Coach 'Proud' of Minutemen Despite Title Game Loss

The Mendham High School football team came into Sunday’s North 2, Group 4 Championship game as an underdog to perennial powerhouse Phillipsburg. Add a touch of sloppy playing conditions, and the Minutemen struggled throughout all four quarters, finally losing 39-0. 

Mendham never was able to get its offense or defense started against Phillipsburg, who seemed nearly unstoppable in the first half, taking a 33-0 lead into the break. 

Mendham amassed just 87 total yards on offense in the game. Sprinkle that with six turnovers and the chances of winning become slim at best.

“There were a lot of teams that got pasted today, so I guess we’re going to join that group,” said Mendham head coach William Carpluk. “We didn’t expect this to tell you the truth. We got off to such a bad start; we gave up a score early and couldn’t convert on a 3rd and 2 early on."

The head coach, who made his return to the sidelines this season after a seven-year hiatus, said the team's issues began on the first play from scrimmage.

“Timmy Byrne got banged up right away, the first play of the game,” Carpluk said. “I didn’t know until the 3rd play of the game. We didn’t have him to bang up in there.  From there, we just couldn’t get anything going.”   

Not only did the injury bug hurt, but a dousing of snow and freezing rain didn't help either, Carpluk said.

“The weather certainly didn’t hurt them,” Carpluk added. “It hurt some of the things we thought we could have been able to do, but it is hard to come back in these kinds of games in this kind of weather. The (receivers) couldn’t come back to the football. What the weather did was prevent us from ever getting anything going.”

Despite the championship game loss, the season was historic and one to be proud of, Carpluk said.