Jespersen Scores Lone TD in Montville Loss

The Montville High School football team did a lot of good things, just not enough of them to get past Mount Olive in a 10-7 defeat on Friday night in Montville.

Mustangs quarterback John Jespersen scored on an 18-yard touchdown run with 2:24 left in the second quarter to give Montville a 7-0 advantage at the half. Inopportune penalties hurt the Mustangs in the second half, forcing them to lose their fourth consecutive game. Mount Olive improved to 2-2.

For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Total

Montville (0-4)

0

7

0

0

7

Mount Olive (2-2)

0

0

7

3

10

IN SHORT
The Mustangs offense moved the ball at times and eliminated the turnovers that plagued them last week against Morris Hills. Overall, they accounted for 194 yards from scrimmage, 166 on the ground. Jespersen’s TD run concluded a 10-play, 80-yard march. A 46-yard run by Nolan Ehntholt highlighted the drive that gave the Mustangs a 7-0 lead at halftime.

Two tough penalties were critical in the second half. A personal foul on a late hit helped set up the Marauders’ third-quarter touchdown drive, which occurred on Trevor Buoye’s 12-yard run with 4:24 left in the third quarter to tie the game 7-7. A face-mask penalty on a sack of Mount Olive QB Garrett Schneider helped get Mount Olive close enough for Alec Poles to knock in an 18-yard field goal with 3:15 left in the game. The Mustangs don’t have much time to dwell on disappointment. They have a quick turnaround to get ready for a talented Jefferson team that lost to Sparta on Friday.

MUSTANG OF THE GAME
Nolan Entholt, Running back-Linebacker—No Mustang player was more upset than Entholt after the contest. Entholt takes a pounding every game and gets a lot of the hard yards on the inside. His persistence and one long run helped him register 100 yards on Friday. He also provides plenty of hard hits when asked on defense. On Friday, he took on both kicking and punting chores and connected on his first extra point of the year after Jespersen’s TD run.

TOP MUSTANG OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
PASSING: John Jespersen (1 of 5 for 28 yards)
RUSHING: Nolan Entholt (13 carries for 100 yards)
RECEIVING: Ben Laub (one catch for 28 yards)

TOP MUSTANG DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
SACK: Kenny Prophete
TURNOVERS: JJ Brania Hopp (interception)

TOUGH OPPONENT
Garrett Schneider (Mount Olive quarterback): The senior completed 14 of 23 passes for 122 yards and helped keep the Marauders together in the second half to help his team to a road victory.

THEY SAID IT
"It’s the little mistakes. We have to go out and fix them in practice. (There were) a few offensive penalties and then roughing the passer and late hits. Each week it seems like we improve on one thing and then it’s another thing that kills us the next week. We had no turnovers. We moved the ball pretty well I thought. Our offense is starting to put it together a little bit. We played a great first half and in the second half we came out firing but its mistakes. Sometimes you can’t overcome the mistakes. We’ve been playing football for years. We know you are not supposed to get late hits. It’s just dumb stuff. "–Montville’s Ben Laub

Up Next—Jefferson Thursday at Montville High School, 7 p.m.