'Little Mistakes' Continue to Haunt Montville

It was another competitive battle, but Morris Hills outlasted Montville 14-0 in a battle between winless teams.

The Mustangs suffered some mistakes and inconsistency on offense although they did move the ball at times. Some special teams mistakes hurt and the defense held until the fourth quarter. The Scarlet Knights engineered a couple of scores late to give them a victory during their Rockaway homecoming game.

For a full photo gallery from the game, head here.

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Total

Montville (0-3)

0

0

0

0

 0

Morris Hills (1-2)

0

0

0

14

14

IN SHORT
Offensively, Montville proved it could move the ball against Morris Hills. Overall, the Mustangs rushed for 173 yards from scrimmage but their efforts were derailed by mistakes. Two of their offensive drives, including a 10-play, 54-yard drive on their first series, were fumbled away. They also suffered a blocked field goal attempt in the first half and a blocked punt in the second half. The blocked punt really hurt. It was recovered by Morris Hills’ Chris Castillo on the Scarlet Knights’ 43. Morris Hills then marched 57 yards on 11 plays for the winning score.

The touchdown came when Morris Hills freshman quarterback Willie Hansen lofted the ball to 6-foot-6 receiver Evan Staikos on a fade pattern in the left corner of the end zone. The senior, who is nearly six inches taller then any Montville defensive back, caught the ball just inside the pylon from 16 yards out to make it 7-0 with 9:45 left.

The Mustangs' subsequent offensive series was stopped on downs on the Morris Hills’ 43 with about four minutes left. On Montville’s last defensive series, the players tried to strip the ball from Morris Hills backs but the Scarlet Knights and Eric Turner capitalized with a back-breaking 55-yard TD run.

MUSTANG OF THE GAME
Joe DeAlesandro, running back, defensive back—His speed on the outside kept Morris Hills’ defense honest. He had four double-digit runs from scrimmage. His longest provided a 19-yard gain. On defense, the 5-foot-7, 150-pound athlete had a couple of pass break ups against taller opponents.

TOP MUSTANG OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
RUSHING: Joe DeAlesandro (7 carries for 55 yards), Nolan Entholt (12 carries for 45 yards)

TOUGH OPPONENT
Eric Turner (Morris Hills running back): He kept the Montville defense nervous all game with his blazing outside speed. He finished with 20 carries for 140 yards and sealed the win with a 55-yard TD that accounted for the final score.

THEY SAID IT
"We’re very close with everything. It’s just little mistakes that mess us up. We’re right there but we just have to work harder in practice. Our line has been working hard and picking it up. It’s very frustrating but you can’t complain about it. Every week we’re getting better, we just have to put it all together."–Montville quarterback John Jespersen

Up Next—At Mount Olive next Friday, 7 p.m.