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Montgomery efficiency too much for Rams @MrBozella

Tagged under: District 4, News

| September 23, 2018


Hunter Budman had a big afternoon file photo

SOUTH CENTRE TOWNSHIP

Montgomery offensive starters ran 23 offensive plays Saturday afternoon. Those plays totaled 354 yards. Six plays resulted in touchdowns and 14 produced first downs. The message being delivered was clear. Following a slow start this season, the Red Raiders are gathering speed, finding their groove and looking dangerous. CMVT certainly would agree. Quarterback Gage Yohn delivered a perfect performance in his first varsity start, Hunter Budman totaled 217 yards and three touchdowns and Brennan Bailey was a force on both sides of the ball Saturday as Montgomery routed CMVT, 42-14. The Red Raiders (2-3, 2-0 NTL-II) inflicted the mercy rule less than midway through the third quarter, won their second straight and stayed tied for first with Muncy in the NTL-II.

We didn’t really have much struggles at all, linebacker/fullback Rhyle Strausbaugh said after making a game-high 11 tackles and catching a 43-yard touchdown. It seemed like we were on stride every time. This was a performance as complete as it was dominant. Montgomery opened a 28-0 second-quarter lead, moved the ball at will and played outstanding defense, with the starters allowing just one touchdown. Yohn completed all six of his passes for 119 yards, finding Chris McClintock (4 catches, 73 yards) and Tyler Shadle for long touchdowns. Budman ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns while throwing the 43-yard scoring strike to Strausbaugh.

Things started coming together last week when Montgomery downed Sayre, 26-12 and it built on that momentum yesterday. The Raiders lost their first three games to undefeated teams, playing each one tough before fading late. Now they look like a new team that wants to barrel through the scheduleás second half. They have some good players leading that charge, too. Bailey, Jacob Gearhart, Dan Beckley, Alex Hans and Gabe Wright dominated the line of scrimmage, opening nice running lanes and giving the quarterbacks ample time to throw.
Put it all together and Montgomery put together its best performance against a team coming off a 24-6 win and that was a few plays from being 4-0.

“We had a good game plan coming in and we executed really well. We made some good adjustments at halftime to make sure we weren’t going to allow them to come back and we did a nice job, Bailey said. We’re really starting to get back. Everybody is giving 110 percent. Weáre giving our all every down and it’s working. CMVT has some big boys up front so I challenged our boys to try and dominate the line of scrimmage” Montgomery coach Paul Bozella said. Our line is starting to jell at the right time. We have a lot of seniors on that line right now and I can’t say enough about what they’re doing. They all came focused and ready to play.

Montgomery was so efficient and productive that its longest scoring drive lasted just 3 minutes, 18 seconds. Three series lasted less than 100 seconds and Montgomery needed just 9:10 to score its 42 points. Budman opened the scoring with a four-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter before ending it with a 68-yard touchdown, exploding through a big hole on the left side. After showing off the running game, Montgomery showed it can throw it as well.

Yohn has played fullback most of his life, but returned from a Week 1 injury and shined in his first quarterback start. He found McClintock in stride for a 40-yard, second-quarter touchdown and opened the third quarter with a another outstanding throw, connecting with Shadle on a 50-yard touchdown that made it 35-6. In between, Budman lined up at quarterback in the Wildcat formation and hit Strausbaugh just past the line of scrimmage with a brilliantly executed throwback screen pass. Strausbaugh did the rest, going untouched 43 yards down the right sideline and making it, 28-0.

“It was nice getting Gage back to open up a little bit and let it air out,” Strausbaugh said. “It will probably show next game that we’ll be able to spread out the defense more.That’s what I wanted. One way or another, I challenged Budman and Gage and said I don’t care if it gets intercepted I want people to see us throw the ball,” Bozella said. “I want to feel that we’re able to throw the ball and, my gosh, they did. McClintock had a huge game and if we get him in space he’s shiftier than anyone we have.”

The defense proved as stingy as the offense did explosive. Bailey consistently blew up plays behind the line of scrimmage, finishing with eight tackles and four for loss. Gearhart added two tackles for loss and Hans had a sack as Montgomery slowed down CMVT’s Wing-T offense that it has effectively run all season. Strausbaugh and Kade Showers (nine tackles) both recovered fumbles and the defense took CMVT out of its comfort zone, producing some key third-and-longs.

“We ran the Wing-T before, so our coaches knew a lot about it and helped us game plan against them to make sure they couldn’t do what they wanted to do,”Bailey said. “We feel like we’re starting to jell as a team.”

Gearhart dropped Jake Shotwell for a four-yard loss on CMVTás third second-half play, forcing a punt. Six plays later, and following a McClintock 16-yard catch, Shadle scored on a 6-yard run as Montgomery imposed the mercy rule and made it, 42-6. The starters were done for the day at that point after averaging 15.8 yards per play.

Montgomery solidified its hold on the fourth spot in the District 4 Class A playoff standings as well. It could strengthen that grip next Friday in a game that holds quality playoff value when it plays at Pottsville Nativity (4-1).

Montgomery 42, CMVT 14
Montgomery        14 14 14 0 42
CMVT                    0  6    8  0 14
First Quarter
M Hunter Budman 4 run (Rhyle Strausbaugh kick), 6:49
M Budman 68 run (Strausbaugh kick), 0:00
Second Quarter
M Chris McClintock 40 pass from Gage Yohn (kick failed), 3:24
M Strausbaugh 43 pass from Budman (Budman run), 2:16
C Jake Shotwell pass from Cole Simpler (run failed), 0:00
Third Quarter
M Tyler Shadle 50 pass from Yohn (Strausbaugh kick), 11:46
M Shadle 6 run (Strausbaugh kick), 6:49
C Shotwell 28 run (Simpler run), 1:13

TEAM STATISTICS         M        C
First Downs                      14      17
Rushes-yards              21-190  52-200 
Passing yards                  178       46
Comp-Att-Int               8-8-0   3-7-0
Fumbles-lost                    0-0     3-2
Penalties-yards              3-30   4-17
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Montgomery, Hunter Budman 9-158, 2 TDs; Tyler Shadle 4-13, TD; Kaide Drick 1-6; Rhyle Strausbaugh 1-5; Braiden Beachel 1-2; Trevor Miller 1-1; Devon Deem 2-1; Kade Showers 1-0; Colby Springman 1-(-2). CMVT, Jake Shotwell 18-101, TD; Mekhi Mundrick 19-46; Ty Babb 10-39; Cole Simpler 5-14.
PASSING: Montgomery, Gage Yohn 6-6-0, 2 TDs, 119 yards; Budman 2-2-0, TD, 59 yards. CMVT, Simpler 3-7-0, TD, 46 yards.
RECEIVING: Montgomery, Chris McClintock 4-73, TD; Kalen Guyer 2-12; Shadle 1-50, TD; Strausbaugh 1-43, TD. CMVT, Caleb Dawson 1-23; Shotwell 1-18, TD; Mundrick 1-5.
SACKS: Montgomery, Alex Hans.
RECORDS: Montgomery 2-3, 2-0 NTL-II. CMVT 1-4, 1-2.

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