Montour gets statement win over Thomas Jefferson

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs

Andrew Schaffer | November 11, 2023

It was expected to be a good game between Montour and Thomas Jefferson but instead Montour’s offense showed out in their 51-21 win. “Our coaches put in a great game plan on both sides of the ball, that’s all I care about, the kids believe, Am I shocked about the score? Yeah we were hitting on all cylinders tonight especially from the second quarter and on” said Coach Cerro.

Montour got the ball to start the game and it was a long drive that took 12 plays. It was a big pass that got them into Thomas Jefferson territory. Eventually Jake Wolfe found AJ Alston for a 12 yard touchdown pass which made the score 6-o Montour with 8:33 in the first quarter. “When they deferred to us on the kickoff I was like we have to go down there and score we got to set a tone and that’s what we did” said Coach Cerro.

Thomas Jefferson got the ball for the first time and got close to midfield and decided to take a risk going for it on fourth down but it didn’t pay off and they turned the ball over on downs.

After the turnover on downs Montour got the ball on the Thomas Jefferson 48 yard line. It was yet another long drive and got inside Thomas Jefferson’s 10 yard line. After that the drive stalled and Montour settled for a 24 yard field goal by Matt Marcinko. That made the score 9-0 Montour with 1:37 in the first quarter.

Thomas Jefferson got the ball for a second time and still couldn’t move the ball and had to punt it away. The score at the end of the first was 9-o Montour.

It wasn’t until late in the second quarter where Montour extended their lead. The drive started at Thomas Jefferson’s 44 yard line. On the third play of the drive Jake Wolfe found AJ Alston for a second time on a 30 yard touchdown pass. That made the score 16-o Montour with 3:37 in the second quarter. Alston had an enormous game he had 247 yards on 9 catches and had 5 touchdowns. “Pretty impressive night, we obviously have weapons, if you want to double up Batch or Keino, someone else is going to be open, so we took full advantage, our quarterback made the right reads and that’s what we did” said Coach Cerro. The score at halftime was 16-o Montour.

Thomas Jefferson got the ball to start the second half but went three and out and punted the ball away. Montour started their first possession of the second half in Thomas Jefferson territory it didn’t take them long to find the end zone again. On the third play Jake Wolfe found AJ Alston for the third time this one a 41 yard pass.

Wolfe was the other key player for Montour he was 15 of 27 for 220 yards and threw 5 touchdown passes he also had 84 yards rushing on 16 carries and rushed for a touchdown. “I’ve been telling everybody all year he’s the guy and we’ll go as far as Jake takes us, and he wants that challenge and that’s what he’s been doing for the past 11 weeks” said Coach Cerro. “I didn’t get to finish out the first playoff game last year, so to be able to finish out the game, the whole team played well, we got a great win over a great team, and that’s awesome” said Wolfe.

Midway through the third quarter Thomas Jefferson finally got on the scoreboard when Brody Evans found Sean Sullivan for a 21 yard touchdown pass making it 24-7 Montour with 6:13 in the third quarter.

Montour got the ball again and went three and out and on the punt the ball deflected off a Thomas Jefferson player and Montour recovered the ball at Thomas Jefferson’s 18 yard line. On the second play Jake Wolfe scored on a 12 yard run. That made the score 31-7 Montour with 3:43 in the third quarter.

Thomas Jefferson got the ball again and on the first play the ball was intercepted. Montour eventually took advantage of that turnover when Jake Wolfe found Daniel Batch on a 7 yard touchdown pass. That made the score 38-7 with 2:49 in the third quarter.

Before the third quarter ended Montour added another score when Jake Wolfe found AJ Alston for a fourth time on a 24 yard touchdown pass. That made the score 44-7 at the end of 3. “I don’t know where to start, good week of practice, just knowing what we gotta do and we came out here and put on a performance” said Alston. “We’ve had a connection for awhile since last year, so it feels good to know what he can do, I know when he throws me the ball, I know I’m going to go get it, it’s gonna be a perfect ball” said Alston.

About 4 minutes into the fourth quarter Thomas Jefferson got another score on a 7 yard run by Elias Lippincott. That made the score 44-14 Montour.

Montour made it a mercy rule game. Despite Wolfe not being in the game AJ Alston still found a way to score a fifth time on a 93 yard touchdown pass from Trey Hopper. “I’ve played with Trey since I was young, so me and him we have a really good connection, so I just know he’ll be able to throw me the ball” said Alston. That pass made the score 51-14 Montour.

Before the game ended Thomas Jefferson added one more score making the final 51-21. Next week Montour will play McKeesport in WPIAL 4A Semifinals at a site to be determined.

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