By: John E. Powers
The South Hunterdon High School football team will be out to stop their 16-game losing streak Saturday night at Jefferis Field, but the Eagles once again will have to get past a very good team to do it.
The Eagles, coming off a 27-0 loss to North Warren (4-1) last Friday night, will take on Pennington (4-1) Saturday. Pennington routed Calvary Christian 40-13 last Saturday as Omar Francis scored on runs of 65, 55 and 64 yards and finished with 190 yards rushing.
So far, the Eagles have lost to Middlesex (4-0), Belvidere (5-0), Bound Brook (4-1) and North Warren (4-1) teams with a combined 17-2 record.
"We haven’t played a bad team," said head coach Jim Meert.
Now the Eagles may have to play without two of their leaders. Sophomore quarterback Brian Snell and his cousin, Carl Snell, a senior running back, were both hurt in the game, according to Meert. Carl hurt his ankle, while Brian suffered a possible concussion.
Their availability for this week’s game was uncertain. The coach said the Snells had to travel to Florida after the game to attend the funeral of their grandfather.
Quarterback Kyle Lurz threw two touchdown passes to Joey Giannone, and Lurz also ran for two touchdowns to lead North Warren. The Eagles had just 70 yards of offense 23 rushing and 47 passing and made three turnovers.
"They basically just wore us down," Meert said.
When Brian Snell went out with an injury, Meert moved junior right end Dan Musslemann to quarterback.
"I know it’s going to be a process here, but the kids played hard. I’m disappointed in the effort they gave," Meert said. "I think we’re making progress, especially the last couple of weeks. We moved the ball pretty well, but we had some turnovers.
"What we had to do was kind a makeshift situation," added Meert, referring to the injuries. "It’s just too bad we didn’t have greater depth."
The Eagles were hurt when what looked like an interception by Brandon Thompson was ruled an incompletion in the second quarter.
"That was a real killer," Meert said.
Pennington may be the best team South Hunterdon has played yet. Francis and quarterback Dominque Herald combined to score five touchdowns Saturday.
Herald’s 99-yard run tied a school record set in 1993 by Cory Stallworth. Herald, who already is committed to playing at the University of Maryland next year, also threw a touchdown pass.

