Manville looks for second straight win

Mustangs host South Hunterdon

by John E. Powers, Sports Writer
   The Manville High football team is looking forward to hosting South Hunterdon Regional High Friday night at Ned Panfile Stadium.
   Watch the Eagles long enough and you know why head coach Jim Meert gets frustrated. Things like last Friday night, when the Eagles fumbled the ball away four times in the first half of what would become a 35-0 loss to Middlesex. Things like the opening kickoff, when Middlesex fumbled the ball away deep in its own territory only to recover it. South Hunterdon was sloppy, but the Eagles also forced three turnovers of their own, getting a first-half interception from sophomore Parker Jensen, who is one of the many youngsters who would be playing junior varsity on most other teams.
   Like Manville, the Eagles are very, very young with only four seniors on the roster. Like Manville, the Eagles expect to win Friday night’s game at Panfile Stadium.
   Meert was in the big homecoming crowd at Dunellen’s Columbia Park Saturday to watch the Mustangs’ 7-6 comeback win at O’Neill Field. And he was impressed.
   ”I told our coaches that Manville is like a mirror image of us,” said the former longtime head coach at Hunterdon Central. “The problems they have, we have. But I’ll tell you what. Manville showed a lot of character. We need to do the same.”
   Manville coach Brett Stibitz got an outstanding effort from linemen like Joe Burnett and Jake Piscadlo and interceptions from Mike Hopkins, Angelo Bell and Matt Veglatte. A long third-quarter drive that was engineered by junior quarterback Brendan Nurnberger was capped by a broken play that turned into a four-yard Nurnberger touchdown run. He then added the extra point.
   ”It put the icing on the cake for us,” Stibitz said.
   Manville did an outstanding job on Dunellen’s double wing, double tight offense, limiting the Destroyers’ ground game to 166 yards. South Hunterdon is a more spread offense that centers around talented senior quarterback Brian Snell and emerging players like Jensen and junior fullback Brandon Scesney, who had back-to-back 100-yard games in a surprisingly close 21-0 loss at Belvidere followed by a 34-0 win over winless Sussex Tech.
   Snell did complete passes to Jensen and sophomore wideout Sam Franzini, who played quarterback against Bound Brook in a 33-7 loss when Snell sat out with a concussion.
   South Hunterdon’s top defenders are Snell in the secondary, junior linebacker Chris Beekman and junior nose guard T.J. Sprague. Beekman was hurt in the first quarter of the Middlesex game and didn’t return, but Meert said Sunday that he expects Beekman to play Friday.
   Scesney ran 23 times for 196 yards, and Snell completed four of six passes for 101 yards in the rout of Sussex Tech. He has also thrown to senior tight end Russell Miller.
   ”They are a tough team and Snell is legit,” Stibitz said. “ I think he might be the best quarterback we’ve seen. It’s going to be about who can move the ball. They like to move the ball fast and we like to control it. It’s going to be about execution and limiting mistakes.”
   Mistakes have plagued South Hunterdon. It should be interesting to see how their return men handle Hopkins’ booming punts. Saturday, he punted seven times, averaging 50 yards.
   ”He is something else,” Meert said. “He is without a doubt the best punter I’ve seen this year. After Dunellen blocked that first punt, I think they thought it would be easy. Manville had that one drive and it was the one they needed.”
   Last year, South Hunterdon finished 2-7, with one of its wins coming against Manville by a 27-13 score. Snell threw a touchdown pass and ran for another, and Sprague recovered two fumbles.
   That loss started a five-game skid that ended the season for Manville. Now the opportunity is there for the Mustangs to win their second straight against something unusual — a school that has a smaller enrollment.