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MANVILLE: Gridders show there’s a slim margin between ‘W’ and ‘L’

Big plays lead Bound Brook over Manville, 28-7, in opener

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Manville footballers learned Friday night in a 28-7 loss to Bound Brook that the difference between winning and losing can come down to small differences.
Like 10 more seconds of concentration, or finishing a tackle after closing in on a ballcarrier.
The Mustangs were tied with Bound Brook with the halftime break looming when the Crusaders converted on a third-and-10 for 27 yards to bring the ball to the Manville 25-yard line.
On the next play, Bound Brook QB Danny Leinbach dropped and let fly what had to be considered a hail-Mary pass into the end zone. Darius Brown brought the ball in with one hand to give the Crusaders a 14-7 lead at the break.
To start the second half, Bound Brook’s Daniel Friend took the kickoff at his own 27, danced and found a seam down the right sideline to take the ball to the Manville 27-yard.
The Mustangs gave ground grudgingly but Bound Brook crept closer to the goal line, again converting a crucial third and-10 to bring the ball to the seven-yard line. On a fourth and two, Manville seemed to rise to the occasion, wrapping up — but not taking down — quarterback Leinbach at around the 20.
But the officials ruled Leinbach successfully lateraled the ball back to Davian Williams, who danced and juked before finding a gap in the defense and shooting through the defense and into the end zone just shy of four minutes into the half to put the game at 21-7.
From there, Manville had to play to catch up — not its forte. A scrambling offense got away from the Mustangs’ game plan to pound senior running back Kyle Puza for all he was worth. After gaining 73 yards on 14 carries in the first half, he was able to pick up only another 27 on eight carries.
"We don’t have the home run power to make up for that," said Manville Coach Pat Gorbatuk as he was walking off the field. "Without that 10 seconds at end of the second quarter, how different is the game from there?"
As for the follow-up TD, "That was one of the most amazing runs I’ve ever seen," said the coach. "You can’t teach that. We had to make the play and they didn’t let us.
"Even though the kids’ heads stayed in the game, which I was glad to see, it’s a very challenging thing to overcome," said the coach.
Gorbatuk quietly asked the sideline referee whether the Mustangs had stopped Leinbach’s forward progress on the early third-quarter play that was allowed to continue as a lateral.
"It was debatable in my opinion," said the coach Tuesday. "Some refs might have blown the blew the whistle. If they did, I wouldn’t have blamed them."
Instead, Manville fans had to cringe as they watched Williams run around "like a video game" on a "textbook busted play," said Gorbatuk.
The biggest message Gorbatuk left for his team is "we’re close."
"Take away two 4th-down touchdowns and the play at the end of the half and it’s a 7-7 game," he said.
GAME NOTES: The Mustangs scored their TD on a 12-play drive that ate up about eight minutes of the clock. Starting from their own 36-yard line, Puza carried eight times in the drive, notching 52 yards and the three-yard plunge into the end zone.
Gorbatuk conceded Bound Book made the bigger plays offensively and adjusted well to stop Puza and limit the run game.
The scoreboard died at the end of the first quarter and time was kept on the field for the remainder of the game.
Manville opens its home season Friday at 7 p.m. against Pingry, which lost its opener, 33-0 to Roselle Park.