PHILLIPSBURG – Alexie Moreira didn’t miss when it counted.
The Phillipsburg junior kicker booted a 46-year field goal – possibly a school record – as the Stateliners stunned Northern Highlands, 13-11, to earn the North 2, Group 4 sectional title at Maloney Stadium on Friday night.
The Highlanders appeared to have the game in hand when they converted a two-point conversion from Jack O’Callaghan to Shane Hanlon with 24 seconds left to take an 11-10 lead, but the Stateliners had just enough time for Moreira Magic.
“Unbelievable effort,” Phillipsburg coach Frank Duffy said. “Hats off to Northern Highlands. That’s a very good football team. We knew they’d come here and give our best effort. It didn’t look really good there when we gave up the two-point conversion, but our guys believed. Our seniors were hungry. They wanted to get the job done.”
The Stateliners (10-1) will play the winner of Saturday’s North 1, Group 4 sectional final between Morris Knolls and Ramapo in the Group 4 semifinals next week.
Phillipsburg also plays Easton (Pa.) on Thanksgiving. Should the Stateliners advance to the state finals, the game will be played at Rutgers on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
After opening the season No. 1 in the North Jersey Public Top 20 rankings, Northern Highlands finished 6-5 after losing star quarterback Zach Johnson for the season.
“My kids played their absolute hardest,” Northern Highlands coach Dave Cord said. “They made plays at the end. I’m real proud of my guys. We battled through a lot of adversity this season and more adversity tonight losing two more of our starters. Battled. They made a couple plays at the end and hit a great field goal.”
The Stateliners wisely fell on the ball after Northern Highlands kicked off with 24 seconds left, saving every second on the clock. They took over at their own 25-yard line.
Phillipsburg quarterback Jett Genovese threw a pass to Matthew Scerbo Jr. for 13 yards on the first play, then scrambled for 13 yards to the Highlanders 48 on the next play. After another pass on the sidelines, Genovese rolled left again and got out of bounds with four seconds left at the Highlanders 29-yard line.
“We practice two-minute and our guys had situation awareness,” Duffy said. “You gotta get out of ball, catch the ball and get out of bounds. Jett took off and got out of bounds. We didn’t have any timeouts. That’s great situational awareness.”
Duffy said his team practices late-game situations, but not that exact scenario.
“You don’t practice 24 seconds,” Duffy said with a smile. “That’s just dudes being dudes there, that’s all it is.”
Moreira, who kicked a field goal in last week’s Phillipsburg win over Chatham in the sectional semifinals, had a busy night.
Phillipsburg lined up for a 43-yard field goal early in the second quarter and hooked it left, but Northern Highlands was whistled for offsides. Moreira then tried a 38-yard field goal and hooked it left again, but Northern Highlands was whistled for running into the kicker. Moreira then nailed the 33-yarder to put the Stateliners ahead 3-0, and that was the score at halftime.
The unsung hero of the game-winning kick was the Stateliners’ holder, who handled a low snap and got it down. The kick fluttered and barely crossed the crossbar, but it all counted.
Duffy said he believed the 46-yarder tied a school record. He never had a moment to offer Moreira any words of encouragement before the kick as things were happening so fast.
“No, I just let him go, we didn’t have a timeout, what am I gonna say? Go make the kick,” Duffy said. “He did a good job. He’s built for this. We had a field goal last week, and he stepped up.”
