Montclair Football: Mounties kick off season with 49-7 dismantling of PCTI – Rapid Reaction
by Andrew Garda
garda@montclairlocal.news
The Montclair High School football team could not have asked for a better home opener than what they got Saturday afternoon. The weather was mild, the wind was nice and the Mounties were firing on all cylinders.
MHS scored early and often against Passaic County Technical Institute, ending the day with a 49-7 trouncing of the visiting Bulldogs.
Last season the Bulldogs turned the first half into a wrestling match before the more athletic Mounties ran away to a 42-15 win, but this year they were in trouble early on and never recovered.
Senior running back Danny Webb kicked things off with a nice 50-yard touchdown run on the third play of the Mounties' first possession. Webb, who would end the day with three scores and 103 yards on ten carries, showed both his characteristic burst out of the backfield and elusiveness at the second level on the run.
After a Harry Wiley extra point made the score 7-0, the Mounties kicked off and PCTI took over on their own 31 yard line.
They didn't keep the ball long as the Mounties swarmed the ballcarrier and stripped the ball away. Safety Walt King immediately scooped the ball up and returned it 12 yards for the Mounties second score of the day.
They weren't done, however as two plays into PCTI's Amire Nickelson had his pass deflected by senior linebacker Finn Jensen, who read the play perfectly and got his hand up in time. The ball was picked off by senior corner Tysean Williams, who returned it to the 9-yard line.
One play later, Webb had his second score of the day and the Mounties were up 21-0.
In the first quarter.
Webb would get his third touchdown before the start of the second quarter, and Tarrin Earle would scamper into the end zone to cap off the first half. The Bulldogs did find the end zone once, on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Nickelson to Rahzeek Starr, but that was the lone down beat for the Mounties, who would add 14 more points via a Elias Ottens 6-yard touchdown reception and a long Charles Murphy to Collin Callahan reception for a 68-yard score.
Quick and Notable Stats:
Rushing
Danny Webb 10 rush, 103 yards, 3 TD
Tarrin Earle 3 rush, 17 yards, TD
Josh Crawford 3 rush, 10 yards
Passing
Tarrin Earle 9-17, 145 yards, TD
Charles Murphy 1-1, 68 yards, TD
Receiving
Collin Callahan 6 catches, 186 yds, TD
Check Thursday's edition of the Montclair Local for a complete game breakdown with stats, quotes and analysis of plays.