By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
SAYRE — Montgomery piled up 638 yards in total offense, including 553 rushing yards, to more than offset a big night by Sayre senior Nick Pellicano in a 55-21 win here Friday night in NTL Small School Division football action at the Lockhart Street Bowl.
The Red Raiders built a 21-0 lead with a TD early in the third quarter, and appeared to be headed to an early blowout, but Pellicano fielded the ensuing kickoff at the Sayre 15, found a seam, broke to the home sidelines near midfield, and outraced the coverage for an 85-yard return for a TD. Junior Carter Bleiler’s PAT kick closed the gap to 21-7 with 10:57 remaining in the first half.
Sayre coach Ricky Lindblad was pleased to see his team’s fight after falling behind early.
“Last week, the turning point was the first touchdown we gave up. We saw our guys hanging their heads.
“Tonight, after Montgomery’s first score our guys were picking each other up,” said Lindblad. “It’s a step in the right direction.
“Obviously, the scoreboard doesn’t read the way we want it to, but our guys didn’t stop playing,” he added.
Montgomery answered Pellicano’s return with a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive, capped by a 25-yard TD pass from Parker Persing to Max Furman with 5:31 remaining in the first half to push the lead back to 21 points, at 28-7.
Sayre’s next possession was set to end as a three-and-out, but the Red Raiders gave the Redskins new life with a roughing-the-punter penalty.
After Sayre junior QB Karter Green was sacked to put the Redskins in a second-and-19 at their own 45, he completed passes of 11 and 7 yards to senior Kendrick Ross, and a 9-yarder to sophomore Austin Malanoski to move the ball to the Montgomery 28.
After an 11-yard scramble by Green, and a flag for a late hit on the run, gave the Redskins a first down at the Montgomery 9, Green connected with Pellicano, who made a leaping catch for a 10-yard TD pass on second-and-goal, to trim the deficit to 28-13 with 2:20 remaining in the half.
“That is how we want to do it,” said Lindblad in reference to the scoring drive. “We blocked well, and gave (Green) enough time to get rid of the ball on those timing routs.”
Green, who completed 12 of 30 passes for 101 yards, one TD, and three interceptions, was the victim of at least six dropped passes in the contest.
“We’ve left a lot of yards out there in the first few games,” said Lindblad.
“We’ve completed passes and had them called back on penalties … and we’ve had passes hitting our hands and we’re dropping them,” he added. “Those are things we can fix, we just need to continue to work on it.”
Montgomery’s defense held Sayre to three-and-outs in its first two possessions of the second half, and turned good field position into TDs to stretch the lead to 42-13 midway through the third quarter.
Once again, however, Pellicano kept Sayre’s hopes alive when he scooped up a loose ball on the ensuing kickoff, curled back around the coverage toward the visitor’s sidelines, and outraced would-be tacklers for a 72-yard TD return.
Green connected with Malanoski for a two-point conversion to trim the deficit to 42-21with 5:39 remaining in the third quarter.
Montgomery scored on its next possession to stretch its lead to 48-21, and closed out the scoring to provide the final margin midway through the final stanza.
Coy Bryson led the Red Raiders’ ground game with 289 yards and three TDs on 26 carries, while Max Furman added 87 yards on six carries, and a 25-yard TD reception, Cam Waltz had 82 yards on 10 carries, Persing added 37 yards and two TDs on 11 carries, and Austin Luckenbill chipped in with 36 yards and one TD on 11 carries.
Persing completed 4 of 9 passes for 85 yards, and two TDs. Hayden Wilt led Montgomery with three receptions for 60 yards and one TD.
Wilt paced the Montgomery’s defense with three interceptions.
Ross led Sayre with five catches for 37 yards, and Malanoski added four grabs for 50 yards.
The Redskins rushed for just 19 yards on nine carries. Senior Jamier Kole led Sayre with 13 yards on six carries.
Sayre falls to 0-3, and Lindblad, who took over last year — a year after the Redskins did not field a varsity team for the first time in more than 100 years, believes this is part of the process in rebuilding the program.
“Unfortunately, I think this is part of the process.
“Once our 1s come off the field, and our 2s aren’t quite where the other teams’ 2 are,” he noted. “Our 2s are very young. We have a lot of new faces who haven’t played football … part of the process is getting them acclimated to playing organized football.
“We are making strides in the right direction, it’s just taking longer than we hoped,” he added.
The Redskins host Cowanesque Valley next Friday.
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IN PHOTOS 1-3: Sayre Nick Pellicano on his first of two kick returns for scores Friday night. … PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
