Phillipsburg 34, Hillsborough 20 – Rapid Recap
Matt Quetel provided the exclamation point on Saturday night.
Actually, he provided most of the punctuation for the Phillipsburg High School football team.
Quetel rushed for more than 160 yards and had four total touchdowns as the Stateliners, ranked sixth by lehighvalleylive.com, defeated Hillsborough 34-20 in a Big Central Conference Division 4 contest at Maloney Stadium.
Turning point: Phillipsburg had an answer every time it was challenged by Hillsborough in the second half.
After the Raiders cut the Stateliners' lead to 20-13 with 9:37 to play, Quetel ran the ball nine straight times to account for every play of a 62-yard scoring drive, which culminated with a 1-yard TD run to make it 27-13 with 5:03 remaining.
Hillsborough made one final push with a quick 2-minute, 49-second scoring series. Quarterback James Mazuera pushed across the goal line from 2 yards away to cut the visitors' deficit to 27-20 with 2:05 to go.
Phillipsburg’s Michael Wambold recovered Hillsborough’s ensuing onside kick.
The Raiders, however, still had a chance to get the ball back as Phillipsburg faced third-and-6 with more than a minute and a half on the clock.
Quetel ended those ideas. He bolted for first-down yardage, ran over a defender and surged for a 43-yard touchdown to wrap up the victory.
Top performers: Quetel took 33 carries for 161 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught a 44-yard TD on a screen pass.
The Stateliners had six sacks on defense, including three by Matt Barna and 1.5 from Ryan Mottley.
Hillsborough running back Sean Levonaitis had 13 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Thomas Amankwaa, a Division I prospect, caught six passes for 86 yards and a TD.
What it means: Phillipsburg moved to 3-0 with a home-opening victory. The Stateliners travel to 2-0 Watchung Hills next weekend.