My Friday night game in Montgomery had that “playoff feeling” as the Cougars hosted Woodbridge on Senior Night for the Marching Band, Dance Team, Cheerleaders and the Football Team.
The home team captains won the coin toss and elected to play defense by deferring the choice until the second half.
Woodbridge would open up the game with a play action pass by sophomore quarterback Dylan Stephen, who had only attempted 31 passes in the prior six games, hoping to catch the Cougar defense focused on one of the league’s premier rushers, Joshua Allen.
Senior free safety Trey McFadden was not fooled and snared the errant pass while returning it to the Woodbridge 22 yard line.
Montgomery wasted little time as senior quarterback Jack Kristjanson would toss a quick screen to wide receiver Obinna Obuba who sidestepped a would-be-tackler while sprinting to the end zone for the early score as only 27 seconds had elapsed off the game clock.
Woodbridge would get the ball on the 20-yard line as the Montgomery squib kick hugged the home sideline bouncing past the pylon into the end zone.
The Barrons would mix up the inside run and outside option with Allen getting the bulk of the carries. Fullback Kyle Campos and Stephen would keep the defense honest as they marched to the Cougars 45-yard line.
With the Barrons motioning Campos to the wide side of the field Stephen and Allen optioned to the visitors sideline with the rookie quarterback faking the pitch while avoiding one defender and sprinting to the Montgomery 3-yard line. Allen would tie the game with a run up the middle at 6:31 remaining in the first stanza.
The Cougars would get poor field position following a holding call on the kick return. After two incomplete passes and a batted down pass, Montgomery would punt from their ended zone setting up the Barrons at the home team’s 28-yard line.
Woodbridge would try to take advantage of the short field having Stephen throw deep to tight end Dylan Mastrola who was split out wide toward the visitors sideline. The pass was overthrown and there was a lineman down field moving the ball back to the Montgomery 33-yard line.
On the ensuing play, Stephen would run the option left and look to attempt a pitch which was batted in the air and recovered by senior defensive end Mike Bellamy who raced untouched for a 67-yard touchdown and a 13-7 Montgomery lead after a failed two-point conversion with 4:26 remaining in the first stanza.
The Barrons would start their third drive of the night at their own 20-yard line with two consecutive runs which set up a safe and effective swing pass to Allen towards the Montgomery sideline with the nifty senior running back’s cutback ability getting the ball to the Montgomery 40-yard line.
Allen would then take the handoff on a sweep play to the visitor’s bench led by backfield mate Kyle Campos moving the ball to the 31. After successive runs and an injury timeout, the 1st quarter would come to a close with the Barrons trailing 13-7 and having second-and-eight, with the ball on the Montgomery 16-yard line.
When play resumed, Campos would go in motion toward the wide side of the field taking the jet sweep handoff while barreling down the Montgomery sideline setting up 1st and goal at about the five yard line. An illegal procedure penalty on the Barrons would move the ball back five yards.
After a short gain by Campos, Stephen would hit Allen on a quick swing pass setting up a 2nd and goal from the five yard line. An inside run by Allen would only net two yards as the Cougars defense stiffened.
On 3rd and goal from the Montgomery 3-yard line and Stephen under center, he signaled Campos to motion left while tossing the ball to Allen who would score his second touchdown giving the Barrons a 14-13 lead at the 8:57 mark of the second quarter.
Montgomery would try to establish a running game with Caiden Miller, however the Barron’s defensive front led by seniors Jhonny Collado, Dylan Saab and A’arrow Andrewz made sure the gains were minimal.
The Cougar’s however were not afraid to let their quarterback Kristjanson take matters in his own hands as he hit Trey McFadden for a first down around their 31-yard line. A run to the left by Miller was thwarted by the Barron’s diving defensive tackle Collado for a loss back to the 30-yard line.
Kristajanson would look to pass on second and long but pulled down the ball and scrambled for the first down himself to the 42-yard line. He would then launch a bomb to a streaking McFadden down the middle of the field to the visitors 14-yard line.
A face mask penalty on a Miller run moved the ball half the distance to the goal setting up his inside run for three yards and a second and goal for Montgomery. On the very next play Kristjanson would audible to a quarterback power scoring on a four-yard run with 4:07 remaining before halftime. The Cougars would go for two but the pass was intercepted by defensive tackle A’arrow Andrewz, his third of the season, making the score 19-14 for the home team.
The ensuing kickoff would go out of bounds giving the Barrons the ball on their 45-yard line. They would gain two yards on run a play and call timeout with 3:08 remaining on the clock before halftime.
After the time out Stephen would throw an incomplete pass on an out route and then a quick screen to Sean Russo gaining only four yards which forced the Barrons to punt with 1:47 from their 49-yard line.
With Woodbridge looking to attempt a Rugby kick, Montgomery overloaded the left side of the defensive line with junior Zach Furey coming in freely to block the kick sending it out of bounds at the Barrons 35-yard line with 1:42 on the game clock.
Kristjanson would look to throw but he took off getting 8 yards down to the 27 of Woodbridge in the hurry up offense. Montgomery would quickly align in Trips Left Open Gun but hand off to Miller on the outside zone who raced down the Cougars sideline getting knocked out of bounds around the one.
Enter Mike Bellamy (OL/DL/LS/FB) into the backfield as the fullback scoring from 1-yard out with 37.8 seconds before halftime making the score 25-14 as the Cougars third consecutive 2-point conversion attempt failed.
Woodbridge would take the ensuing kickoff to about the 25-yard line and take a knee and head back to the locker room to make halftime adjustments only down eleven points.
Montgomery would receive the second half kick with junior Xaviar Harrigan setting the Cougars up on their 24-yard line after a 14-yard return. Miller would carry the ball three straight plays while Kristjanson would scramble for another. Facing third-and-five from their 39-yard line Kristjanson’s pass to senior Walcott Gesira who motioned across the formation, looked short of the first down by about 2 yards.
Montgomery would elect to go for it on fourth down coming up short of the line to gain and turning the ball over to Woodbridge at their 42-yard line up 25-14 with 9:03 in the third quarter.
The Barrons wasted little time getting right back in the game as Stephen would pump fake to his left and turn back right to find his tight end Dylan Mastrola streaking down the middle of the field for an easy 42-yard touchdown catch while closing the gap to 25-21 at the 8:54 mark of the third quarter.
Harrigan’s 13-yard return would allow Montgomery’s offense start on their 31-yard line. A quick hitch to McFadden would only net three yards as Allen from his right cornerback position was in tight coverage. The same play was called to the right or wide side of the field on 2nd down with McFadden the middle receiver in a trips formation. A quick reacting Dylan Mastrola from his linebacker position forced an incompletion.
On third and seven yards Kristjanson would look right to pass but dip his shoulder and turn up field running as defensive tackle Andrewz dragged him to the ground short of the first down at the Cougars 43-yard line. Montgomery would elect to go for it on fourth down lining up in a full house backfield. A high snap doomed the play as Kristjanson tried to pick up the ball while being swarmed by the Barrons defense.
Woodbridge would start their drive on the Cougars 38-yard line handing the ball to their workhorse Allen who would get about six yards on an Iso play on first down. Montgomery would be offsides on the next play to Campos on the fullback dive. Allen would then take the toss down the visitor sideline with a key block by Campos. On the next play the junior fullback would be rewarded with the inside handoff coming out of the mass of humanity for an 11-yard touchdown run at 5:48 in the third quarter and a 28-25 lead.
Montgomery would get decent field position as Harrigan returned the kickoff to the Cougars 38-yard line. With Bellamy at fullback, Miller would line up behind him in the I taking the handoff for a five-yard gain. They would line up in the same formation this time running the toss towards the visitors sideline for little or no gain.
Kristjanson would look to pass to a leaping McFadden across the middle on 3rd down but the normally sure-handed receiver couldn’t secure the catch forcing the Cougars to punt at 3:54 in the third quarter down 28-25.
Woodbridge would start their drive in the worst field position of the night thanks to a booming kick by McFadden to the Barrons 13-yard line. An inside run on 1st down netted about a yard. It was the 2nd down call however, a toss to Allen towards the Cougars sideline with great blocking by Mastrola and Campos which had the Barron faithful screaming as Allen was tackled short of the goal line by a streaking Miles Dawson from the opposite end of the field.
With first-and-goal from the eight, Allen would get to about the 2-yard line while Stephen finished the drive with a one-yard plunge at 1:23 remaining in the third quarter and an eleven point advantage for the visitors 35-24.
Both teams would trade punts with Montgomery getting the ball on their 21-yard line with a little more than eight minutes remaining in the game. Kristjanson would then toss a beautiful pass over the middle to a leaping Obuba who would score his second touchdown of the night a 79-yard sprint to the end zone drawing the Cougars to within 35-31 at 8:06 in the fourth quarter as the PAT attempt failed.
Woodbridge would methodically work its way down the field milking the game clock with Allen mostly carrying the ball as Stephen waited patiently to snap the ball as the official with the red wrist band started the delay of game countdown. Montgomery would call a time out with 5:17 remaining in the game as the Barrons moved into the red zone.
Stephen would keep the ball on third and 1 from the Cougars 21-yard line taking to the 17 as the clock continued to run. A short inside iso by Allen was followed up by his third score of the night a 14-yard sprint to pay dirt on a toss left as he split the blocks of his tight end Mastrola and fullback Campos giving Woodbridge a 10-point advantage at 41-31 with 3:47 remaining in the contest.
Montgomery would get one last opportunity to mount a comeback but were stopped by the Barrons on 4th down with 1:58 remaining in the game.
Woodbridge would move the ball forcing Montgomery to use up their remaining timeouts while letting the clock hit zero for a 41-31 hard-fought road victory while remaining perfect at 7-0.
Here are my Week 6 Top Tens for the entire Big Central Conference, plus the BCC West, Middlesex County and Union County:
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