Pleasantville scores first, but Mainland scores late and last in 7-6 victory
LINWOOD – It was not the picture-perfect season opener the new-look Mainland Mustangs football team dreamed of, but they found a way to win when the game was on the line.
Pleasantville High School’s Greyhounds traveled to Mainland Regional High School and scored the game’s first touchdown but missed the extra point. That single point proved to be the difference after a late touchdown by Lucas DeBiaso. New Mustang kicker Landon Meade capped off the play with his point-after kick to give Mainland the 7-6 win on Aug. 27.
The score stood at 6-0 until the fourth quarter when the familiar face of DeBiaso finally broke free. On a standard run play, he broke multiple tackles and gained 66 yards. He finally got Mainland on the board with a seven-yard touchdown and sent out Meade for his first in-game kick with the game on the line.
Meade nailed the go-ahead kick then watched his defense force a quick three-and-out to get the ball back and drain the clock.
“It was a gutsy performance by the boys, especially for a young, inexperienced team. It’s a big win for them,” Mainland head coach Chuck Smith said. “The kids persevered and hung in there. They could have put their heads down plenty of times when Pleasantville had some big plays but we were fortunate enough to knock them down.”
DeBiaso and the offense had a slow start to the game with the senior only rushing for six yards in the first half, but he believed in the “band of brothers” around him.
“I know we faced a little bit of adversity in the first half. Our team came through in the second half,” DeBiaso said. “I relied on a bunch of my teammates to keep coming around.”
He also revealed after the game that he broke his wrist at the start of summer and did not know if he was going to be ready for the season opener. He was cleared to play the day before the game and ended up making the difference in the game.
This season Mainland has a lot of new faces in new places after a strong class of seniors departed. They were some of the most accomplished players in school history. At the center of the offense is sophomore quarterback Crew Russo, stepping in for four-year starter John Franchini, who led the team to three South Jersey championships, one state title and another state final appearance.
Russo earned the starter gig in the offseason and kept the Mustangs in the game in his varsity debut. Along with DeBiaso, Russo’s skill position players are composed of players such as Dallas Rowell, who is one of the few remaining seniors at his position. AJ Goukler came out of the backfield as a receiving target after being one of three returning players who caught a pass for Mainland last season.
“We have a couple of leaders that are seniors on our team that have played significant minutes over the years but it’s a lot of sophomores and some freshmen who started tonight and it takes time to develop,” Smith said. “The speed of the game is so much faster. You must take your learning lumps and they got a lot of learning lumps tonight.”
Mainland’s defense learned quickly what the game speed was like after surrendering a touchdown on Pleasantville’s second drive of the game. The Mustangs bent in the first half but did not break for the rest of the game. Pleasantville had a couple of long drives that reached the red zone but the Mustangs turned away the Greyhounds each time.
“I thought our defense played lights out in the second half compared to that first half,” Smith said. “We made a couple little adjustments at halftime and knew we had to do a better job of tackling some of those tremendous athletes at Pleasantville. The guys remarkably improved at their tackling in the second half.”
The Mustangs will have their hands full next week with a visit from Glassboro High School on Sept. 4. Glassboro capped off its 14-0 season last year with the Group I state championship. Game time is set for 6 p.m. Friday at the Mustang Corral.
– By WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
