Turnovers doom Mustangs at Middlesex

Manville scores to break shutout skid

By: Shawn Tyrrell
   
   MIDDLESEX — Turnovers are perhaps the hardest thing for any football team to overcome. For Manville High, it has become the team’s Achilles heel in recent games.
   Last Friday evening, Manville traveled to Middlesex to take on the Blue Jays hoping to continue to play with the same intensity they had the previous week in a tough loss to Princeton Day School. But three first quarter turnovers, all of which led to Middlesex touchdowns, were all the Blue Jays needed to post a decisive 34-13 victory.
   It was an evening when most of what the Mustangs tried to do ended up for naught. In addition to the turnovers, the Manville offense managed only a total of 14 yards in the first half. Perhaps it can be best said that Middlesex is a team the Mustangs hope to be similar to one day — a skilled club with a strong defense a great running game. The Blue Jays continued their march to the playoffs, while the Mustangs are still trying to work their way toward that level.
   Manville first-year head coach Brett Stibitz admitted his team came out a bit flat to start the game.
   "This is one of the best teams I have seen so far this year," Stibitz said. "We were a little flat early on, but we were prepared. Unfortunately, we made some mistakes that cost us. But we came out play in the second half and produced some positives."
   Middlesex proved to be the better team early in the contest. Over a span of eight minutes, the team scored touchdowns on a 47-yard run by Dan Esposito, on a 14-yard interception returned for a score by Matt Campanella and a 18-yard run by Esposito, which was set up by a fumble. The final score in the span occurred as Campanella took it in from four yards out culminating a nine-play drive on the first play of the second quarter.
   It could have been a bit worse, but the Mustangs defense produced two takeaways, as Leo Rodriguez recovered a fumble as the Blue Jay offense had moved to the Manville 26-yard line. The other came about when Andrew Schaefer fell on a loose ball at the Mustang 41 stopping another drive.
   The Blue Jays needed five plays to complete their scoring on the evening at the start of the second half. Behind a stronger offensive line, Middlesex moved from the 39-yard line to the 37 of the Mustangs before Esposito broke free again, running to the outside and going the final 37 yards for the score.
   Down 34 points, MHS refused to give up and with 3:33 to go in the third quarter started a drive of its own. Two four-yard carries by Rodriguez and a run by Knitowski gave the Mustangs their initial first down of the contest. Newcomer Dan Wilson looked sharp in his first game carrying there times in the drive for 23 yards.
   The big play was turned in by Knitowski, who on a bootleg around left end scampered 26 yards down to the five-yard line. On the very next play Rodriguez went over gaining the remaining yards needed for the score. The point after was kicked in by Tommy Rock and with 9:48 to go in the game Manville was on the board but down 34-7.
   The Mustangs were not finished yet. After the defense forced the Blue Jays to punt, Rock came through and thanks to some great blocking downfield, returned the punt 80 yards for the score. Even though the point after was no good, Manville had managed two touchdowns after getting shut out on consecutive weeks.
   Mustang junior Jamie Levine who along with Leo Rodriguez has formed a great 1-2 punch at linebacker, talked about the need for MHS as a team to get stronger.
   "We need to get stronger as a team," Levine said. "Scoring the two touchdowns will definitely give us more confidence. We played a better second half and will need to play better if we want to win."
   It doesn’t get much easier for Manville the next two weeks with games against David Brearley and always-tough New Providence. The key is to stay healthy and see what the offense can accomplish.
   "We are still building, and from this game we see how much our team needs to get into the weight room," Stibitz said. "We need it."