MUSTANG MEMORIES
by Shawn Tyrrell, Sports Writer
Manville High football has seen its share of ups and downs over the past 20 years and most would agree that during that time there have been more bad seasons than good. The Mustangs have suffered through stretches of consecutive losing seasons, campaigns where the team only scored a touchdown the entire year, and many games where MHS was soundly defeated.
Forty years ago, that wasn’t the case. Back in 1968, it was the Mustangs who were the talk of Central Jersey football. Some may have heard about the 1968 MHS team that went undefeated posting a 9-0 record, while others may not have. This series of articles aims to take a look back at what made this group so special and to relive some of the moments that made that phenomenal year stand out.
Back in 1968, the head coach of the Mustangs was none other then Ned Panfile. Yes, Coach Panfile still roams the Manville sidelines providing his advice and experience to current head coach Brett Stibitz and any who will listen. The former vice principal at MHS coached at the team from 1959 through 1972 before leaving to take a job as the freshman defensive coach at Princeton University, were he remained until 1992. From 1992 until the present, Panfile has remained a permanent fixture on the sidelines.
Panfile, with over 50 years of football experience both as a player and coach, took a team that had gone 6-2-1 the year before and brought them to perfection. With 32 players on his roster, Panfile found out right away the Mustangs had something special.
”We opened camp by practicing three times a day,” Panfile recalled. “Right away you could tell something was different. These guys knew how to run, block and tackle, and you could see the ability was there.”
Panfile and his coaching staff which included Bob Mahan, Larry Helwig, Tony Treonze, Stan Kuzcharski and Ray Bukowski had something that is hard to find these days in high school football – commitment. Players seldom, if ever, missed practice and that was probably one of the big reasons the team was so successful.
”The kids put football first,” Panfile said. “Nobody missed practice, there was no such thing. They were a team from the get-go. Some were quieter than others, but nobody criticized anyone. They were a team that wanted to win.”
The Mustangs played a few different teams on the schedule than they do today. MHS opened the season up with a 13-6 win over Piscataway and never looked back. Following the victory over the Chiefs, they reeled off victories against South Brunswick (19-7), Bound Brook (21-0), Dunellen (27-7), Bernards (7-0), Chatham (28-13), Kenilworth (28-0), Ridge (27-0) and Middlesex (14-6) on Thanksgiving Day. If Manville had lost the final game against the Blue Jays, there would have been a three-way tie for the conference championship.
These Mustangs went undefeated because their defense only allowed a mere 39 points all season, while racking up 184 points on the other side of the ball.
”We had size and experience where we needed to,” Panfile said. “Our front line was solid and we anticipated and reacted to the situations on the field very well.”
One of the things Panfile remembered about this team early on is the part the players took in learning the game and the game plan the coaching staff implemented each week. From the outset, Coach Panfile met with his quarterbacks to discuss the team’s plans.
”We played our games on Saturdays back then,” Panfile said. “I would meet with the quarterbacks at my house the night before. This was usually after we had our regular pre-game walk-through. After the first few games I had 22 kids coming over discussing what we were going to do. They wanted to be a part of what our plan was. They were a special bunch.”
This was a special time in Manville High sports history, and is difficult to cover everything in just one article. For fans interested in learning more about what went on in the past, be on the lookout for future articles on the undefeated Manville Mustangs from 1968.

