The time is now for Manville as Purcell, Wildgoose look to make history in the playoffs

Last year’s Manville team had a really good season by any stretch of the imagination.

When you consider what happened in September, when the remnants of Ida caused all-too familiar damage in town, and that the team was helping its community schlep water-logged items out of basements when it should have been practicing for and playing its first game of the season, you can call the Mustangs’ 6-3 season an amazing one.

With a record of 6-2 at the cutoff, they didn’t make the playoffs. But that was just more fuel for the fire.

Armed with a better schedule – and the smart pickup of Shore Conference opponent Keyport in Week Zero by veteran head coach Pat Gorbatuk, now in his 12th season – this year’s team is 8-1 heading into Friday night’s South Jersey Group 1 opening round playoff game.

Not only did Manville make the playoffs, they made it as a four-seed, and earned just the second home playoff game in school history. They will take on 5th-seed Shore Regional (5-3) at 7 pm Friday, in a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio live from Ned Panfile Stadium. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will have the call. Click here to listen.

Last year’s stars were runningbacks Brandon Flores and Shawn Purcell, along with QB Danny Wildgoose. Flores has gone on to wrestle at Alvernia Univeristy in Reading, PA, but Purcell and Wildgoose – now seniors – are still here.

And they are hoping tonight – and for at least two more games – to put an exclamation point on careers that have aligned with the best two-year stretch in Manville football history since the 1960s, when the Mustangs went 9-0 in 1968 – their third and last undefeated season – and 5-4 the following season, for a 14-4 mark, equaling the combined mark (so far) of this season and last season.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko preview the Manville-Shore first-round playoff game with Mustangs’ head coach Pat Gorbatuk: