Pintos off to fast start
By: John E. Powers
The Manville Colts Pop Warner team could have described their 25-6 loss to Metuchen last Sunday in several ways heartbreaking, experience gaining and regret-filled could be some words to use.
The Colts entered the fourth quarter tied with Metuchen at 6-6 and with terrific field position, but allowed the Middlesex County team to score 19 points. The loss was 11th straight for the Colts, counting their setback in the Garden State Playoffs in 1999, last year’s 0-8 season and the first two losses of this year.
But Sunday was very, very encouraging.
"We did a lot of good things," head coach Robert "Bubba" Petrone said. Metuchen took a quick 6-0 lead on a 13-yard pass from quarterback Matt Owen to Marquis Boyd. But the Colts hung in and tied the game at six late in the second quarter on a one-yard run by fullback Doug Semenick, who finished with 115 yards on 11 carries.
The nine-play 51-yard drive was started when Tommy Marshall recovered a fumble off a bad hand-off. A 25-yard run by Semenick put Manville on the Metuchen 21 on the first drive of the second half and the Colts moved to the Metuchen 15, but Johnny Hardgrove’s pass was picked off by Amar McLean.
A Mike Winfield interception put Manville in good shape once again just before the end of the third quarter. A 27-yard run by Semenick gave the Colts great field position at the Metuchen 14, but the drive stalled. Three plays later, McLean ran 78 yards for a score to give Metuchen a 12-6 lead. The Bulldogs scored two more times to put the game away.
"We basically ran out of gas," Petrone said. "We didn’t fire off the ball to block. We were tired and we lost three kids to injury (Johnny Hardgrove, Kyle Sopko and Nate Bott). But we came a long way and I was really pleased with the effort today."
Petrone praised lineman Dave Mazzucca for his play and said that Mazzucca would be one of the team captains when the Colts host Kenilworth Sunday at Gerber Field.
Pintos hang on
for 13-6 victory
The offensive leadership the Pintos have in quarterback Mike Knitowski and tailback Tommy Rock was the difference in Sunday’s 13-6 win over Metuchen. But, in the end, the 2-0 Pintos really needed everybody to put this game away.
Throughout the game, the Pintos and their coaches, and fans had the feeling the Bulldogs were always on the verge of taking control. But it never did happen.
Knitowski and Rock hooked up on two scoring plays and the defense did enough as the defending Raritan Valley Conference champions won a rugged decision. Knitowski went 3-for-3 in the air for 99 yards on a day when Rock was limited to just 11 yards on seven carries. Knitowski also hooked up with Rock’s younger brother, Brian, for a crucial point after conversion, which gave the Pintos a 13-6 lead.
"We kept coming and coming at them," Manville coach Dave Pfoutz said.
After stopping Metuchen tailback Jack Rems short of a first down at the Manville 14 on the first drive of the game, the Pintos went 86 yards in eight plays. The last two came on passes. Knitowski threw one for 11 yards to Brian Rock, then Tommy Rock gathered in a short pass, juked two Bulldogs and went 34 yards for a score and a 6-0 Manville lead.
The Bulldogs came back on Rems’ 26-yard run in the third quarter, but Adam Hardgrove and Mike Bezick stopped the conversion attempt run and the game was tied at six.
Manville went ahead on the next drive. After Brian Rock was thrown for a nine-yard loss, Knitowski connected with Tommy Rock on a 54-yard fade, putting the Pintos up 12-6. He then threw the conversion pass to Brian Rock.
"We went through a war today," Manville assistant coach Bobby Willard said. "Both sides played hard. We battled the heat and we didn’t have a lot of guys."
Among those who were outstanding on defense for the Pintos were both Rocks, defensive end Anthony Palovick and Bezick.
Williams runs wild
to propel Ponies
Lineman C.J. Schaefer recovered a late fumble to spark the 2-0 Ponies to a 19-7 win over Metuchen. The Ponies got another big game from first-year Manville player Jalil Williams, who rushed for two touchdowns and had 118 yards on 11 carries.
J.J. Artfitch got the Ponies on the scoreboard with a pretty 39-yard run on the first series of the game. Quarterback Mike Jachim then scored to tie the game at six and Philip Lewis added the point after run to give Metuchen the lead.
Williams recovered a Metuchen fumble, then scored on a 37-yard run two plays later to put the Ponies up for good. Dan Politowski made it 13-7 with the point-after run. Williams’ 42-yard run made it 19-7, but Metuchen threatened once more, moving to the Manville four.
Schaefer recovered a Deandre Smith fumble to end the drive. Mark Walyga recovered two fumbles for the Ponies. Quarterback Shane Jurkowski had a couple of good blocks to free Williams on his runs.
"I thought the guys up front had a big game," head coach Ken Schaefer said. "Brendan Nurnberger, CJ, Matthew Veglatte and Brandon Mesaros were tough."
Mavericks rule
in flag action
The Mavericks dominated Metuchen with several long runs. Nick Janner, Bubba Johnson, Jimmy McCarthy and Austin Szabelzk outran the Bullpup secondary for scores. Mark Hagin and Johnson had outstanding blocks, while Anthony Eurick, Jake Caswell and A.J. Bocchino had big games on defense.

