Injuries, lack of depth hurt Mustangs

Football season ended at 2-8

by Shawn Tyrrell, Sports Writer
   Sometimes things just don’t work out the way they are supposed to.
   Expectations were high for the Manville High football team, which was coming off a breakthrough season. The Mustangs had compiled a 6-4 record the previous year and with the number of experienced players returning and a favorable schedule, few would have expected anything less than a .500 season.
   The 2007 Mustangs, at least on paper, had a chance to accomplish that. But when the season came to an end MHS finished the year with a 2-8 record and were left wondering just what happened.
   There were a few things that contributed to the team’s second losing season in three years under head coach Brett Stibitz. The biggest two reasons were lack of depth and the overall youth of the team.
   When any one of the team’s starters went down, not only was the loss felt on both sides of the ball, but in some instances the replacement just didn’t have the size or experience to help fill the void. Other teams were able to exploit these weaknesses and take advantage.
   ”Our biggest weakness this year was the depth chart,” Stibitz said. “I was kind of surprised that after the success we had last year that more kids didn’t come out for the team. I take full responsibility for not doing the best job I could to reach down and recruit some of the younger kids to come and play. My biggest goal this off-season is too get as many of these kids to come out.”
   Another fact is that many of the teams Manville defeated back in 2006 simply got bigger and better and where able to close the gap between the schools in just one year’s time. Teams like Newark Central, Dayton and Bernards improved and turned the tables on the Mustangs this fall. If the Mustangs had defeated those three schools, they would have finished at 5-5.
   Coach Stibitz and his staff worked with what they had and could have easily gotten a few more wins along the way.
   ”I felt all year long we were physically and mentally prepared for every game,” Stibitz said. “The way we hung in games showed that we had a lot of character. Our ultimate goal was to win five games and I think if a few things went our way we could have done that. We were winning in the fourth quarter in our first four games but we only managed to win one game. We just didn’t have the experience necessary to pull them out.”
   The surprising losses to Newark Central, Dayton and Bernards put Manville in an early hole. All three opponents had gone winless in 2006, with Dayton only in its second varsity season after having a jayvee program the last couple of seasons.
   Manville opened the year at home vs. Newark Central, a squad the team had beaten soundly in 2006 by the score 26-0. This time around was much different as the visiting Bears just seemed to want it more and defeated a stunned Mustang team 36-26. The running game of Newark game Manville fits as senior running back Damion Moore carried eight times for 157 yards and two scores.
   One would think after this loss the MHS would respond, but this time Dayton pulled another upset winning 22-20, and even got some help the officials who definitely had some say in how this game finished. It was the Bulldogs’ first varsity win since 1999, and the entire Manville team and coaching staff still wonders how they let this one slip away considering they beat Dayton 45-7 last year.
   Despite an 89-yard touchdown by talented running back Brain Rock it still wasn’t enough. Rock, who finished his senior year with 1,089 yards and 10 touchdowns, felt things could have gone better.
   ”We definitely could have played better,” Rock said. “Perhaps we thought we were a bit better than we really were because of last year. The season definitely didn’t go the way I thought it would.”
   ”I will miss playing for Manville,” Rock added. “If I had one wish it would be playing the whole season over again, with the same team. It was a great time despite our overall finish.”
   MHS finally broke in the win column the following week with a solid victory against St. Joe’s of Palisades 26-6. That was the last time all year the Mustang would put more than 20 points on the board. This was the kind of game MHS had expected all season with Rock scoring two touchdowns and David Olmsted recovering a fumble at the Eagles five-yard line to set up another score.
   Manville lost at Bernards the following week. It was a pivotal game against a team that managed to qualify for the state playoffs. Stibitz said it was the best game his team played all year despite the 22-13 loss and one that he felt could have changed the direction the school went in.
   The following week MHS played host to visiting Newark Academy and pulled out a 7-3 win in the team’s best defensive effort of the season. It was by no means easy, but defensively the Mustangs forced two turnovers and sacked Newark Academy quarterback Daniel Lasowksi four times, with three coming by senior Glen Hall. Unfortunately, it was the team’s last victory of the year.
   From there on, the injuries began to mount and Mustangs started facing tougher competition. Injuries played a big part in the team’s 27-13 loss to South Hunterdon. MHS ended the year falling 35-10 at Belvidere, 33-6 to North Warren, 33-0 at Metuchen in the Central Jersey Group 1 consolation game and 33-7 vs. Bound Brook on the night before Thanksgiving.
   The Mustangs went out and played hard. They just didn’t have their whole team healthy and available game in and out, which made it tough to compete.
   Looking ahead to next year, MHS will lose six players to graduation as seniors Brian Rock, Anthony Palovick, Glen Hall, Mike Bezick, Dennis Petrone and Billy Fisher all move on. The team has a good core of young players returning and Stibitz hopes he can improve on this year’s two game win total.
   ”We will be starting right away for next year,” Stibitz said. “The weight room will be open and hopefully guys will start coming in. These younger guys found out what they need to do to get better. For my junior class they got a taste last year of winning and a taste of losing this year. Hopefully they will respond. Next year should be interesting.”