BROOKLYN – Here’s your test: Use one word to describe the 8-man football game you just saw between Montezuma and BGM, regardless of who you wanted to win.
Your answer: “. . . . . .!!!”
You can’t say that on TV! Not even on cable!
But, we’ll go with it.
Montezuma, outscoring BGM 32-0 over the final 18:41 of play, put a 54-50 loss on the ninth-rated Bears on Friday evening, Sept. 9.
Twice, when the Bears led the Braves by 28 points, and once, when BGM led by 30, that didn’t seem likely – or even possible.
But one play doesn’t turn a game that includes 104 points. It’s several of them. Maybe a lot of them.
One of those for the Braves came with 4:29 left to play, when Montezuma got a fourth down stop and took over on its own 12-yard line, trailing 50-46.
Montezuma quarterback Owen Cook moved his team to the Bears’ 35, then passed to wideout Garrett Watts for the go-ahead touchdown. Tight end Tod Geiger caught Cook’s two-point conversion pass, and Montezuma led 54-50 with 1:19 left.
BGM’s chances ended at the 40-second mark when a bobbled snap led to a fourth down stop for the Braves.
Montezuma couldn’t keep the ball out of the hands of Bears quarterback Jacob Maurer for most of the first half, and the all-state candidate made Montezuma pay.
Effective running or passing, Maurer and BGM put up 44 points in the first half. The Bears built their largest lead at 44-14 and were threatening again after making an interception.
Then came another of those “turn” plays. Braves defensive back Eli Bustamante intercepted Maurer with 17 seconds left in the half.
Cook promptly hit Masin Shearer with a 36-yard scoring strike. Marty Knox ran a two-point converson. That cut BGM’s halftime lead to 44-22, and without that Montezuma score, who knows?
Montezuma opened the second half with a march, but BGM ended it by recovering a fumble.
The Bears converted right away and led 50-22 with 6:41 left in the third quarter.
BGM stopped Montezuma’s next advance, but Cook rescued the Braves with a 55-yard moon shot of a punt that made the Bears start at their own nine.
The Braves got another stop, and Cook passed to Watts for six and to Shearer for the two-pointer, and it was 50-30 with time still left in the third quarter.
Montezuma’s frustrations weren’t over. Defensive tackle Kennen Roadcap blocked a BGM punt, but the Braves fumbled it back on their first snap.
Into the fourth quarter they swirled. Braves linebacker Knox recovered a BGM fumble on the Bears’ one-yard line, then ran it over from his running back spot. Brett Plants ran for two.
Now, it was 50-38, with 10:58 left, and Montezuma’s chances of pulling this off were apparent to all.
Midway through the fourth, Cook hooked up with Watts on a long pass play that carried to BGM’s 12. Sixteen seconds later, two two connected again, this time for a touchdown. Cook ran the two-pointer and BGM’s lead was down to 50-46.
BGM had a strong drive left in it, but this is the one that the Braves halted on their 12 with 4:29 left.
We told you about the ending already.
The victory left Montezuma at 3-1 on the season, including a 2-0 record in district play.
BGM, which had scored more than 70 points in each of its two opening wins, is 2-1 and 1-1
UP NEXT – The Braves host Melcher-Dallas for homecoming on Friday, Sept. 16 at Badger-Gabriel Field.
