Montezuma’s football team adjusted well on the fly against Kingsley-Pierson, especially when the game was on the line.
That included the final 4:51 of the Braves’ 39-38 win when the Panthers, trailing by what became the final score, mounted a threatening, deep drive.
Montezuma made a goal line stand to preserve the victory.
“They tried to run inside, but we flowed, pursued and tackled well,” Braves Coach Pat O’Brien told Chris Varney of KGRN radio.
“They tried to run a naked bootleg, but (the Braves’) Cole Watts threw it for a loss,” O’Brien said.
On fourth down, Kingsley-Pierson ran another bootleg, but the Braves pressured the throw, which was incomplete.
Montezuma needed one first down to seal the win, and quarterback Eddie Burgess got it on first down with a run.
The Braves’ defense yielded 393 yards on 65 Kingsley-Pierson rushing attempts, a 6.0 per carry average.
But after giving up 30 first half points, Montezuma surrendered just eight more after intermission.
“They did different things from what they showed last year,” said O’Brien, “and we weren’t prepared for them.”
Kingsley-Pierson ran some motion, and “we had some of our younger players get caught up in it,” O’Brien said. “We over-pursued, and it opened some cutback lanes for them.”
Josh Harvey, a sophomore running back for the Panthers, gained 195 yards on 27 carries, a 7.2 average. He ran for two touchdowns.
But the Braves were surer tacklers in the second half.
“Cole Watts was sideline-to-sideline,” said O’Brien, noting his 18 tackles which included 15 solos. “We may have found a permanent home for him on defense,” the coach said.
“Brady Ogan played with passion. He was a man possessed,” O’Brien said.
“And Joey Kercheval played downhill at outside linebacker,” the coach said. “He set the edge and made critical tackles.”
This Friday, the Braves take on Winfeld-Mt. Union, which beat Tri-County 44-8 last week.
“They’re big and physical,” O’Brien said. “They’ll want to put us in a phone booth and have a fight. We’ll need to pursue and tackle well.”
The coach also expects to see Cole Watts the receiver draw extra attention.
“He’s an all-stater,” the coach said. “They (Kingsley-Pierson) double-teamed him, but they gave us the bubble passes to Trey Shearer, so we took them,” O’Brien said.
Took them, to the extent of 13 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns for Shearer.
O’Brien said the Braves responded to change, which they’ll have to do all season.
“Event, plus response, equals outcome,” the coach said.
This first week, the outcome was a ‘W’.