No. 10 Montgomery shuts down Jackson, pulls away for 43-15 road win at No. 5 Sayreville

The Montgomery football team – now 6-2 – has lost two games this year, both to solid opponents: Summit and Woodbridge.

But the mark of a good team is the ability to bounce back. They did it after the Summit loss, with a 22-15 upset win at Somerville, and they did it again Friday night, pulling away on the road for a 43-15 win to stun No. 5 Sayreville, which came in unbeaten at 7-0.

In a back-and-forth first half, Montgomery came out of the first 24 minutes with a 16-15 lead. Shaun Jackson opened the scoring with a 94-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to make it 7-0, but Caiden Miller answered in the second quarter with a one-yard touchdown run – the first of four on the night – that put them ahead 8-7 with a two-point run by QB Jack Kristjanson.

After Ryan SanFiorenzo answered with a 28-yard TD pass from Tyler Butka, that and a two-point run made it 15-8. Miller scored again from two yards out to give the Cougars the one-point halftime lead.

But the second half belonged to Montgomery, on both sides of the ball.

They got two scores in the third, on a Trey McFadden 18-yard touchdown catch, and a five-yard run by Miller. Krsitjanson ran in a fourth quarter touchdown, followed by a six-yard scamper by Miller.

And all the while, winning the time of possession battle – and playing excellent defense, Monty held Jackson to just 150 yards on the ground, a week after going for a career high 338 against Franklin. But perhaps even more impressive, he was limited to just ten carries, as Sayreville looked for big plays through the air in an attempt to come back.

Click below for postgame reaction from Montgomery head coach Sean Carty with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

It remains to be seen how the loss will affect the Bombers (7-1), who began the night in third in the South Group 5 supersection just 0.2 UPR points behind second-place Atlantic City. A top two finish would get them a No. 1 seed in Central Jersey Group 5. Atlantic CIty (6-1) visits Hammonton (1-6) Saturday. The Bombers close at home next week with current No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas (5-3).

Montgomery had been seventh in North Group 4, but could make a big jump with beaucoup power points headed their way, 24 to be exact, including the maximum 18 residuals. The Cougars play on Friday of Cutoff Weekend at Rahway (4-3) in a game that will decide the Big Central Liberty Silver Division title. Rahway is 2-1 in the Division, Montgomery 3-1, so a Cougar win would give it to them outright, while an Indians’ win force a three-way tie with Somerville, also 2-1. The Cougars beat Somerville, while the Pioneers beat Rahway. Each would have a win in that scenario.