Mastromatto is "Everything They Say He Is"

09/20/08 12:45pm Posted by admin_user
FORT WASHINGTON – Van Smith had heard all about Josh Mastromatto. After all, Upper Dublin’s senior tailback was hardly a well-kept secret after coming out of nowhere to turn in back-to-back rushing performances of 200-plus yards.
Still, nothing could have prepared the Harry S. Truman coach for the kind of performance the speedy running back turned in during the first half of Friday night’s non-league contest.
Mastromatto had touchdown runs of 49, 14, 65 and 23 yards, and for good measure, he hauled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Derek Giannetti. If you’re counting, that’s five touchdowns – all in one half of football.
“He is everything they say he is,” Smith said. “He’s very fast, and we knew that coming in. We knew we had to hem him in, and we just didn’t do a very good job of doing that.”
Mastromatto had 192 yards on the ground in the first half as the Flying Cardinals rolled to a 35-7 lead on their way to a 35-14 win over the Tigers.
“We’re still not satisfied with that,” said Mastromatto, who finished the night with 220 yards on 21 carries. “It’s a win and everything, but we can’t be satisfied with a win like that, especially going against a team next week like Upper Moreland.
“We came out (in the second half), and that was, I think, the worst half we’ll play all year. They were stuffing it up. They really came out with their butts on fire.”
While the Flying Cardinals upped their early-season record to 3-0, the Tigers fell to 0-3, but they had to feel a whole lot better about things after keeping Mastromatto and the Cardinals off the scoreboard in a muddy second half.
“Apparently, some of the adjustments we made at halftime must have worked,” Smith said. “But we have to do a much better job on defense.”
Smith nodded in the direction of senior running back Jeff Tiberi and said, “He finally ran the ball.”
Tiberi rushed for 148 yards in an inspired second-half performance, 193 in the game. It was all part of a much-improved second-half effort by the Tigers.
“Our team got together in the locker room, and we all decided we needed to come out and win it,” Tiberi said. “Our defense got a shutout in the second half, and our offense moved the ball. It was a little tweak here and there as a team – not as individuals.
“I feel a lot better after the second half. The team stuck in there. We all played together as a family. We all did our best.”
Unfortunately for the Tigers, this game was all but over by halftime as the Cardinals set the tone early.
On the Cardinals’ first series of the game, Giannetti got the ball rolling with a pair of completions to Chot Kelly – the first for three years and the second for 12. Those completions were sandwiched around a one-yard run by Robert Swartz.
Then came Mastromatto’s first touch of the night.
He was thrown for a one-yard loss. Unfazed, the speedy tailback picked himself up, and one play later, sprinted 49 yards for a touchdown that – after P.J. Seyfried’s first of five extra points – put the Cardinals on top 7-0.
“It was just all clicking in the first half,” Mastromatto said. “I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s just an in-game thing where something clicks, and you just go. I’m not expecting to break it every play.
“You saw in the second half – they came out and did a great job.”
In the first half, however, there was no stopping Mastromatto.
The Tigers marched to the Cardinals’ 24-yard line on their next possession, but their eight-play drive stalled when the Cardinals’ defense held on fourth and short.
The Cardinals took over on downs, and after the Tigers held Mastromatto for no gain on first down, he carried it 17 on second down. Gianetti had a big first-down completion to Dom Matteo for 19 yards, and after Swartz, who had 50 yards on the ground, carried it for 10 more, Mastromatto went to work.
After a four-yard gain on first down, the senior tailback lost his footing on the muddy field and was thrown for a three-yard loss, setting up third and long.
Not to worry.
Mastromatto took it up the middle for a 14-yard touchdown that made it a 14-0 game. A three-and-out set the stage for a 68-yard scoring drive that took all of two plays – the second a dazzling 65-yard touchdown run by Mastromatto that put the Cardinals on top 21-0 with 9:14 remaining in the second quarter.
Another three-and-out was followed by a 29-yard Cardinal drive that culminated with a 23-yard Mastromatto touchdown run.
“I knew Josh was a football player, but I didn’t know he was this good or I would have played him at tailback last year,” Upper Dublin coach Bret Stover said of Mastromatto, who lined up at slot and returned kicks last season. “He has exceptional vision and speed.”
The Tigers interrupted Mastromatto’s masterpiece with a 59-yard touchdown drive that began with quarterback Mike Schmidt finding Tom Bremme for 29 yards. Tiberi followed that with a 16-yard run, and after a five-yard carry by Terry Walker, Tiberi punched it in from three yards out. The extra point by Jordan Thayres made it a 28-7 game.
But not for long.
The Cardinals, who scored on all seven first-half possessions, answered with a 55-yard scoring drive that culminated with Giannetti lofting a pass that eluded a pair of leaping defenders and somehow landed in the arms of Mastromatto, who took it in for a touchdown and a 35-7 halftime lead.
On Truman’s opening drive of the second half, Tiberi capped a four-play drive with runs of 25 and 19 yards – the latter for a touchdown that made it a 35-14 game.
That’s when the scoring stopped for both teams as they slogged through a muddy, penalty-filled second half.
“We were firing on all cylinders in the first half,” Stover said. “It’s the second half I’d rather not talk about. They made some adjustments, and we turned the ball over, which we hadn’t done all year.
“We’re not going to play a team that big all year except perhaps Norristown, but this gets us ready for the rest of our schedule.”
UPPER DUBLIN 35, HARRY S. TRUMAN 14
UD-Mastromatto 49 run (Seyfried kick)
UD-Mastromatto 14 run (Seyfried kick)
UD-Mastromatto 65 run (Seyfried kick)
UD-Mastromatto 23 run (Seyfried kick)
T-Tiberi 3 run (Thayres kick)
UD-Mastromatto 38 pass from Giannetti (Seyfried kick)
T-Tiberi 19 run (Thayres kick)
                T              UD
First Downs        10           13
Rushing Yards    223         278
Passing Yards     51           81          
Total Yards          274         359
Passing (C-A-I) 4-12-0   5-7-0
Fumbles-Lost     2-1          5-2
Penalties-Yds.   6-70       7-52
Punts-Avg.          1-33.0    3-34.7   
RUSHING:
Truman – Tiberi, 22-193, 2 TDs; Kletcheck, 3-17; Jones, 1-10; Walker, 6-9; Schmidt, 3-(-1).
Upper Dublin – Mastromatto, 21-220, 4 TDs; Swartz, 10-50; Visco, 6-11; Josloff, 1-2; Giannetti, 1-(-1), Stancato, 1-(-4).
PASSING:
Truman – Schmidt, 4-12-51.
Upper Dublin – Giannetti, 5-7-81, 1 TD.
RECEIVING:
Truman – Bremme, 1-29; Walker, 2-17; Watts, 1-15.
Upper Dublin – Mastromatto, 1-38, 1 TD; Matteo, 1-19; Kelly, 2-14; Visco, 1-5; Swartz, 1-5.
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