The Montezuma Braves football team has developed a storehouse of skill sets.
Their variety of talents have enabled them to call upon numerous players during tough situations.
The Braves were in a downright dire position after Easton Valley running back Charlie Simpson, a 220-pound battering ram with speed, ran for four touchdowns and 187 yards in the first quarter, staking his team to a 30-7 lead.
Adjust? Did the Braves ever!
Montezuma outscored the River Hawks 53-8 the rest of the way in a 60-38 second round playoff game on Friday, Oct. 28, at Badger-Gabriel Field.
“We adjusted the responsibilities of our defensive linemen and linebackers, and that helped a bunch,” said Montezuma Coach John Beck.
“The other thing that helped was our pursuit to the ball and our angles,” Beck said. “In the first quarter, our angles were off and we were not tackling as a group.”
Simpson had success by running to his left, crashing head-on into Braves defenders, then spinning away and scooting down the boundary for scores.
In eight-man, when you miss a group tackle, it’ll usually cost you six points.
“After the first quarter, our guys started to rally and tackle together, getting all eight to the ball,” Beck said.
“The guys really picked it up after the first quarter,” Beck said. “We settled down a bit defensively, and offensively.”
“They really challenged our offense by putting their corners up and trying to blitz,” Beck said.
“It worked early on, but after we settled in, our guys started picking up the blitz and (Owen) Cook and the receivers started connecting.”
Quarterback Cook connected on just 13 of 35 passes, but maybe the key thing was he kept lofting shots downfield.
“It’s hard to stay one-on-one with our guys on the outside,” The coach said. “After they started connecting, good things happened.”
Good things, as in seven touchdown passes from Cook, five to Garrett Watts and two to Masin Shearer. All those footraces really stretched the Easton Valley defense. It may have worn that defense down, too.
Simpson’s totals for the game: An astounding 389 yards rushing on 32 carries and five touchdowns. He averaged 12 yards a carry.
He caught five passes for 19 yards and ran a pair of two-point conversions.
But, with quarterback and defensive standout Hayden Felkey sidelined because of injury the previous week, the River Hawks needed all Simpson could give.
He also played linebacker, making 7.5 tackles, including 5 solo and one for a loss. But running, running, running all the time.
“Defensively, our effort was great throughout,” Beck said. “After we made the changes, our guys showed how good they can really be. To hold an offense like that to six points in the final three quarters is a great accomplishment.”
“I really liked how gritty our defense was!” he said.