Three teams competed in RVC
By: Rudy Brandl
The Manville Youth Athletic League football program recently completed a very productive season. After struggling with numbers when practice began in August, the MYAL managed to field three teams on a weekly basis.
"Things went really well," MYAL president Gregg Snyder said. "It picked up this year. We had more participation with parents. I hope we can continue to build."
Manville started with good numbers on the Flag Maverick and Pee Wee Colt squads but didn’t have enough players to field full teams for the Pintos and Ponies. The program was in danger of being evicted from the Raritan Valley Conference until some late signups and juggling of players to form another squad gave the MYAL the required number of teams.
The Pee Wee Colts, the highest level in the Pop Warner system before players reach high school, played very well in the second half of the season. Many of these players will be entering Manville High, which had a breakout season of its own in 2006.
"With the high school program doing well, maybe that will help our program," Snyder said. "It might bring out more kids, but we still need to get more of the younger kids out."
Here’s a team-by-team summary of the MYAL Colts, Pintos and Mavericks, submitted by Alison Mathewson (Colts), Dave Janovsky (Pintos) and Joe Lukac (Mavericks):
Colts started slow,
but finished strong
The Manville Colts went into their final game one short of .500 for the regular conference season against Clark Blue (5-2). The focus was on making the .500 mark since the first four games were losses, including some very close ones.
The defense started the game but shortly gave it up to the offense, which controlled the entire first, half and took a 6-0 lead. Shortly after the second half started the Colts were leading 12-0. Clark Blue struck back to make it 12-6 and threatened late in the game but the Manville defense stiffened up.
There’s nothing sweeter than winning the last game because of the impact it leaves on next year’s season and the returning players. So as head coach Walt Mathewson said, "the credit for the win goes to every player not the individuals." From starters to second players, everyone helped since Aug. 1, five nights per week until school started and then three nights per week.
Alex Agans, Jake Babich, Jake Caswell, Aaron Dixon, Anthony Fasano, Matthew George, Matias Gualtieri, Marc Hagin, Andre Heredia, Vincent Heredia, Michael Hopkins, Nicholas Janner, James McCarthy, Akash Patel, Michael Tarovetchi, Andrew Taylor, Matthew Veglatte, Hernan Velasquez and Jarrod Warren were all intricate team players for the 2006 Colt season.
Coach Bob Willard controlled the defense, coach Al Rizk handled the offense, with help on both sides of the ball by assistant coaches Mike George and John McCarthy. This year’s team commissioner Ann McCarthy was very helpful behind the scenes. Positive encouragement also came from high school quarterback Mike Knitowski. A special thank you also goes out to Alison Mathewson for her computer skills (since Dad doesn’t have any) and Bill Mazzucca for filming.
The team also thanks the parents who gave the Colts that positive attitude regardless of the situation. Let the 2006 Colts remember "Play the game ’cause you love it!"
Turnovers plague
Pintos in finale
The Manville Pintos played their last game of the season against Clark Blue at Gerber Field. Clark capitalized on two of four of Manville’s turnovers to upset the Pintos, 13-0.
Offensively, the Pintos’ running backs combined for 16 carries and 125 yards. Running back Lawrence Abner carried the ball eight times for 72 yards. Running back Anthony Zuhone ran for 45 yards on five carries, while fullback Nick Harenza gained 11 yards on three carries. Quarterback Max Miller threw one pass for a 12-yard completion to Zuhone. The offensive linemen, center John Rizk, tackle John Vornlocker, tackle Scott Caswell and guard Jared Williams fought tough in the trenches all game against a bigger Clark defensive front line.
The Pintos’ defense halted Clark’s opening drive. Clark had first and goal from the 5-yard line. Defensive end Joe Hanover sacked their QB for a loss and caused his to cough up the ball. Nose guard Kyle Puza recovered the fumble. Safeties Zach Spencer and Tristan Jaime managed to break up five of six passing attempts by the Clark offense. Outside linebacker Justin Nunez effectively controlled his side of the defense with three solo tackles.
Right tackle Jared Matisak, who was injured two weeks ago, still came to the practices and games and helped the coaches were he could.
The coaching staff of Joe Hanover, John Harenza, Mike Spencer and Ron Zuhone for their dedication to football and the children. Head coach Dave Janovsky also would like to thank the parents of all the players for allowing their children to participate in football this season.
"I enjoyed watching your children grow both intellectually and athletically these past few months and I look forward to seeing everyone next season," Janovsky said.
Mavs play tough
in season finale
The Manville Mavericks faced off against Clark in their final game of the year. The game itself lived up to the expectations of the Maverick coaching staff as the Mavericks played a tough game.
The Maverick offense, led by quarterback Bobby Demeter, had key breakaways by the running back corps of Anthony Lopez, Troy Armstrong, TJ Caswell, Troy Oset and Jeremy Nurnberger. The offense was allowed to flourish due to the outstanding work of the Maverick offensive line consisting of Daniel Bickar, Hunter Norz, Richard George, Jake Tokarzewski, Alex Sheehan and Noah Bream, who battled all afternoon to counter the tough Clark defense.
The Maverick defense proved just as tough, keeping Clark’s offense under control throughout the game. The Maverick defense consisted of RJ Thompson, Shane Demeter, Nurnberger, Justin Faulkner, Justin Baker, Dylan Whitenight, Anthony Zaccardi, Alex Fisher, James Clancy and Kevin Faulkner, who played hard throughout the entire game.
The Maverick coaching staff, consisting of Bob Demeter, Dan Bickar, Paul Whitenight, Ray Thompson, Kevin Sheehan, Aaron Janner, Judi Nurnberger and Joe Lukac, were very proud of the Maverick players.
The game finished off the Maverick’s 2006 season. The coaching staff wishes to thank all of the players for a tremendous season, and equally thank the parents for allowing the staff to have the privilege of being able to coach a great group of children.

