MHS football keeps hopes alive

Cougars top Somerville

By: Bob Nuse
   Zoran Milich knows all about the tradition of Somerville High football.
   Milich played at Somerville and also coached at the school before coming to Montgomery to start the school’s football program.
   So the importance of his current team’s 34-21 win over the Pioneers on Friday night isn’t lost on Milich. But he also knows the win means a whole lot more than just beating his alma mater.
   "We really needed this one," said Milich, whose team improved to 3-4 and kept alive its hopes for a North Jersey, Section 2 Group III playoff berth. "It was nice to win, but more than that it was a win the team really needed."
   The win was the Cougars first ever over Somerville, which fell to 5-3 with the loss. But more importantly, it was their second straight this season and means a win Saturday at Monroe could give Montgomery its first playoff berth.
   "The last two weeks we’ve played real well," said Milich, whose team had beaten Voorhees a week earlier. "The defense is playing well and the offense has really been clicking. Kevin Watson was phenomenal. He was hanging in there against the blitz and hitting guys as they broke open. The whole offense was just clicking and doing what we were supposed to do."
   The Cougars’ offense, which has been getting better and better each week, put up 28 points in the first half on Friday. Kevin Watson completed 16 of his 26 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns. One of those TD passes was to junior tight end Chris Garcia, who caught a school-record 69-yard scoring pass in the first quarter.
   "It was a great win for us," said Garcia, who finished with six catches for 176 yards. "It was key for us making the states. I think as a team, we felt like we had a chance to win the game if we could stop Mason Robinson. A lot of people around us thought we would lose, but we felt like we could win the game. I think we just executed well.
   "They were blitzing their middle linebacker and moved Mason Robinson to corner and that was opening up the middle of the field."
   If nothing else, over the last few weeks the offense has shown how diverse it can be. In addition to Watson’s big day, Will Treichler ran for 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Steve Watson also had a big receiving day, catching five passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.
   Garcia, however, is the Cougars’ secret weapon from his tight end position. His six catches on Friday raised his season total to 23 for the season.
   "We flex him out at tight end to pull the linebackers out of the tackle box," Milich said. "He creates some real matchup problems for a defense because he’s too fast for a linebacker to cover him and he’s too strong for guys in the secondary.
   "If the kid were three inches taller, he’d have a lot of colleges looking at him. He’s only a junior and he’s the X-factor for us on offense."
   With the win, the 3-4 Cougars have positioned themselves to make the playoffs with a win over Monroe and a couple of losses by teams ahead of them.
   "We need to beat Monroe and then we still need some help," Milich said. "That’s what our focus is now, to win the next game and get into the playoffs. We were 1-4 after the Immaculata debacle and we had Voorhees, Somerville and Monroe coming up. So there was no relief in sight. But the kids have hung in there and worked hard. They’ve done a good job and things have gotten better.
   "We were in this position two years ago and we won, but we didn’t get the help we needed. Our focus right now is on winning on Saturday. It’s a big game for us now, and with all the guys we have coming back next year, it’s a big game to build momentum."
   Since falling to 1-4 with the loss to Immaculata, the Cougars have played much better. And right now, their confidence couldn’t be higher.
   "We’re starting to click as a team and we have a lot of confidence in each other," Garcia said. "If we beat Monroe, we can go the playoffs and that’s what we’re looking to do. If we can win this game, we have a chance to be a seven or eight seed for the playoffs. We feel like if we can play the way we’ve played the last two weeks, we can beat anybody.
   "The Immaculata game was a reality check for us. We realized Immaculata was the best team we were going to play all year. It’s not like we didn’t gain yards against them because we got the ball in the red zone three times and we just turned it over. But we looked at the game as a learning process for the whole team."
   Not to be lost in the big offensive show Friday night was the performance of the defense, which "limited" Robinson to 122 yards on the ground. The highly touted college prospect also caught a touchdown pass, threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score.
   Garcia is one of the defenders who has helped the cause. He had five tackles against Somerville.
   "On defense, he plays all over for us," Milich said. "He’s played linebacker, end, tackle. He doesn’t come off the field for us the whole game."
   And that’s just fine with Garcia.
   "The coach puts me in the best place for the team on defense," he said. "On offense, I always play tight end. Defensively, he puts me where the team needs me. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s nose guard, linebacker, defensive end or free safety. I just play wherever they need me to play."
   And that helps bring about results like Friday’s and helped keep the Cougars’ playoff hopes alive.