Melillo and Williams lead Hillsborough to Jr. Skyland Conference Championship

The Junior Raiders Melillo and Williams lead Hillsborough to Jr. Skyland Conference Championship over Bridgewater

Ryan Melillo took Hillsborough’s first play from scrimmage 51-yards for a touchdown to open up the scoring behind the strong blocking of Sam Crisci, Connor Genes, Ben Pasternack, Jim Suseck, Mike Grabon, Nick DiGirolamo and fullback Paul Michinard and the Jr. Raiders Varsity team (ages 12-14) never looked back.  Melillo had 8 carries for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Hillsborough running attack.  Zach Eilbacher added the extra point and Hillsborough led 8-0.  After trading punts, Bridgewater put up a touchdown of their own, but the extra point was blocked by Matt Matson and Hillsborough led 8-6.  On the next series Rob Wardell (4 for 6 passing, 101-yards and 1 touchdown) hit Zach Williams for a 67-yard touchdown pass on a perfectly thrown fly route.  Eilbacher added the extra point and Hillsborough led 16-6. 

On the next series, Bridgewater was forced to punt and Hillsborough brought a lot of heat with Suseck sacking the punter at the Bridgewater 29-yard line.  Hillsborough drove the ball to the Bridgewater 7-yard line before some untimely penalties and a sack stalled the drive.  At this point the Hillsborough defense led by Frankie McCarter (10 tackles), Suseck (8 tackles, 2 pass deflections and a fumble recovery), Damian Gonzalez (6 tackles, 1 pass deflection), Melillo (6 tackles), Matt Matson (5 tackles) and Shay Sarkar (4 tackles) took over the game.  Hillsborough’s defensive backs led by Gonzalez, Dillon Zimmerman, Dan Stoddard and Melillo shut down the Bridgewater passing attack all day.  After an incomplete pass and a Hillsborough timeout, Bridgewater was faced with a 3^rd and 8 from their own 9 with about 90 seconds left in the half.  Bridgewater’s quarterback faded back to pass and Suseck forced a fumble which Bridgewater recovered in their own end zone for a safety and Hillsborough led 18-6.  Bridgewater’s quarterback faced intense pressure all afternoon by Pasternack, Sarkar, Suseck, Genes and Al Fisher.  Bridgewater then kicked off from their own 20-yard line and Zach Williams returned the kick 58-yards for a Hillsborough touchdown.  Eilbacher added the extra point and Hillsborough took a commanding lead into the half at 26-6.

In the 3^rd quarter Hillsborough’s defense continued to thwart a Bridgewater comeback while the offense kept the clock running.  However, Hillsborough found themselves with 1^st and 10 at their own 17-yard line early in the 4^th quarter.  Once again Melillo found a seam and went 83-yards for his second touchdown of the game.  Eilbacher added the extra point—a perfect four for four kicking—and the game was essentially over as Hillsborough led 34-6.

After a 1-3 start, the Hillsborough Jr. Raiders Varsity team ran the table with 6 straight wins and captured the Jr. Skyland Championship.  Hillsborough has won the conference title 4 of the 7 years the conference has been in existence (2005, 2006, 2008, and 2011), including winning the State Championship in 2008.  Hillsborough will enter the semi-final round of the State playoffs again on Sunday, December 4^th (opponent currently unknown) and hopes to play for the NJ Unlimited Weight Youth Football Association (NJUWYFA) championship on Saturday December 10^th.

The Hillsborough Junior Raiders JV team (ages 10-12) fell to the undefeated Bridgewater Panthers in the Junior Skyland Championship by a score of 20-14 on Saturday evening in Phillipsburg, NJ. The Junior Raiders opened the game with a 9-play drive.  J. J. Bagdan ran behind the blocking of J.R. Metallo, Trevor Pavenski, Alex Shutz, Shane Terraciano, Jack Edwards, Patrick Vinchur and fullback Brian Reilly. Tyler Boatwright also got into the action and managed to skip into the end zone for a 1-yard score to cap the opening drive.  The defense got the ball quickly back to the offense with an interception by J. J. Bagdan. The Raiders immediately went up top and Matt Moore connected to Jackson Parham for a 68-yard touchdown.  J. R. Metallo added the two point kick to make the score 14-0. The Panthers managed to get on the board before the end of the first half making the score 14-6 Hillsborough Raiders.

In the second half it was Bridgewater that sprinted in the other direction managing to score on their first possession of the 3^rd quarter and later again in the fourth with a long drive. Conference leading running back David Usewick ran in all three Touchdowns for the Jr. Panthers. Hillsborough battled to the end but was unable to answer offensively in the 2^nd half of the game sending Bridgewater Panthers to a JR Skyland Championship win. Defensively J. R. Metallo led the Raiders with 8 tackles, Brian Reilly with 7 tackles, Jack Edwards contributed 6 tackles while Justin Tubby and Mark Kwiatek each had 4 tackles. Tyler Boatwright picked off a second half pass from David Usewick. The Junior Raiders JV Team finished the season 6-3 and Championship game runner up in the very competitive Jr. Skyland Football Conference.