Hillsborough rolls past Central
HILLSBOROUGH – After so many years of falling short against Hunterdon Central — eight straight to be exact and by an average of two touchdowns per game — it might have been understandable for the Raiders to have felt some jitters against their Mid-State 38 Delaware Division rivals.
A couple of great opportunities to put the Red Devils away early didn’t happen, and coach Kevin Carty had the unsettling feeling that maybe Central was just waiting for week three to unleash whatever they hadn’t shown in their first two games.
But it never happened.
Hillsborough captured an empathic 38-7 win over the defending Central Group V champs at Noonan Field. This one had the feel of a playoff game with Carty believing the team that didn’t win might not make it come November.
The Raiders are 3-0 for the first time since 2004. Hunterdon Central is 0-3 for the second time in three years, but Central recovered in 2012 to make the Central V playoffs and weathered a four-game losing streak last season to rally and win a sectional title.
Those kind of things is something Carty and the Raiders knew too well, but it was Hillsborough’s night.
The Raiders were dominant, averaging 7.3 yards per play to Central’s 2.5. They had a 396-101 edge in total yards.
Senior quarterback Eddie Trimpert threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns, senior linebacker John McDonald returned an interception 30 yards for a score in the second quarter to give Hillsborough a 10-0 lead. Senior receivers Scot Levonaitis made a couple of outstanding catches as did junior Dillon Zimmerman.
But it took a while to get going.
Central rallied immediately after the McDonald touchdown when senior Tyler Bothers returned the following kickoff 85 yards for a score with Brad Ungar’s kick after cutting the Raiders’ lead to 10-7.
Central didn’t score again.
“They are tough in the front, we got some tough opportunities, but we had some bad breaks and we had trouble running on them at first because they are tough up there,’’ said Carty. “We had a touchdown called back, a couple of things didn’t go our way and I think our guys were pressing because it was such a big game for us, maybe more us than them. You have to give Central credit for the program they have been. I think it took us a second to realize we were allowed to score on them.’’
Hillsborough had an ideal chance to score early when it recoverred an early fumble, but was turned away at the Central 18. The Raiders had a first and goal from the Central nine on their second possession. But again, nothing — a holding penalty among the issues to spoil an early lead. But Hillsborough’s defense kept the field positon though a scoreless first quarter.
The Raiders opened the scoring on Zack Eilbacher’s 21-yard field goal early in the second quarter. McDonald then picked off sophomore quarterback Christian Shaw, returning it 30 yards for a touchdown — his first touchdown ever.
HUNTERDON CENTRAL (0-3) 0-7-0-0-7
HILLSBOROUGH (3-0) 0-10-14-14-38
SCORING SUMMARY
H – Eilbacher 21 field goal
H – McDonald 30 interception return (Eilbacher kick)
HC – Bothers 85 kickoff return (Ungar kick)
H = Senerchia 67 pass from Trimpert (Eilbacher kick)
H – Reeves 1 run (Eilbacher kick)
H – Zimmerman 33 pass from Trimpert (Eilbacher kick)
H – DelRio 1 run (Eilbacher kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - HC: Bryant 2-37, Aquino 2-18, Hawkins 10-14 ;HB:DelRio 10-36, Reeves 9-56
Passing - HC: Shaw 1-6-1-9, Ismen 4-9-0-37 ; HB: Trimpert 14-25-0-290
Receiving - HC: Beckett 2-37; HB: Levonaitis 4-103, Zimmerman 3-72, Senerchia 3-8
ONLINE
View a photo gallery from Hillsborough-Hunterdon Central at MyCentralJersey.com.