NEW LONDON – “Do unto others BEFORE they do unto you.”
That’s the Golden Rule of team sports, and the Montezuma Braves practiced it precisely against New London.
The seventh-ranked Braves jumped out to a 28-8 first quarter lead and went on to hand #11 New London a 56-20 continuous clock home defeat on Friday, Sept. 11.
It was the first “showdown” matchup in Class 8 District 4 play and yes, the 3-0 Braves made a statement, knocking off a squad they last beat in 2011.
“Our offensive and defensive lines played extremely well,” said Braves Coach Pat O’Brien. “We won this game because of these guys! They may not be in the stat sheets, but they are our heartbeat and playing good football right now!”
The weather, a light, steady rain nudged along by an eight-mile-an-hour east breeze, wasn’t as big a factor as Montezuma’s offense.
New London, 2-1, didn’t have a defensive answer for Montezuma quarterback Eddie Burgess and his dynamic duo receivers, Trey Shearer and Cole Watts.
Burgess threw four touchdown passes – all of them to Shearer – rushed for two more, returned a kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown, and even ran a two-point conversion.
With a 41-14 halftime lead, the Braves worked on their running game in the third quarter. It was Burgess left, Burgess right, and the 6-4, 225-pound Burgess up the middle. The continuous clock began with more than three minutes left in the third quarter.
One positive factor about the weather – it wasn’t cold. The temperature hovered around 68 degrees the entire night. So, unfrozen fingers threw and caught the football for the Braves.
Meanwhile, the ball was greased for New London’s strong ground game, and the Tigers lost a couple of fumbles that slammed doors on any bids to come back.
Burgess was 17-for-25 through the air for 224 yards and four touchdowns.
Shearer caught scoring passes of 15, 45, 15 and eight yards. Trey added a fifth touchdown on a nine-yard run.
Burgess rushed 10 times for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Shearer carried four times for 56, as Montezuma gained more than 200 yards on the ground.
“Offensively, Coach (John) Beck did a great job of calling plays,” O’Brien said. He did a fantastic job of seeing what the defense was giving us and taking advantage of space.”
Burgess also ran back a kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown, and added a two-point conversion.
New London focused on covering Watts on deep routes and tried to get a rush on Burgess. That left Shearer in a “bubble” near the boundary. He was an open target for Burgess, then outran the defense after catching passes.
New London’s Blaise Porter, who alternated between halfback and quarterback, scored on runs of 55, seven and 65 yards. On the two longer runs, the Braves made contact, but he spun away, cut back, and was gone.
Otherwise, the Braves’ pursuit on defense was excellent. Burgess led the Braves with 7.0 tackles.
“We pursued beautifully, swarmed the football and force them outside of their comfort zone,” Montezuma’s coach said.
Porter’s 55-yard touchdown run was New London’s first score. Caydin Wahls, a shifty back with a low center of gravity, ran a two-point conversion, and the Tigers had an 8-7 lead with 5:22 left in the first quarter.
But on New London’s kickoff, Burgess took the ball along the Braves’ sideline, waited for one block, then took off on a diagonal route that covered 72 yards. Owen Cook, again perfect on extra point kicks, made it 14-8 for the Braves.
Then, a misdirected snap was fumbled away by New London.
The Braves added two quick scores to make it 28-8 with 2:04 left in the first quarter.
New London intercepted Burgess on the first scrimmage of the third quarter, but lost the ball back to the Braves at the end of the play.
That’s when the big Braves offensive line and Burgess started pounding New London on the ground, killing clock and protecting their big lead. Shearer ended the march with his nine-yard touchdown run, and it was 48-14 with 8:19 left in the third.
Porter countered with a 65-yard touchdown run on first down, but the Braves continued pounding on the ground, and Burgess’ six-yard run and two-point conversion started the continuous clock with 3:28 left in the third quarter.
BRAVES NOTES – Montezuma didn’t punt until 4:30 was left in the game . . . Burgess’ two interceptions were the first two against him this season . . .the rain fell harder for a while during the third quarter, making execution of the Montezuma ground game even more important.
UP NEXT – Montezuma is at English Valleys on Friday, Sept. 18. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Stats vs. New London
Passing – Eddie Burgess was 17-for-25 for 224 yards, with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Rushing – Burgess 24-188, two touchdowns; Trey Shearer 3-56, one touchdown; Owen Cook 3-12, Connor Van Zee 4-8, Brady Ogan 1-1, Garrett Watts, 1-(-1). TOTAL – 36-264.
Receiving – Trey Shearer 10-121 with four touchdowns; Cole Watts 5-78, Connor Van Zee 2-25.
Tackles – Burgess 7.0, Brian Diaz 6.0, Joey Kercheval 5.5, Cole Watts 5.0, Van Zee 5.0, Ogan 3.5, Strong 3.0, Matt Karadios 3.0, Masin Shearer 1.5, Tod Geiger 1.5 with 1.0 for loss; Kennen Roadcap 1.0, Owen Cook 1.0 with 1.0 for loss; Trey Shearer 0.5.
Fumble recoveries – Diaz 2, Burgess 1, Geiger 1.
Kickoff returns – Burgess 1-72 with one touchdown.
Kicking – Cook nine kickoffs for 336 yards and three touchbacks, 6-6 on extra points.
Two-point conversions – Burgess 1.
