photo by Josh Axelrod

The Raiders football team lost to the Phillipsburg Stateliners after a tough game ending in a 48-13 score.
 
Senior Marquel Taylor clinched the first SPF touchdown of the game. Senior George Leichtling scored the second when, after receiving a 35-yard-pass thrown by sophomore Cooper Heisey and evading multiple defenders, dove into the bottom left corner of the end-zone for the touchdown.
 
With three tackles under his belt, senior Joe Annicharico led the Raider defense as they held off the Phillipsburg defense and helped to execute a scoreless third quarter. Head Coach Jonathan Stack commended the team’s defensive strategy and said, “I was so proud of how this defense played the entire game. We watched them in games this year where they did not run a play for a loss of yardage at all. We had 10, 15 times we tackled these guys for losses.”
 
The P’Burg football team, which hails from the Lehigh Valley and straddles the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border, have an impressive 6-1 record. The team scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and three in the second.
 
Sophomore DJ Johnson and senior Donald Jones were both injured but returned to the field to finish out the game strong. However, resilience in the face of physical injuries is not the only type the team have demonstrated. Stack said, “They did a tremendous job; these guys have hung through this entire season doing a great job, very proud of these guys today.” Despite their 0-9 record, an air of determination and grit hung over the field as the players marched onto the turf.
 
The Raiders are projected to play West Windsor South in a consolation game next week. As the season nears an end, Stack maintains a admirably positive attitude and said, “We have a good chance next week, we’re going to go try and hang tough with that next team. You know what the fact is they’ve just been positive — they’ve done a great job all year.”