MHS seeks revenge in home opener
by John E. Powers, Sports Writer
Think Jonathan Dayton High School football and think Manville incentive. Think about a disputed 22-20 loss to the Bulldogs in Springfield last season, a 14-0 loss to the same program in November of 1997.
And then, this past Sunday when Manville coach Brett Stibitz had to make three trips to Springfield before he finally got a working DVD of the Bulldogs’ 26-0 win at South Hunterdon last Saturday afternoon.
Incentive? The Mustangs have plenty of it for Friday night’s game with Dayton. Game time at Ned Panfile Stadium is 7 p.m..
”Two blank DVDs, that’s the truth,” Stibitz said Sunday afternoon while waiting for a copy of the DVD to be made in Middlesex.
Stibitz sounded agitated. But he laughed when it was suggested that the run-around might give him some added motivation for his Mustangs, who will take an 0-1 record into Friday night’s game at home with Dayton.
”Last year, their scoreboard and game clock didn’t work,” Stibitz said. ““Then there’s an illegal pick on our 120-pound receiver on the 10 with like 35 seconds left. So, yeah, that loss has been brewing with us for awhile.”
The win snapped a 21-game losing streak for Dayton. It was also its first on the varsity level after the program re-started in 2006. The school didn’t have football between 2001 and 2005. Manville beat the Bulldogs 45-7 two years ago.
”I thought we beat them every which way but loose (in 2006),” Stibitz said.
But Dayton has grown a bit. The Bulldogs clobbered South Hunterdon 26-0 last week, but South Hunterdon is not good. Returning senior back Ross Bergen, who rushed for 92 yards, broke through for a 54-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to give Dayton a 13-0 lead. Junior Josh Kest made it 19-0 with a 75-yard punt return in the second quarter. The first touchdown was set up by a blocked punt.
Stibitz caught most of the second half in West Amwell.
”I think they are a very improved team,” Stibitz said of Dayton. “They are definitely bigger. We’re hoping to get through their first line of defense.”
Head coach Joe Goerge, who led Franklin to Central Jersey Group 3 titles in 1994 and 1996, watched Manville’s 12-7 loss to Newark Central Saturday on film and said it was easily a game the Mustangs could have won.
”They are a good football team, better than South Hunterdon, that’s for sure,” Goerge said, referring to the Mustangs. “We’re going to have to play them tough. They play hard-nosed defense. We expect the same kind of game we played against last year. They play hard all the time.”
Stibitz said he felt Dayton was more diverse than the past two years.
”They were very vanilla, basic plays,” Stibitz said.
Dayton used two quarterbacks in its spread offense at South Hunterdon — senior Rob Yannazzone, who threw a 49-yard touchdown pass against Manville last year, and junior John Hoehn. Dayton scored on its first drive with Hoehn going in from a yard out.
”It’s a very good start and our effort was there,” Goerge said. “Dan DuBeau (junior tackle, 6-2, 270) did a nice job up front on defense and Rob (Yannazzone) made a number of tackles and knocked down three passes.”
Manville senior defensive tackle Joe Burnett had a couple of sacks against Newark Central.
”He’s the heart and soul of our defense,” Stibitz said.
Stibitz said he was looking for his team to win two of its first three. The Mustangs will play host to St. Joseph of the Palisades next Friday night. St. Joseph suffered a 58-18 loss to Group 4 Memorial West New York Friday night.
But that’s next week. Manville has an opportunity right in front of it.
”We want to win a handful of games,” Stibitz said. “But we’re not going to be really flashy doing it. We just don’t have the key, breakaway components.”
Junior quarterback Brendan Nurnberger showed off a strong arm in the game with Newark Central, throwing for 91 yards and a six-yard touchdown to Ryan Jankowski. Mike Hopkins caught three passes for 64 yards. Nurnberger was 6-for-7.
Manville will face a much bigger line led by DuBeau, junior tackle Steve Cohen (6-2, 225), sophomore end Kadeem Hill (6-2, 190) and sophomore tackle Kareem Jackson (6-2, 230). Dayton plays a 5-2 defense.

