Montville Defeats Caldwell in Football Opener

WEST CALDWELL—Montville Township High School football coach Gerry Gallagher could not have been prouder of his team than he was following the Mustangs' season-opener Saturday at James Caldwell High School.

The Mustangs were dominant from the opening kickoff, rolling to a 34-14 victory over the Chiefs in the 2010 season opener for both teams at Bonnel Field.

Montville (1-0) outgained the Chiefs (0-1) 328-286 in total yardage and gave notice that it could be a force to be reckoned with this season.

"This was just a total team effort," Gallagher said. "I couldn't be more prouder of them. It was amazing. The guys played out of their minds."

The Mustangs won the coin toss and decided to defer receiving until the second half. That proved to be a good move.

Caldwell went three-and-out and was forced to punt from its own 13-yard line. The punt was blocked by Montville's Christopher De Brock and picked up by Peter Tollis, who ran it back from the 5-yard line for a touchdown and Montville was on its way.

The Chiefs lost the ball on their next possession, but the Mustangs couldn't capitalize  and Caldwell tied the score on an 87-yard pass play from Christopher Lawshe to Darnel Thomas on the first play following the punt to tie the score at 7.

Montville took a 14-7 lead with 9:45 to go in the first half on Brian Keane's 3-yard run and the Chiefs tied it on their next possession, but that would be it for Caldwell.

Following Jordan Gajdos' 1-yard touchdown run with 35 seconds left, Montville took a 21-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, Gajdos scored on another 1-yard run with 8:29 to go in the game. The extra point was missed and the Mustangs led 27-14.

With 2:38 to go, Gajdos intercepted a Lawshe pass in front of the Montville sidelines, and one play later, Nolan Entholt ran it in from the Chiefs' 45 for the final score.

"I was playing over the top," Gajdos said of his interception. "I saw the ball was going to be overthrown and went for it.

"This game shows the character this team has, " said Gajdos, who completed 5-of-12 passes for 48 yards and no interceptions at quarterback. "It was important to get this win and go into our home opener with a win."

Montville, which plays its home-opener Thursday against Vernon at 7 p.m., was led on the ground by Gajdos, who gained 83 yards on 11 carries, while running back Brandon Barnes rushed for 69 yards on 15 carries.

"We had a great practice this week," Barnes said. "Our line played an incredible game."

BOX SCORE:

Montville     7     14     0     13—34

Caldwell        7      7     0       0 — 14

• M-Tollis, 5-yard blocked punt return (Keane kick)
• C-Thomas, 87-yard pass from Lawshe (Gallagher kick)
• M-Dellefave, 3-yard run (Keane kick)
• C-Zaorski, 44-yard pass from Lawshe (Gallagher kick)
• M-Gajdos, 1-yard run (Keane kick)
• M-Gajdos, 1-yard run (kick failed)
• M-Entholt, 45-yard run (Keane kick)

RUSHING—Gajdos 11-83, Barnes 15-69, Entholt 4-55, Keane 7-27, Strickland 3-22, Denigris 2-16, Dellefave 4-7, Tollis 1-5, Silverstein 1-2.

PASSING—Gajdos, 5-12 48 yards.

RECEIVING—Raghubans 2-18, Keane 1-15, Cinnella 1-10, Karl 1-5.

RECORDS—Montville 1-0, James Caldwell 0-1.