Hillsborough Looks to Rebound Against Ridge

The Hillsborough football team is currently even at 2-2, and has yet to hold a losing record at any point during this season. Before last week’s loss to one of the , Hunterdon Central, the Raiders were among the top teams in the Delaware Division of the Mid-State 39 Conference. Now they sit in the middle of the pack at fourth place out of eight in the division.

This week, the Raiders will face division-rival Ridge, a team that played in a only two seasons ago, but is now struggling at the beginning of this season at 1-3. Ridge lost last season during its homecoming game to Hillsborough, 35-13. against Hillsborough with a 1-3 record as well, and the Raiders started off with a 21-0 lead before Ridge could score.

Ridge’s first and only win this year came against North Hunterdon in a game where JD Moore of Ridge , averaging just below 10 yards per carry.

Despite being 2-2, Hillsborough’s defense has given up a total of 136 points in the first four games of the season, an average of 34 per game. Ridge has given up 87 points through game four, but has also scored only seven points in three of its games.

Watchung Hills, at 0-4, has played in three close games so far this season, even nearly tying the game in the fourth quarter against one of the top ranked teams in the state, Immaculata, last week—a game that came down to the final minutes. On Thursday, Watchung Hills will host Linden at 7 p.m. Linden is 1-2 going into the game, but are coming off a shutout win last week against Warren Hills, and lost to two of the top ranked teams in the state in its first two games.

Bridgewater-Raritan, also an 0-4 team, came closest to its first win last week in a 10-7 . This week, the Panthers face what may be their biggest obstacle in Immaculata.

Here is this weekend's conference schedule:

Thursday

Dayton (3-1) at Roselle (2-1), 4 p.m.
Brearley (2-2) at New Providence (3-0),  6 p.m.
Immaculata (4-0) at Bridgewater-Raritan (0-4), 7 p.m.
Linden (1-2) at Watchung Hills (0-4), 7 p.m.
Governor Livingston (1-2) at Cranford (4-0), 7 p.m.
Montgomery (1-3) at Phillipsburg (3-1), 7 p.m.
Ridge (1-3) at Hillsborough (2-2), 7 p.m.
Scotch Plains (0-4) at Somerville (2-2), 7 p.m.
North Plainfield (1-3) at Warren Hills (1-3), 7 p.m.
Voorhees (0-4) at Belvidere (3-1), 7 p.m.
Pingry (2-2) at South Hunterdon (1-3), 7 p.m.
Manville (0-4) at North Warren (2-2), 7 p.m.

Friday

Hillside (0-4) at Rahway (2-1), 2 p.m.
Union (3-1) at Westfield (3-1), 3 p.m.
Johnson (2-1) at Summit (4-0), 3 p.m.
Bound Brook (0-4) at Roselle Park (1-3), 7 p.m.

Saturday

Elizabeth (4-0) at Plainfield (1-2), 1 p.m.