The Easton High football team will never know how many games it would have won or how far it would have gone into the District 11 playoffs had Marcus Williams been healthy.
The Red Rovers were just happy to have the speedy senior running back playing again Thursday morning in the 114th edition of local high school football’s longest Thanksgiving rivalry.
Williams, who was at full strength for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in an Oct. 15 game against Liberty, hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Cole Transue with 50 seconds left and Easton was able to pull out a 7-3 win in a defensive struggle at Lafayette College’s Fisher Stadium.
The scoring play came just two plays after senior linebacker Michael Hynes, who had also missed a good portion of the season with an injury, recovered a Stateliners fumble forced by Brock Harris at the P’burg 15.
After Transue ran for five yards to the Stateliners 10, Williams was all alone when he caught the game-winning pass. Austin Martellucci followed with the extra-point kick.
Phillipsburg, which was limited to 193 yards in total offense, advanced to its 40 before time ran out.
The win was the sixth straight by Easton, making it the longest win streak in the series’ history, and stretched its all-time series lead to 67-42-5.
The victory allowed the Red Rovers, who lost to Freedom in the District 11 6A quarterfinals, to finish 6-4. Scheduled games against Bethlehem Catholic and Whitehall were canceled by COVID-19 concerns.
Phillipsburg finished 7-5.
For the longest time, it appeared as if Thursday’s game might be a repeat of the 1944 and 1967 games which ended in scoreless ties.
And then when P’burg’s Matt D’Onofrio kicked a 37-yard field goal with 3:46 left in the third quarter, it looked to be a rerun of the Stateliners’ 3-0 win in 2010.
Easton had several scoring chances, but two field goal attempts failed, including one that was blocked. An interception in the end zone ended another Easton drive.
Phillipsburg took over at its own 20 after the second missed Rovers field goal try with 2:10 left and was looking to run out the clock. But two carries for negative yards and a false start penalty pushed the ‘Liners back to the 13 when the fumble changed the outlook for both teams.
The teams combined for 19 penalties for 167 yards and four turnovers.
Williams, who gained 54 yards on 21 carries, was voted the game’s offensive MVP. He missed the Rovers’ last two games of the regular season and carried just four times in the district quarterfinals against Freedom.
He finished his season with 809 yards rushing.
Easton senior linebacker Nino Rizzolino was selected defensive MVP after recording five tackles and a sack. Hynes had 10 tackles, including three for losses.
Transue was 14-for-25 passing for 158 yards and Juju Fears and Kyle Evancho had four catches apiece with Fears collecting a 38-yard reception and producing 69 yards overall.
Javion Thompson had two catches for 42 yards on offense and also an interception in the first half that ended a Phillipsburg drive to the Easton 10.
The Stateliners, who had three quarterbacks combine to complete 4 of 9 passes for 37 yards, got 80 yards rushing from quarterback Jakhye McLean.
