How old will we be when we stop talking about that Montezuma-New London football game?
Yes, the Braves missed the playoffs – but how many playoff games would you have to see before you saw a more exciting game, when two teams took their best to the field – and left it there?
New London, the defending state champion in Class 8, beat the Braves, 94-68, Friday night, Oct. 25.
It was at once exhilarating . . .and exhausting.
Montezuma’s Eddie Burgess threw for 557 yards, rushed for 106 more (that’s 663 total), and had 15.0 tackles, yet the scoreboard called his team a loser.
Same thing for Braves receiver Cole Watts, who caught a dozen passes for 391 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Sometimes, the scoreboard lies, or maybe it just can’t tell the whole story. There were no losers in this game, just survivors.
“I was very proud of our boys!” said Montezuma Coach Pat O’Brien.
Running back Shae Summerfield and the Tigers made the playoffs. Montezuma, for the record, barely missed.
And New London will get quite a test in the first round, when the Tigers play Don Bosco, which had given up just 40-some points in its first eight games.
“Offensively, we played exceptionally well,” O’Brien said. “Cole (Watts) might have set a state record for receiving yards with 391. Eddie (Burgess) had anothr exceptional game,” he added.
Summerfield, a 5-9, 170-pound senior, rushed for a stunning 448 yards on 32 carries – a 14.0 per tote average – and eight touchdowns. He also returned a punt 68 yards for a score.
Summerfield scored 66 of his team’s 94 points, as he was also tough to stop on two-point conversion runs.
“We just could not stop #22 (Summerfield),” O’Brien said. “He did a great job reading his blocks and was such a patient runner. It was very hard to stop him.”
Summerfield got rushing help from Caydin Wahls, who ran 21 times for 192 yards (9.1) and three scores.
New London’s fast starts in both halves keyed its victory.
The Tigers led 36-14 after one quarter.
The Braves closed the gap with a 20-12 second period, to trail 48-24 at halftime.
But the Tigers put up 32 more in the third quarter. The Braves went with them with 28.
Montezuma kept coming. A Burgess touchdown pass to Trey Shearer cut the New London lead to 64-56 with 5:34 left in the third quarter. Another Burgess-to-Shearer pass had cut the lead to eight points late in the first half. But the Braves got no closer.
It was 80-62 after three quarters.
Receiver Cole Watts had a sensational five-touchdown, 391-yards game for the Braves. His precise routes and speed, combined with the accuracy of passer Burgess, made that possible.
Trey Shearer caught six balls for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Burgess needed 55 attempts to complete 22 passes, a bit below his average. But credit the Braves’ offensive line for giving him enough time to do what he did against a very physical pass rush.
As a team, Montezuma gained 663 yards on 72 snaps, a 9.5 per play average.
New London did force four Montezuma punts. Trey Shearer was great on flipping field position with those, averaging 41.5 yards.
Owen Cook made the Tigers start deep, with 353 yards on 11 kickoffs.
But New London’s offense allowed its man to kick off 14 times to the Braves.
“Our seniors did a great job of stepping up,” O’Brien said.
“Brayden Arendt made some unreal catches. Ben Jorgenson did a great job of setting the edge and tackling in space. Blake Stone was great at blocking and sustaining his blocks. And Chandler Carl did great at getting off blocks and running to the ball,” the coach said.
HOW MANY YARDS? – The Braves actually out-gained New London 685 yards to 666. Total for the two teams was 1,351 yards, on 129 snaps, an average of 10.5 per play. The teams combined to score 23 touchdowns. It ended kind of late, didn’t it?
THANKS SENIORS – O’Brien honored them just above. There were just four this season: Ben Jorgenson, Brayden Arendt, Chandler Carl and Blake Stone.
Braves stats
Passing – Eddie Burgess was 22-for-51 for 557 yards and 7 touchdowns, with no interceptions.
Receiving – Cole Watts 12-391 and 5 touchdowns; Trey Shearer 6-97 and 2 touchdowns; Brayden Arendt 4-69.
Rushing – Burgess 14-106 and 2 touchdowns. Shearer 3-19 and 1 touchdown; Arendt 3-7, Connor Van Zee 1-(-4).
Tackles – Burgess 12 solo and 6 assisted for (15.0) total; Brian Diaz 5 and 9 (9.5); Van Zee 5 and 3 (6.5); Arendt 3 and 4 (5.0); Kennen Roadcap 2 and 5 (4.5); Jack Brenner 2 and 1 (2.5); Trey Shearer 1 and 2 (2.0); Ben Jorgenson 0 and 3 (1.5); Watts 0 and 3 (1.5); Joey Kercheval 0 and 2 (1.0); T.J. Townsend 1 and 0 (1.0).
Fumble recoveries – Burgess 1-0.
PAT kicks – Owen Cook 0-1.
Kickoffs – Cook 11-353.
Punts – Trey Shearer 4-166 (41.5 avg.)
Kickoff returns – Arendt 9-126, Watts 1-16, Trey Shearer 4-10.
