The Montclair football team in an undated photo. (Source: @MTCMountieFB on Twitter)
The Montclair football team has lost three games this season, and for two of them, they were without three or four starting players, meaning they were down a man at as many as eight starting positions, at times.
Injuries are a part of football, but for some teams they are bigger than most. That was the way it was for at least some of the year for the Mounties and second-year head coach Jermain Johnson.
Last year, the challenge was different, and was one they couldn’t control (in the end, at least) and which kept them out of the playoffs: the use of an ineligible player.
Montclair self-reported it, but wound up not only having to forfeit five regular season games, but also their playoff opener against Ridgewood before they even stepped on the field, leaving the Mounties – on paper – 0-9 in 2022.
So, injuries aside, this year has been a relative breeze. But Watchung Hills won’t be. The 8-2 Warriors are the second-seed, Montclair (7-3) the three-seed, but they’ll have to take the trip down to Watchung for this one, Friday night at 7:00, and you can hear it all on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action, with pregame at 6:45. Click here to listen.
Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Montclair head coach Jermain Johnson about the Mounties’ season and their matchup with Watchung Hills: