Newark Central 36, MHS 26
By: Shawn Tyrrell
If there was one thing that came out of the Manville High School football team’s opening contest of the 2007 season, it’s that this team is quite different from that of a year ago.
Not to say that MHS didn’t battle, but it was just that visiting Newark Central seemed to want the win a bit more and the Blue Devils turned a first half 18-14 deficit into a come from behind 36-26 victory.
One could point to many different things as to why the Mustangs lost. Injuries, penalties, turnovers, lack of execution and giving up the big play were all reasons why MHS fell in defeat.
It wasn’t the way the Mustangs were hoping to start the season and head coach Brett Stibitz obviously was disappointed with the outcome.
"That was a good team we played tonight," Stibitz said. "We are a young team and we had some penalties, poor field position and lack of tackling that really hurt us. We didn’t do a bad job; we just don’t have the depth when we have injuries."
Manville went up against a team that had 14 seniors on its roster and two talented players in running back Damion Moore and running back/defensive back Aaron Terrell, who both played integral parts in helping Newark Central gain its first victory in 11 games (the team went 0-10 in 2006).
Moore carried eight times for 157 yards, sweeping around right end for an 85-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter, while also ripping off a 43-yard score through the heart of the Mustang defense halfway through the third quarter that gave Newark its first lead of the night at 20-18. Terrell had a solid game on offense with seven carries for 72 yards and a score, but also made several saving scoring tackles and other big plays from the cornerback position.
It wasn’t all bad for Manville as the team got a stellar performance from senior running back Brian Rock, who carried 22 times for 182 yards and two touchdowns, while also catching two passes for 37 yards. But even he couldn’t do it all alone.
"This is a tough game to lose," Rock said. "One of the things that hurt us was we are not deep at certain positions, so we couldn’t fill in as well when guys went down. The injuries really affected us in the third quarter. We have to work harder and get better for next week."
The Mustangs started the game quite strong. In the opening series, the Mustangs forced Newark to punt after Joseph Burnett sacked Blue Devils quarterback Danny Chowyuk for a 10-yard loss.
The Manville offense took over on the 33 yard-line after a 20-yard return by Rock. Four plays later MHS quarterback Anthony Palovick hit tight end Ryan Jankowski cutting across the field for a 28-yard touchdown.
The Central offense answered with a quick score of its own, aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty against the Mustangs. It took just five plays before Chowyuk threw a 33-yard pass into the end zone to James Garwin to tie the score at six apiece.
The teams then traded turnovers. Manville wasted great field position after another great return by Rock to the Mustang 41, but Palovick fumbled fighting for extra yardage and Terrell recovered the lose ball for Central. Four plays later, Newark turned the ball over when Chowyuk attempted a pass downfield that was intercepted by freshman Mike Hopkins.
The second quarter saw the scoring pick up for both squads. Manville again took the lead, this time on a 22-yard run by Rock who made a nice move on Central defensive back McKinney Willis to easily make it into the end zone.
Central came right back on the teams second possession of the quarter as Moore scampered the 85 yards for the equalizing touchdown and Terrell added the two-point conversion on a short run to pad the Blue Devil lead to 14-12.
The Mustang offense again was able to answer. Runs of 18 and 15 yards by Rock and a nice 14-yard jaunt by Michael Bezick pushed the ball to the 10 yard-line. On the next play Palovick took it around left end and into the end zone to put Manville back up by an 18-14 score at the half.
The third quarter was probably the turning point in the game. The Mustangs lost Burnett and Bezick for most of the period while Palovick also was out with an injured leg for a few series.
Whatever impact the injuries had on the Mustangs, Central seemed to get new life. Moore again victimized the MHS defense for his second touchdown of 43 yards on the team’s first possession of the third quarter. The Manville offense could not pick up a first down on its next series and an errant snap led to great field position for Newark, which took over on the 18 yard-line of the Mustangs. Three plays later, Chowyuk hit James Garvin for an 11-yard touchdown, and Moore added the two-point conversion by barreling into the end zone and the Central lead was 28-18.
The teams trade possessions before Manville got a break, when the Newark defense was hit with a pass interference penalty which moved the ball from the 31 to the 16 yard-line. Three plays later Rock took it in for the 16-yard score. Palovick added the two-point conversion as he bulled his way in to pull the Mustangs to within two at 28-26 with 4:58 to go in the game. Newark came back and sealed the game on a five-yard run by Terrell with 2:14 to go. Chowyuk finished the scoring and the Mustang chances to come back for victory, when he competed the two-point conversion pass to Daquane Brock to make the score 36-26.
"I thought if we scored 26 points that would be enough," Stibitz said. "But we have some holes in our defense that we have to plug up. We have to continue to work with the younger players so they can get better and step up."
Notes: The third period definitely saw the games momentum change, especially when the three starters were out of the game. The Mustangs do not have the depth that they had last year and hopefully the younger guys can step up. Palovick in his first start as a senior completed 6-of-16 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown while also completing passes to Glen Hall (18 yards), Rock (2-37), Jankowski (2-50) and Hopkins (1-15).
Prediction: Manville travels east to take on Dayton, and the Bull Dogs will be looking for revenge after last year’s 45-7 defeat. After the Mustangs performance against Newark, this could be another tough one. Manville 20, Dayton 18.