The Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers have only one win this season, but on Friday night against Phillipsburg they played like they were one of the top teams in the conference, nearly defeating Phillipsburg (6-2) in a game that went down to the last minute, according to NJ.com. Phillipsburg had been behind by four points before scoring a touchdown with 45 seconds remaining in the game.Hillsborough lost one of its most important games of the season against North Hunterdon in a game that went to overtime. Hillsborough came back to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but could not hold on, giving up …

Week 8 was full of important games throughout the Mid-State 39 Conference. In the Watchung Division, two of the top teams in the conference, Immaculata (8-0) and Elizabeth (6-2) faced each other in a game that forced Immaculata to defend its position atop the division. NJ.com reported that Immaculata came away with the victory and remains the top ranked team by The Star-Ledger in the conference, and one of only four undefeated Mid-State 39 teams left this season.In the Mountain Division, two teams that were undefeated, Summit and Cranford, battled for first place. By the end of the night, the…

Sitting in third place in the Delaware Division of the Mid-State 39 high school football conference is Phillipsburg at 4-2 with a divisional record of 3-2, and Hillsborough at 4-3 with the same 3-2 divisional record. This Friday, these two teams will face each other during a 7 p.m. game in Phillipsburg. With a win, Hillsborough can jump up to third in the division and knock Phillipsburg down to fourth. It is also a huge game for playoff positioning. Hillsborough is currently seventh in Central IV power points, while Phillipsburg is eighth in North 2, Group IV. The top eight squads in each …

The Ridge Red Devils have struggled this season, winning only one game in September, against North Hunterdon in Ridge’s season opener. Going into Friday night’s game against Linden, Ridge was 1-5. Linden was 2-3, but those three losses came to three of the Star-Ledger’s top 20 teams in the state: Hunterdon Central, Elizabeth and Immaculata. But on Friday, Ridge became the fourth team to defeat Linden this year in a double-overtime win that was close through the duration of the game. The end of the first half alone provided the crowd its first taste of what would end up a night full of drama: …

Despite being 0-6, most of the Watchung Hills Warriors games this season have been relatively close. Even against Immaculata, one of The Star-Ledger’s top ranked teams in the state and a current 6-0 team, the Warriors lost by a score of only 12-0, and it was 6-0 most of the game.On Friday night in Hillsborough, though, the Raiders came out and scored 21 points in the first quarter alone, not allowing Watchung Hills to score its six points until the third quarter. The final was 34-6.Hillsborough’s offense has put together some impressive performances throughout this season, including a 49-…

When the Hillsborough football team's offense plays well, the Raiders make winning look easy. On Thursday night at home against the Ridge, Hillsborough had 429 yards of total offense, and the Raiders' defense allowed only three points. The Raiders got started early with a touchdown in the first quarter and never looked back, scoring 27 points before Ridge could make it onto the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. With the win, Hillsborough now has both a 3-2 overall and divisional record and trails three of the top teams in the conference in Hunterdon Central, Franklin and Phillipsburg in the …

The Watchung Hills football team may not have won a single game so far this season, but on Friday night, the Warriors showed they aren’t going to lay down and let any team roll over them: They held Immaculata, one of the top-ranked teams in the state, to only 12 points and at one point the Warriors were poised to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but were stopped just yards short of the end zone.But the Warriors lost the game and dropped to 0-4, while Immaculata improved to 4-0. Still, Watchung Hills proved to be Immaculata’s toughest game so far this season, and showed that the Warriors …

Week 3, because of divisional match-ups, was a vital week for teams throughout the Mid-State 39 Conference. Some teams, like Bridgewater and Watchung Hills, were simply looking for their first win of the season, but both were unable to secure a victory this weekend and both teams have now dropped to 0-3. Hillsborough proved that its Week 1 win against Bridgewater wasn’t a fluke—on Friday the Raiders defeated division rival Montgomery to improve to 2-1, but perhaps more importantly, the Raiders were able to hold their opponent to only 14 points. In the first two weeks of the season, the …

Watchung Hills football hasn’t won since 2009, but so far this season they have come close twice. On Friday they mounted a comeback against Union, tying the game at 14 in the third quarter, after being behind 14-0 in the second quarter. But Union triumphed in the fourth with a game winning touchdown.In week one, the Watchung Hills Warriors lost by only six-points to North Hunterdon, 20-14, another game where a late-game comeback was thwarted. The Warriors keep coming close, but so far this year haven’t been able to finish ahead.Ridge, a team that in 2009 made it to the NJSIAA North II Group …

Last year, when the Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers and the Hillsborough Raiders squared off for opening night of the 2010 football season, the Panthers came out on top, 28-3. This year, although Bridgewater held an early 14-point lead, it was the Raiders, led by quarterback John Vonnessen who took the win in week one, 49-42.The Watchung Hills Warriors attempted their own late-game comeback, but unlike Hillsborough, the Warriors were unable to overcome an early deficit, losing to North Hunterdon 20-14. Despite the loss, a few Warriors performed well: Junior Tommy Gaiamo completed six passes of …