Football Team Readies to Face Howell in Consolation Game

With a three-game win streak ending the season, Hillsborough High School Head Coach Kevin Carty thought the team was heading towards a state playoff match.

But under NJSIAA rules, the top eight teams in power points advance—and Hillsborough was squeezed out of the playoffs by Brick Memorial.

"Just the way things were going at the end of the season, I thought we would be going," Carty said Thursday, after the team finished preparing for Friday night's home stand against Howell in the consolation round.

At the end of the season, Brick ended up with a tally of 101—a scant three points above Hillsborough.

Nonetheless, Carty said the team is excited to play Friday night at home, facing a team that he said was a "pretty good team," despite its 3-5 record.

"They've done some good things and can play a tough game," he said.

The end of the regular season gave Carty a chance to look back on the season that including some terrific highlights from his players. He said he expects a lot from his players—"And they come through"—and added several younger players emerged through the season as next year's likely leaders, players like Jared Senerchia, Josh Brown and Scott Levonaitis.

And he called wide receiver Andrew Zitel's 800 yards for the season "awesome."

The team seemed to play a bit inconsistently early in this season, but Carty said he really knew the team was gelling after the Oct. 11 Hunterdon Central game.

The Raiders had struggled to find the end zone in the first three quarters, falling behind 24-7 at the beginning of the fourth.

"That's when it's easy to sit back and take it easy," he said. "But they didn't."

Instead, they battled back and nearly stole the game from the Red Devils, ending with a 24-21 loss.

"Our guys just went and fought on and on," Carty said.

Game time for tomorrow's consolation game is 7 p.m. at Hillsborough High School.