But in the rain and slush on Fisher Field’s turf, Castro kicked his way into Stateliner lore.
The Stateliner senior booted the game-winning 25-yard field goal three plays after Dana Lee intercepted Easton’s Justin Pacchioli for the second time in the game as Phillipsburg (9-2) blanked Easton Area (11-2) 3-0 from snowy, sleety, slushy Fisher Field at Lafayette College in the 104th installment of the two schools’ annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry game.
“I can’t believe this happened,” Castro said just outside a large maroon and silver mob of Pburg players, cheerleaders and students minutes after the victory. “This is the best feeling…hands down…ever.”
The third time the Stateliners lined up in field goal formation proved to be the charm. The first two times Pburg had opted to line up in field goal formation resulted in an errant snap for a 9-yard loss and a faked field goal pass to end the first half.
“It always feels good to beat Easton. It doesn’t matter how, when or where,” said Stateliner head coach Bob Stem.
The theme of the day was near misses, both for Easton and Phillipsburg. Easton’s missed opportunities may have loomed larger, especially since they were the ones with the goose egg beside their score.
The Red Rovers’ ground attack didn’t have much to show for its efforts this day. For the game, Easton ran the ball 27 times and gained 39 yards – most of that coming courtesy of feature tailback James Middleton, who gained just 61 yards on 18 carries. The Rovers’ also threw two interceptions, completed only two passes, and lost a pair of fumbles.
At one point in the game, Phillipsburg had held Easton to minus-5 rushing yards on 20 team carries. Fourteen of Easton’s 27 rushing attempts went for negative yardage.
“What a great job,” Stem said of the Stateliners’ defensive effort. “Coach Bruce Smith did a great job. He’s been a friend of mine for a long time.”
Rovers’ head coach Steve Shiffert said Phillipsburg liked to bring pressure and stuff the running game.
“That’s their forte,” Shiffert said. “They come and they come and they blitz you.”
Perhaps Easton’s biggest missed opportunity came with less than a minute left in the third quarter. Pacchioli rolled to his right on play action and fired a pass intended for a wide open tight end who had snuck a few yards behind Phillipsburg’s Robert Howell, a junior. But Howell got a hand on Pacchioli’s pass and the receiver couldn’t corrall the pass. Easton was forced to punt.
And Easton’s four best plays of the day – Middleton runs of 19, 21, 12 and 14 yards – all came to the left-hand side of the Rovers’ offensive formation.
“We were getting some things there on the left but we didn’t get anything to compliment it,” Shiffert said.
True enough. But the game maybe didn’t have to go to overtime.
Phillipsburg drove to the Easton 19 yard line with 6:44 left in regulation, but Dana Lee was stuffed a yard short of the sticks on a 4th-and-3 situation.
Then, Easton had seemingly forced the Stateliners to punt with about a minute left in regulation, but a Rover defender ran smack into the Stateliner punter and drew a roughing the kicker penalty. That moved the ball to the Rover 30 yard line, but a procedure penalty and a 9-yard loss on a sack of Justin Scuorzo ended with a harmless interception by the Rovers’ Isaac Knighton as time expired in regulation.
Dana Lee, the game MVP, ran for 79 yards on 24 carries, caught one pass for 17 yards and had two interceptions on defense. Fullback Gerald VanDeCruz added 46 yards rushing on 15 totes for the Stateliners, and Scuorzo added 67 yards of offense (4-of-9, 66 yards, INT; 5 rush, 1 yard). Defensive lineman Tom Vouglas recovered the two Rover fumbles.
Easton was paced by Middleton’s 61 rushing yards and one reception for 15 yards. Pacchioli finished the day 2-of-8 passing for 22 yards with the two picks and had six carries for minus-26 yards. Zach Bambary finished with just two yards on three carries and caught one pass for seven yards.
Easton finished with five first downs to the Stateliners’ 10; 39 rushing yards to Pburg’s 118; and 61 yards of offense to the Liners’ 184.
Asked what went through his mind when Castro’s field goal split the uprights, Stem offered a different answer than what might have been expected.
“I’m just happy for the kids,” the 283-game winner said. “They deserved it.”
