Montclair stayed with its opponent every step of the way for most of Saturday's game against powerhouse Seton Hall Prep. But the big plays and Pirates running back Kevin Monangai — in the end — were just too much for the upstart Mounties as Montclair lost its first game of the season, 55-34, at Woodman Field.

"They are a very good football team," said Montclair head coach John Fiore who suffered his first loss as the Mounties coach. "We came and we played and we were down 13-0 at one point and came back."

 And despite having a moral victory that they stayed close with the Pirates for most of the game, senior wide receiver/defensive back Aamad Bush could not think about that. "You can never be proud of a loss," said Bush who caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nate Crutchfield.

From the start of the game Montclair never grabbed the lead but did tie it at halftime at 13 and were a score away on a few occasions to catch Seton Hall Prep, who is undefeated at 3-0. "We wanted to play ball control and it worked in the first half," said Fiore.

The Mounties defense gave up three touchdowns of 44 yards or more that came in a crucial part of the game. Also Monangai had six touchdowns on the day. "We made some bad decisions and mental mistakes," said Fiore.

For Montclair they received a balanced offensive scoring with five different players scoring touchdowns: Clarence Sears, Aamad Bush, Khalif Herbin, Otis Wright, and Anthony Webb. In addition, junior running back Stephaun Marshall ran for 112 yards in the game, but did not get a touchdown.

For most of the game Montclair would get down a couple of scores but would react and come back.

But unfortunately for the Mounties a botched punt went foul as punter Michael Smith was tripped up by Seton Hall's top running back Kevin Monangai, who was on special teams on that play, to come a couple yards short of the first down with less than eight minutes remaining in the game.

Instead of the ball deep in Seton Hall Prep territory, the Pirates got the ball at the Mounties 45-yard line.

Despite the botched fake punt, Smith had been instrumental in two successful onside kicks including one where he recovered the onside kick.

At the time of the fake punt, the Mounties were only down by seven, 41-37, but Seton Hall Prep only had to go eight plays with Monangai going over from one-yard out. The point afterwards was good and Montclair was down by 14, 48-34, and this caused Montclair to go to the air with less than four minutes remaining in the game.

On the first play after the Seton Hall touchdown, Crutchfield overthrew Bush and into the hands of Seton Hall Prep's Steve Silvestri, his second interception of the day and took into the end zone.

Monangai would run in for his sixth touchdown of the game, this time from three yards. The point after was good and Montclair was down by 21, 55-34.

With the game tied at 13 at halftime, the big plays did in Montclair starting with the second play from scrimmage when Monangai went on the outside along right end for a 26 yard touchdown. The point after was good and the Pirates were up 20-13 after only one minute off the second half clock.

After Montclair went out in four downs, Seton Hall Prep pulled off another big play this time punter Rory Merklinger faked a punt and ran 44 yards for a touchdown. The point after was good and the Mounties were down 14, 27-13.

Down 13-0 in the first half, the Montclair special teams showed their muscle in the game starting with Clarence Sears who blocked the punt and picked it up and ran 38 yards for the Mounties first touchdown. The point after was no good and Montclair sliced the Seton Hall Prep lead to 13-6 in the second quarter.

Later in the second quarter, Crutchfield threw the ball into the left side of the end zone and Mounties wide receiver Bush out-jumped the defensive back to come down with the pass. Taylor Ullrich kicked the extra point and the game was tied at 13 with five minutes left in the half.

 With the loss to Seton Hall Prep behind them, Montclair is looking forward to taking on East Orange Campus on Saturday in East Orange. The Mounties are looking to hand the rival Jaguars (3-0) their first loss of the season. It would be the third straight competitor that Montclair has faced that has been undefeated coming into their game. For Bush and the rest of Montclair, they are looking to hand East Orange its first loss. "East Orange is right across town and we know all their players," said Bush.

Montclair lost to East Orange, 41-16, in 2009. The Jaguars made the Group 4 North 1 state sectional final last season.