Panthers fall short to the Mustangs in a 21-10 defeat

Kicker Evan Starr’s touchdown heave wasn’t enough for Valley to beat Montville as they lose 21-10.

Noah Silver and Ethan Schwartz|October 7, 2022

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Brianna Finch

Pascack Valley falls to Montville 21-10.

The Pascack Valley Football Team lost to Montville 21-10 at Pascack Valley High School, in its sixth game of the season. 

Despite the loss, the game was tightly contested through the first three quarters. 

After a defensive first quarter from both teams, Montville was the side to open the scoring in the second quarter. A long drive for the Mustangs ended with a 3-yard touchdown run from Anthony Feaster.

Valley responded right on the brink of halftime with a play by sophomore kicker Evan Starr. With 28 seconds left in the half, Starr stepped back in preparation for the field goal as Valley trailed Montville 7-0. As Starr was about to strike the football, Jake Crawbuck picked the ball up, looked to run it into the endzone, then decided to shovel pass it back to Starr. Starr heaved the ball into the endzone, and Colin Foley jumped up to make the leaping catch for the tying touchdown. 

With 6:35 left in the third quarter, Starr converted his first field goal of the season from 25 yards out, which gave Valley its only lead of the night.

“Evan is a kid that stepped up,” Head Coach Len Cusumano said. “Being that he didn’t play football last year, he really stepped up. We are very proud of him for what he has done for us so far.”

During the mid third quarter, momentum shifted as Montville’s Sr. Quarterback Joe Rehberg got out of the pocket, avoided the sack from PV’s Owen Deady, and threw the ball on the run to John Guy Kobilarcik for a 35 yard touchdown, giving Montville a 14-10 lead. Kobilarcik ended the game with four receptions for 65 yards and one touchdown.

Rehberg led Montville in rushing and passing, as he totaled 88 yards in both categories. He scored one touchdown through the air and one on the ground.  

After a slow start, Rehberg and Montville managed to outlast the Panthers, regardless of Valley’s solid defensive performance. The defense for Valley came out physical but wasn’t able to continue the push through the end of the game. 

“Defensively, they did a great job to keep us in the game in the first half,” Cusumano said. “[But] we had a couple blunders here and there.” 

Despite Valley managing to score late in the second quarter, its offense seemed to lack efficiency throughout the rest of the game. Jake Crawbuck ended the game with 143 passing yards, and Conor Higgins ended the game with eight receptions and 81 yards. 

“Offensively, we couldn’t move the football,” Cusumano said. “Give credit to Montville: they came to play, and they were physical at the front.”

Valley looks to rebound next week against River Dell, away, on Friday, Oct. 14th. Valley will head into the game with a record of 1-5; River Dell is 2-3.