By Ken Weingartner, Sports Writer
The South Brunswick High football team hasn’t seen anyone throw the ball around the way Montgomery’s Kevin Watson often does.
As the Vikings prepare for their first playoff game in 30 years, stopping the Cougars’ wide-open attack is priority No. 1. Montgomery, making its first postseason trip in the program’s brief history, has outscored its opponents by an average of 30-10 in going 7-1.
Montgomery, whose only loss was 42-14 against undefeated Immaculata, is the No. 4 seed in Central Jersey Group IV and will host the fifth-seeded Vikings at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Cougars are coming off a 27-8 victory over Monroe, which defeated South Brunswick 29-28 in overtime on opening day. The win over the Falcons marks the first time Montgomery has beaten a team with a winning record this season.
Watson, a three-year starter, triggers the offense and has completed 51 percent of his passes for 1,438 yards and 15 touchdowns. He is listed at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds.
”Those guys have done a great job,” said South Brunswick coach Rick Mantz, who competed against Montgomery while the head coach at Hillsborough. “It’s been fun watching them grow, but right now it’s a headache. They’ve become very talented and they’ll be a challenge to stop.
”Watson is every bit as good as billed. He’s a Division I or Division I-AA player, for sure. He makes plays. No matter what you try to do against him, he’s poised and finds an answer.”
Watson’s weapons are many. Devon Saunders (listed at 5-6, 130 pounds) has rushed for 868 yards and six touchdowns while J.T. Tartacoff (5-11, 170) has 10 TDs on 500 yards receiving and 202 yards rushing. Chris Garcia (6-1, 210) is his Watson’s favorite target, with 32 catches for 570 yards and nine touchdowns.
”We’ve not seen anyone do what they do,” Mantz said. “They spread you out with four receivers. We’ve seen some teams with a package here or there, but no one that throws the ball the way they do. He’s got a lot of targets and you can’t stop everybody.”
Oddly, the fact the Vikings haven’t seen anyone throw the ball like Montgomery could be an advantage. The Cougars’ coaching staff doesn’t have any film to review showing South Brunswick’s sets against a similar offense.
”I think we match up with them physically and we think we can do some things defensively they haven’t seen,” Mantz said. “We haven’t done some of the things that we’ll have to do this week. I like our chances, but we have to play really well. We have to be careful against that offense, but our kids have been able to rise to the occasion. They’ve given me confidence. It should be a heck of a ballgame.”
