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Week 7 Provides Eye-Opening Performances

Double-OT thriller and huge rushing performance were top Mid-State 39 news this weekend.

The Ridge Red Devils have struggled this season, winning only one game in September, against North Hunterdon in . Going into Friday night’s game against Linden, Ridge was 1-5. Linden was 2-3, but those three losses came to three of the Star-Ledger’s top 20 teams in the state: Hunterdon Central, Elizabeth and Immaculata.

But on Friday, Ridge to defeat Linden this year in a double-overtime win that was close through the duration of the game. The end of the first half alone provided the crowd its first taste of what would end up a night full of drama: Linden scored with 1:52 left in the half, but Ridge’s JD Moore responded with an 80-yard kickoff return after the touchdown to the Linden 17-yard line, helping to set up Rob Mullaney’s carry for a touchdown. Going into halftime, Ridge was leading 14-7.

The game was scoreless after the half until Linden tied the game at 14 with only 2:33 left to play in regulation. After one overtime, the teams were tied at 21, but after the second overtime, a pass from Conor Hughes to Mike Hilss for a touchdown secured the win for the Red Devils, 27-21. With the win, Ridge breaks a month-long winless streak and improve to 2-5.

The Watchung Hills Warriors and the Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers were unable to break their winless streaks this past weekend, however. Both teams remain winless this season.

Watchung Hills faced one of the toughest teams on the schedule, Elizabeth, and the Warriors took their , 58-21. After the first half, Watchung Hills was trailing 44-7. This was the first time Watchung Hills scored three touchdowns in a game, but it was also the first game where they gave up more than 35 points in a game. For the first five weeks of the season, Watchung Hills gave up no more than 21 points in any appearance.

Bridgewater-Raritan faired a bit better in their loss to Montgomery. With 3:53 left in the game, Julian Dorsey scored on a 90-yard kick return for the Panthers to tie the game at 14, but Montgomery quickly responded with a 69-yard run for a touchdown. Bridgewater ended up dropping to 0-7 .

The Hillsborough Raiders may have felt some momentum going into their game against Union on Friday, having won their last two games to bring them from 2-2 to 4-2, but Union, another 4-2 team, pounced early and . At halftime, Union led 31-10. By the end, Union had scored 55 points to Hillsborough’s 19. John Banaciski of Hillsborough had an impressive performance, though, with 125-yards receiving, 124-yard rushing, and two touchdowns.

Standout Performance

For the , Union’s Jamauri Bogan put forth one of the most impressive performances of the week in the Mid-State 39 conference. On Friday , the sophomore averaged more than 23 yards per carry, touching the ball only 13 times but accumulating 300 yards rushing and scoring four touchdowns, all during the first half.

Biggest Win of Week 6

Rivals New Providence and Summit, two undefeated teams after six weeks, . Summit’s 403 yards rushing on 58 carries led the team to a 35-20 victory, dealing New Providence their first loss of the season. With the win, Summit remains undefeated going into their Friday night game against conference rival Cranford, who also remains undefeated. Friday’s game will decide who sits atop the Mountain Division of the Mid-State 39 conference.

Mid-State 39 Standings

Standings are a combination of Patch records, as well as from NJ.com. Coaches are required by the NJSIAA to submit results to NJ.com in order to be eligible for the post season, due to a contract between the two.

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Delaware Division

Team Division Record Overall Record Hunterdon Central
5 - 0 - 0 6 - 1 - 0 Franklin 5 - 0 - 0 5 - 1 - 0 Phillipsburg
3 - 2 - 0 4 - 2 - 0 Hillsborough
3 - 2 - 0 4 - 3 - 0 Montgomery
2 - 3 - 0 3 - 4 - 0 North Hunterdon
1 - 4 - 0 2 - 4 - 0 Ridge
1 - 4 - 0 2 - 5 - 0 Bridgewater-Raritan 0 - 5 - 0 0 - 7 - 0

Watchung Division

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Team Division Record Overall Record Immaculata 4 - 0 - 0 7 - 0 - 0 Elizabeth 4 - 1 - 0 6 - 1 - 0 Union 3 - 2 - 0 5 - 2 - 0 Westfield 2 - 1 - 0 5 - 1 - 0 Linden 1 - 2 - 0 2 - 4 - 0 Plainfield 0 - 3 - 0 1 - 5 - 0 Watchung Hills
0 - 5 - 0 0 - 7 - 0

Mountain Division

Team Division Record Overall Record Summit 4 - 0 - 0 7 - 0 - 0 Cranford 4 - 0 - 0 7 - 0 - 0 Johnson
2 - 2 - 0 4 - 2 - 0 Rahway 1 - 2 - 0 3 - 3 - 0 Governor Livingston
0 - 3 - 0 1 - 5 - 0 Hillside 0 - 4 - 0 0 - 7 - 0

Union Division

Team Division Record Overall Record New Providence 4 - 0 - 0 5 - 1 - 0 Roselle 3 - 1 - 0 4 - 2 - 0 Dayton 3 - 2 - 0 3 - 4 - 0 Brearley
2 - 3 - 0 3 - 4 - 0 Roselle Park 1 - 2 - 0 2 - 5 - 0 Bound Brook 0 - 5 - 0 2 - 5 - 0

Raritan Division

Team Division Record Overall Record Delaware Valley
4 - 0 - 0 6 - 0 - 0 Somerville
4 - 0 - 0 5 - 2 - 0 Warren Hills
2 - 2 - 0 2 - 5 - 0 Scotch Plains-Fanwood
2 - 2 - 0 2 - 5 - 0 North Plainfield
0 - 4 - 0 1 - 6 - 0 Voorhees
0 - 4 - 0 0 - 7 - 0

Hills Division

Team Division Record Overall Record Bernards 4 - 0 - 0 6 - 0 - 0 Belvidere 2 - 1 - 0 5 - 1 - 0 North Warren
2 - 1 - 0 4 - 3 - 0 South Hunterdon
2 - 2 - 0 2 - 4 - 0 Pingry
2 - 3 - 0 3 - 4 - 0 Manville 0 - 5 - 0 0 - 6 - 0
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