LINWOOD – The Mainland Mustangs suffered their first loss of the season during a visit from state powerhouse Glassboro High School.
Mainland Regional High School threw everything it had at Glassboro but eventually the Bulldogs proved to be too much to handle and defeated Mainland 38-6 Friday night, Sept. 4. The Mustangs’ record went to 1-1 on the season while Glassboro improved its win streak to 29 straight games after two undefeated seasons.
“We knew we had to play our A-game when you play a great opponent and hopefully catch a couple breaks here and there,” Mainland head coach Chuck Smith said. “Early on, it looked like we were going to get that, but they just wore us out.”
Glassboro made Mainland pay for an early fumble immediately after as receiver Xavier Sabb ran free in the secondary for the game’s first touchdown. Sabb and fellow receiver Mekhi Parker are the central threats on Glassboro as both players are lined up to play Division 1 college football.
Down 8-0, the Mustangs responded to Sabb’s one-play touchdown with a splash play of their own. Sophomore quarterback Crew Russo dropped back and with a defender in his face launched a 55-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Rowell down the sideline. Rowell broke free at the end of his route and walked into end zone.
The two-point try to tie the game at 8-8 was no good and left Mainland down two points.
The senior Mustang duo of Rowell and running back Lucas DeBiaso had a couple more chunk plays, but the offense never got a chance to fall into a rhythm.
Smith highlighted Glassboro’s defense as the major key in the game and how it gave the Mustangs trouble. “Glassboro played a tremendous defensive football game, and I know they have great skill position players, but their defense really took it to us. They were very fast in pursuit of the football and really didn’t give us any breathing room whatsoever.”
The added effect of the Bulldogs’ prowess on defense was that the Mustangs could not stay on the field for long. Short drives on offense forced their defense to be out there for longer than usual. Against a combo like Sabb and Parker, it was a high mountain to climb.
Sabb, a University of Oregon commit, scored three total touchdowns in the game, including a punt return right before halftime to extend Glassboro’s lead to 24-6 at the break.
Freshman Jacob Guerrieri picked up his first interception of his career when he undercut a route, but the game was already too far out of reach by that point in the third quarter.
The new-look Mustangs have had a roller-coaster start to the season after winning their first game with Russo under center and new starters all over the depth chart. Mainland trailed the whole game but scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter to win in dramatic fashion.
Mainland’s reward for a gutsy come-from-behind win was a visit from one of the best teams in New Jersey the following week. Smith said afterwards he believes the Mustangs will learn from a game like this and get better because of it.
“It’s a tough learning experience for a young team but it’s one of the things you have got to learn from,” Smith said. “We’ll come in tomorrow and watch the film then put it right behind us because there’s a lot of winnable games ahead of us right now. We strive to get better every day and unfortunately we took a little bit of setback today. Hopefully tomorrow we take that step back forward.”
Up next for the Mustangs is their first road game of the season against Seneca High School. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10. Both teams will be hungry to get back into the win column.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
