The Stateliners' 3-0 victory is their first in the series since 2005.

FROM STEVE MILLER

Tired of winding up on the wrong side of its rivalry with Easton, Phillipsburg sought to keep its focus through its early-week activities and the pregame hype.

No one stayed on task better than Stateliners senior Dana Lee.

With the game scoreless in overtime, Lee locked on top Easton receiver Jonathan Bisci as he ran a fade pattern into the left corner of the end zone. When he outjumped Bisci for his second interception of the day, Lee gave the Stateliners a chance for a game-ending score.

Anthony Castro delivered the needed points three plays later, drilling a 25-yard field goal high and true Thursday afternoon at Lafayette's Fisher Field. That single score lifted Phillipsburg to a 3-0 overtime win over Easton in the 104th meeting of the Thanksgiving Day football rivals in front of a crowd of 14,500.

The win allowed Phillipsburg (9-2 overall) to make its season, especially after it lost to Piscataway in the NJSIAA North 2 Group 4 semifinals last week. Easton (11-2) still has a District 11 Class 4A final to play Saturday night against Whitehall, but the sting of losing to the Stateliners for the first time since 2005 may linger for a while.

"We said we wanted to save our energy and then come out ready to play," said Lee, who also was the offensive star with 25 carries for 88 yards in conditions made sloppy by snow, sleet and rain. "That's what we did."

While Phillipsburg needed extra time to break through, it dominated the game from start to finish. The Stateliners held Easton to 60 yards of total offense and came up with four turnovers.

Phillipsburg's run defense owned the day, limiting Easton to 38 yards on 27 carries. Eleven of the Red Rovers' carries went for negative yardage.

At one point late in the third quarter, Easton had minus-10 rushing yards and minus-5 yards of total offense.

"That's their forte – they come and they blitz you and they penetrate, and we just didn't hold up to it at times," Easton coach Steve Shiffert said. "We kind of reverted back to what we did the first third of the season, when we had that same problem. It's something we need to rectify by Saturday."

While Phillipsburg dominated the stat sheet, it could not crack Easton's defense during regulation. Nine of the Stateliners' 10 possessions pushed into Red Rovers territory, but none of them produced points. Tyler Thomas (14 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble), Laquan Ross (10 tackles) and Conor Mulrine (10 tackles) all finished with double-digits tackles to lead Easton's defense.

Phillipsburg put itself in field-goal position several times in the first half, but the deteriorating weather prevented it from ever getting a kick off. A potential first-quarter field goal went awry when the snap went through the holder's hands. Phillipsburg also elected to run a fake field goal on the final play of the first half rather than try a 30-yarder.

Finally given a chance to kick the ball in overtime, Castro drilled it through the uprights from 25 yards away to send Phillipsburg's players pouring onto the field. He had come through in the clutch before, converting a 20-yard field goal in overtime to beat Piscataway in the postseason last season.

How did this game-winner rate?

"By far, hands down, this is the best feeling on earth," Castro said. "It was the biggest kick of my life.

"Honestly, if we would have just kicked the field goal [at the end of the first half], we would have won in regulation," he added. "But this was way better. I'm glad we didn't."

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-easton-pburg-1125-20101125,0,4275835.story