 carries.
Bobby Coury and Isaiah Craighead spelled Sutton with occasional, but effective, runs. Coury took four carries for 78 yards while Craighead had seven touches for 64 yards, and each had touchdown runs of more than 40 yards.
Quarterback Ben Ries scored on two one-yard sneaks and also connected with Martin on the touchdown.
On defense Martin had two sacks and a blocked punt while both Christian Chiulli and Bobby Orth had interceptions.
What it Means: The Stateliners will have one more home game as they host Wayne Valley (7-2). The fifth seeded Indians defeated fourth seeded Wayne Hills on Friday night.
Desmond Boyle may be reached at dboyle@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @DesJBoyle. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.