The Alternative Press

LIVINGSTON, NJ - For 12 minutes the Lancers (0-4) held their own. For 12 minutes it looked as though there may be an upset in the making. For 12 minutes a makeshift Lancer team with nine players sitting out due to injury were still in it. But, that was only for 12 minutes. Once the second quarter came, this high flying Montclair (4-0) offense, led by senior quarterback Nate Crutchfield, scored 21 unanswered points to end the first half; proving why they are the 14th best football team in the state of New Jersey.

The Mounties, after coming off of a 61-0 thrashing over Nutley, were stopped dead in their tracks by a ferocious Lancer defense in the first quarter. On Montclair’s first two possessions Livingston shut them down on fourth down.

However it makes no difference how well your defense plays, when your offense can’t even get positive yards. The Livingston Lancers’ offense finished the first quarter with a combined negative four yards, yes negative. It would have been sad enough if they could only finish with four yards total, but when you can’t even move the ball forward, you are simply poised to lose.

While the Lancers’ continued to falter on offense, the Mounties quickly regrouped and found their stride.

After an inconsistent first quarter the Montclair offense once again drove down the field and once again was faced with a third fourth down. However this time Crutchfield found a streaking Clarence Sears for a touchdown.

With a 7-0 lead Head Coach John Fiore decided to go for the surprise onside kicking, completely catching the Lancer special teams off guard. What is shocking is that the Montclair Mounties did the same play the previous season against the Lancers, and once again it worked perfectly.

Two plays later running back Michael Million scored on a 30-yard run to increase the Mounties lead to 14.

After another failed drive by the Lancers, the Mounties were pinned back into their own territory at the 25. No matter, on the very first play Crutchfield finds running back Kenny Rosario for a monster 75-yard touchdown pass to put Montclair up by 21 heading into the half.

The second half was more of the same for both teams; the Lancers continued to struggle on offense, while the Mounties continued to drive down the field with ease.

Offensive struggles are nothing knew for the Lancers, as they have only managed to score one touchdown throughout the entire first four games. Receiver Cooper Weisman blames these struggles on the massive amount of injuries that have struck this Lancer team. “It’s hard when you lose your quarterback and running back, but you have to pull through it. Every game where fighting, fighting our [butts] off, and we’re getting there.”

Although that Livingston defense seemingly held their own throughout the first quarter, as the game wore on, that inexperience showed as constant missed assignments and broken tackles plagued the Lancers.

Livingston Head Coach Barry Kostibos was not disappointed by his team’s effort stating that the Mounties “wore us down, and they’re very talented. We did the best we could and played our [butts] off.”

Their best effort just wasn’t good enough against a polished team like the Mounties. Even with their starters playing just the third quarter, Montclair was still able to score three more touchdowns coming off of a Crutchfield run, Million run, and a fumble recovery for a score.

The Lancers will try to rebound and look for their first win of the season this Friday night, Oct. 5, as they square off against the Nutley Maroon Raiders (1-3).