Turnovers, injuries hurt Mustangs at North Warren

Rock goes over 100 again in loss

By: Shawn Tyrrell
   
   BLAIRSTOWN — It was a banged-up Manville High School football team that made the over one-hour trip to take on the North Warren last Friday night. Six starters were unable to play due to injury, and despite the team’s best efforts it just wasn’t enough as the Patriots overcome an early deficit to gain a 29-6 victory.
   The Mustangs (2-6) had a few chances over the course of the evening, and made several big plays, but the North Warren defense held the team in check when it needed to, limiting MHS to just 174 yards of total offense. The lone bright spot for Manville was running back Tommy Rock, who had his second consecutive game with over 100 yards rushing. Rock ran for 123 yards to lead Manville’s offense.
   Manville head coach Brett Stibitz knew that going in to the game against North Warren would be a challenge, especially with as many injuries as the Mustangs had.
   "Our lack of numbers definitely hurt us tonight," Stibitz said. "Even though we lost, the score doesn’t reflect the true effort that the kids put out tonight. If you take away the punt return and all the mistakes we made it would be a much closer game."
   MHS was forced to turn to third string quarterback Kyle Sopko in Friday’s game. Backup quarterback Anthony Palovick was unable to play due to a broken hand that was sustained during the win over South Hunterdon in the previous game. The Mustangs were already without their regular signal-caller, as Mike Knitowski remained on the sideline with a deep bone bruise.
   Sopko, on short notice, made the start for the Manville and did a decent job completing 3-of-10 passes for 24 yards. There were several balls that were dropped, so Sopko’s numbers could have been a bit better.
   Even with everything working against them, the Mustangs actually took the early lead in the game. Brian Rock recovered a fumble by Patriots kickoff returner Ryan Lembeck at the North Warren 27-yard line, giving the Mustang a golden opportunity. The team took advantage. After an offsides penalty against the Patriots, Tommy Rock ran a reverse around left end outraced everyone to the end zone before diving in for the 22-yard score.
   Things were looking bright for Manville at this point, but North Warren answered right away. On the very next play, junior Kyle DePerty took the kickoff and sprinted 45 yards to the Manville 30 yard-line. This was a tough play to swallow since on the previous kick the Mustangs had attempted an onside kick that they recovered, but the team had gone offsides. This was just one of many untimely penalties that MHS had on the evening.
   After an incomplete pass and a holding penalty, North Warren quarterback Bill Kadel completed a pass down field to a wide-open Steve Horton for a 39-yard gain, putting the ball at the Manville three.
   The Mustang defense responded and held the Patriots to a field goal. Andrew Schaefer made a big stop on North Warren back Shane Tosh on first down. On second down, Craig Howell, Jamie Levine and Leo Rodriguez combined to throw North Warren running back Zach Dorland for a three-yard loss. The third attempt was also no good as receiver Joey Giannone couldn’t stay in bounds on a pass from Kadel, so the Patriots settled for a 27-yard field goal to make the score 6-3.
   Manville was forced to punt after not picking up a first down on its next series and the North Warren offense went back to work, driving from its own 33 to the MHS five, before Brian Rock came up with another takeaway, intercepting Kadel in the end zone to thwart the drive.
   But it wouldn’t take long for the Patriots to get into the end zone and take the lead for good. The North Warren defense forced Manville to punt and again DePerty had a big return. The junior broke four tackles while reversing fields before racing 54 yards for the score and putting North Warren ahead for the first time in the game at 9-6.
   The Mustangs did come back with a big return of their own. On ensuing kickoff, Tommy Rock got some great upfield blocking and moved the ball to the Mustang 42-yard line. The Manville offense moved as far as the North Warren 32, but on fourth down a Sopko pass intended for Rock was dropped and the drive ended.
   The Patriots got the ball back and needed just five plays before getting into the end zone again. Tosh rumbled in untouched from five yards out and with the point after the North Warren lead was 16-6.
   Manville did very little for the remainder of the half. A fumble and an interception by the Patriot defense stopped any chance the team had to score.
   The North Warren offense didn’t let up in the second half. DePerty hurt Manville again when he cut back for a 36-yard touchdown run on the team’s opening possession of the third quarter and with the score 23-6, the game was all but over.
   MHS was able to put together an impressive drive late in the third quarter. Faced with a 4th-and-2 from the 46-yard line, Sopko found a wide-open Howell for a 26-yard pass play. The offense managed to get the ball to the 2-yard line and it appeared that Sopko had scored on a keeper, but an offsides penalty negated the play and a fourth down pass attempt from Rock to Robert Wood was knocked down.
   Overall in the game Manville did many things well. There was some good blocking by the offensive line, and at times the defensive made some key stops, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
   Manville will play its Central Jersey Group 1 consolation game at Metuchen on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The Mustangs will end their season with a Thanksgiving Day home game vs. Bound Brook.
   With two games remaining the Mustangs must keep from turning the ball over if the team is to have any chance to win. Four turnovers in any game make it difficult to get a victory against anyone.