Unstoppable Stieglitz carries Ridge to long-awaited upset over No. 14 Phillipsburg

Ridge's drought against powerhouse Phillipsburg had been become such a long-lingering cloud of disappointment, that Aidan Stieglitz thought he could recall wanting it to end even before he was actually Aidan Stieglitz.

"I've been waiting for this moment for the past 21 years," he said. "I haven't been alive that long but both my brothers (Devin and Connor) went through the program, and I've been kind of living up to this moment."

thing is, Ridge wasn't asking Stieglitz to do math or write an accurate autobiography on Friday night against 14th-ranked and undefeated Phillipsburg - though any kind of positive numbers from the senior running back would be most welcome.

The powerful back churned out 13 yards on his first carry of the night, picked up 14 on the next and kept on running for long stretches of real estate to direct the Red Devils to a 28-21 upset in a Big Central Conference-American Silver battle in Basking Ridge.

That snapped a nine-game losing streak against Phillipsburg (2-1) and gave Ridge its first triumph over the Stateliners since 2003.

Stieglitz rushed 25 times for a career-high 220 yards and three touchdowns to pace a Wing-T ground attack that churned out 297 yards with help from Ryan Turner, Joseph Dachnowitz and a hole-carving front line of Nick Giordano, Nate Schneider, Jacob Giordano, Bode Ganny and Andrew Dachnowicz.

"The holes were huge," Stieglitz said. "Without the line, without my quarterback (Connor McLachlan), without my halfbacks I'm not doing any of this game. Huge credit to them."

Ridge teammates and a few bruised up Phillipsburg defenders might argue Stieglitz' point. Fact is, the 6-3, 210-pounder utilized their crisp blocks wisely, but created a load of additional yardage beyond that point of attack by simply dragging people with him for first downs.

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