A week later, Mustangs shoot blanks

Team falls to 1-3 after shutout loss

by Shawn Tyrrell, Sports Writer
   What a difference a week can make.
   After watching the Manville High football team put 39 points on the board against St. Joseph’s of the Palisades in the previous game, one would have thought the team could have continued success scoring in last Friday night’s home game against Bernards.
   Unfortunately, it wasn’t the MHS offense doing any scoring, as the Mountaineers made it look easy rolling to a 34-0 victory over the Mustangs to earn the school’s first win of the season.
   These two teams appeared to be pretty evenly matched on paper, but by the end of the Bernards clearly proved to be the better team. Bernards held the Mustangs to under 100 yards of total offense allowing just 41 yards rushing and 43 yards through the air.
   Manville head coach Brett Stibitz, who saw his team’s record dip to 1-3, was quite displeased after the contest.
   ”We did absolutely nothing,” Stibitz said. “We didn’t come out aggressive, didn’t tackle anybody and didn’t execute. It was probably one of our worse performances in long time.”
   Offensively, the Mountaineers dominated, amassing 260 yards rushing on 35 carries, while quarterback Sean Kenny carved up the MHS secondary. The senior completed 6-of-8 passes for 83 yards and a score, while also catching a 55-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Sansalone.
   The Mustangs were riding high after their 39-0 win and looking to even their record to build a little October momentum. It didn’t happen.
   ”We had a good week of practice,” Stibitz said. “It just didn’t translate onto the field. Hats off to Bernards as they were the better team. As a young team we need to get better at the basic fundamentals of football.”
   The first eight minutes of the game were actually scoreless as the Mustang defense twice stopped the Bernards offense. MHS even got the first turnover of the contest when defensive end Ryan Jankowski recovered a Mountaineer fumble on the 26-yard line.
   But the Manville offense could not gain a first down and was forced to punt. The Mustangs punted 10 times, more evidence of how dominant the Mountaineers were on defense.
   The scoreless period wouldn’t last as Bernards, following the Manville punt, needed just three plays before taking the lead. After runs of nine and four yards, Mountaineer running back Adam Shnider carried back against the grain on the counter and went 50 yards for the touchdown. The point after was blocked by Mark Walyga but Bernards had taken a 6-0 lead.
   A minute and a half later, the Mountaineers added to their advantage. Kenny broke off a 49-yard run putting the ball at the Mustang 23 and he capped the drive on the next play going around right end for the score. The Mountaineers went for the two-point conversion and were successful as Colin Roth completed the pass to tight end Billy Youngblood.
   Bernards added two more scores in the half, the first on a three-yard run by senior Matt DeCota and the next on a seven-yard pass from Kenny to senior wideout Conner DeLeon.
   One of the few bright spots in the game for Manville was Walyga, the team’s fullback. The junior caught three passes for 17 yards and was teams’ most consistent runner on tough night all around for the Mustangs.
   ”I was very surprised by the way we played,” Walyga said. “We came in to this game expecting to win. Overall we just didn’t play physical enough, and we will have to play harder and continue to work at getting better.”
   Things will not get easier for the Mustangs as they prepare to host an always-tough Belvidere team this Friday night. The Mustangs will need to get better on offense in a hurry if they expect to have any chance to win.