The Manville Ponies opened their 2009 season Sunday and dropped a heartbreaker to the Clark Crusaders 12-7 at Ned Panfile Stadium.
Manville’s score came late in the third quarter. Trailing 6-0, the Ponies scored on a 55-yard run by Paul Bast. Danny Santana ran in the extra point for a 7-6 lead.
The Crusaders came back late in the fourth quarter to secure the win with a 15-yard run.
The offense and defense played a hard game and fought right down to the final whistle. Shane Demeter had a fumble recovery for the Ponies and defensive end Dylan Whitenight had an awesome sack of the quarterback just before the end of a scoreless first half of action.
Manville’s Ponies will try again to get into the win column next Saturday at home when they take on Roselle Park.
Colts fall in
opening game
The Manville Colts lost their 2009 season opener by a 37-6 margin to Clark.
The young Colts showed their inexperience at the Midget level early as Clark drove down the field after receiving the kickoff. On defense the Colts seemed to be in the right places but just a little too late to make the ‘big’ hit.
Jake Caswell had a good day on defense with six tackles and a blocked extra point. Angelo Locham followed with three tackles and Nick Harenza two tackles. Others with tackles were Luis Monterroso-Carpio, Anthony Hernandez and Sergio Mora.
The Colt offense struggled from the first snap but was able to put it together on a final time running out drive for six points. Locham took the ball over the goal line for the touchdown. Locham also had 25 yards for the day.
Anthony Zuhone had a rough day at quarterback, but was able to run for 15 yards and throw for 60. The receivers were Caswell on two clutch catches and Monterroso-Carpio for a short gain. Also involved in the backfield play were Kyle Puza and Hernandez. Jake Babich was missing in the backfield and also on defense.
The captains for the game were Caswell and Eric Warren. Also playing were Nick Harenza, Andrew Sutton, Frank Racz, Jake Tokarzewski and Jared Matisak. Out due to injuries were Katlyn Faulkner and Steven Poto.
Offensive coach Al Rizk and defensive coach Mike Knitowski will go back to work with head coach Walt Mathewson and assistant coach Mike George for Saturday’s matchup against Roselle Park at the Manville High School field.
