As the new school year opened in September, a new football season came with it. After last year’s hugely successful season, the Raiders hoped to duplicate their achievements.

Last year, the Raiders’ record was an astounding 9-2, including a playoff win against Monroe. It was one of the best seasons that Hillsborough football has experienced in recent history.

This year, hopes were high to repeat last year’s success. With tons of new faces on both sides of the ball, excitement was soaring as the team planned to get off to a fast start.

However, they got off to a slower start than hoped for, suffering a disappointing home loss against Franklin 34-27. This trend continued as they lost a heartbreaking game to the Watchung Warriors 34-33.

After two difficult losses, the team realized that they needed a win. This motivation showed on the field and produced a dominating 42-0 win over Hunterdon Central. Senior quarterback Alfred Fisher threw for 179 yards and two touchdowns.

“The team was really just relieved to see all the work that we put in paid off,” senior tight end Jimmy Suseck said. “After two tough losses in games that we felt we should’ve won, we were so ready to get out there again to prove that we were better than we had shown.”

The next week, the rain came to town for the game against the Bridgewater Panthers. The Panthers halted Hillsborough’s momentum with a demoralizing 28-0 defeat for the Raiders.

A lot of the pressure fell on the seniors to turn the season around. Key players including Suseck, Benjamin Pasternack, Dillon Zimmerman, and Ryan Melillo are looked upon to keep the players focused and finish the season on a high note.

“You have to prepare the team in practice and keep them focused Monday through Thursday for the Friday night lights, but once Friday comes there’s no better feeling than taking the field with your teammates,” senior lineman Pasternack said.

After the crushing loss to Bridgewater, the Raiders looked to rebound with a game against Phillipsburg, who is coming off of a state championship season. It was competitive contest, but the team could not pull through at the end and lost 28-21.

Determined to erase what was a two game skid, the Raiders took a sense of urgency into their tilt with Union. This showed on the field as the team won the game 29-18. Senior Ryan Melillo led the way with 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

After its win over Union, the team failed to make it two in a row on their senior night as they lost 28-21 in overtime to the Elizabeth Minutemen.  It was a hard fought, back and forth game that the Raiders lost by a hair. 

The Raiders finished its regular season schedule with games at Montgomery and Plainfield. They split those games losing 21-14 to Montgomery and beating Plainfield 22-18. This brought their record to 3-6 for the season.

The team has one more game before its year comes to a close against East Brunswick at home. Since it is the last time the team will play this year, the Raiders obviously look to finish the campaign on a high note.