Football Game Preview: J.P. Stevens Hawks vs. Manville Mustangs

The J.P. Stevens Hawks will square off against the Manville Mustangs at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: J.P. Stevens has struggled recently with seven losses in a row, while Manville will arrive with five straight victories.

J.P. Stevens' offense might be in the hot seat on Saturday considering what happened against Bernards on Friday. They were dealt a 39-0 defeat at the hands of the Mountaineers. While losing is never fun, the Hawks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Jersey football rankings (they are ranked 335th, while the Mountaineers are ranked 66th).

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Manville). They blew past South Hunterdon 49-12 on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Mustangs have posted against the Eagles since September 28, 2017.

Manville's victory bumped their record up to 5-0. As for J.P. Stevens, their loss dropped their record down to 0-5.

J.P. Stevens suffered a grim 41-20 defeat to Manville when the teams last played back in October of 2024. Thankfully for the Hawks, Naquavere Thomas (who rushed for 158 yards and two scores while picking up 8.8 yards per carry, and also picked up 36 receiving yards and one TD) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.