Howell tops Cougars to return to sectional final
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
HOWELL — There were eight teams in the field at the start of the Central Jersey Group IV football playoffs. Seven of them will end their season with a loss.
Montgomery High became one of those victims Friday night when the Cougars ran into a buzz-saw at Howell, dropping a 49-20 decision to the top-seeded Rebels in the CJ IV semifinals.
With the win, Howell advanced to the CJ IV final against West Windsor-Plainsboro South. The game will be played at Rutgers Stadium Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. With the loss, Montgomery fell to 8-2 and will conclude its season Thursday at home against Hillsborough at 11 a.m.
”They were very good,” Montgomery coach Zoran Milich said of Howell, which improved to 9-1 with the win. “It’s not the way you want to end. We got beat thoroughly. We got beat on the offensive line and defensive line. They owned it and that’s where you start, from there. Their quarterback was phenomenal tonight. They could run for what they wanted to. They could throw for what they wanted to.
”We tried to come with pressure and couldn’t get there. And when we did get there, he ran away from it. You have to give them credit. They’re a very good football team. They might be the best football team we’ve faced this year.”
Montgomery entered the game playing very good football, but quickly found it had its hands full with the Rebels. The offense never really got started, while the defense had trouble stopping the run or the pass. Howell quarterback Tim Lamirande finished with 358 yards passing and four touchdown passes, while running back David Hayes rushed for 119 yards and a pair of scores.
Montgomery finished with 183 yards passing, but could manage just 42 yards on the ground in the game. Kevin Watson completed 16 passes on the night, with Chris Garcia leading the way with six receptions. But the Cougars big-play offense was basically held in check.
Montgomery trailed, 35-14, at halftime, with both of its touchdowns coming on kickoff returns by J.T. Tartacoff, both of which were 88 yards long.
”We didn’t see anything we hadn’t see before,” Tartacoff said. “It’s like Coach (Jim Griffin) said, tonight they were a better football team. We came out and played hard, but what are you going to do.
”In these types of games you have to come out playing 110 percent and you have to be perfect in everything. Tonight we were off our game a little bit.”
It was 28-14 late in the second quarter when Howell intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown. After a muffed kickoff return by the Cougars to open the second half, Howell scored again to make it 42-14. Montgomery then scored quickly on a Watson to Garcia 31-yard touchdown pass to make it 42-20, but that was as close as it got.
”J.T.’s two kickoff returns kept us in it,” Milich said. “But when you get down so much, it’s tough when you can’t run. We were able to run all year and we couldn’t run tonight. And if you can’t run at all, they can just sit back with their safeties over the top and daring our guys.”
For the Cougars who return next year, the experience of two playoff games should help.
”We’ll definitely be back next year,” Tartacoff said. “Howell was in the state championship last year and they had a little more experience than us. But next year we’ll be ready and we’re going to go at it.”
Milich, whose team worked as hard as any he has had this year, also hopes the experience pays off later.
”You hope it helps,” he said. “It’s a step forward. But we thought we could win this whole thing. I’m a little surprised how good Howell was out here tonight. They really took it to us. We just could not stop them and you have to give Howell credit for that. It’s not the way you want to go out, but we were beaten by a better team tonight.”
In the playoffs, that’s the end result for most teams. As it was for Montgomery on Friday.
The Cougar seniors will get a chance to end their season on a winning note when they play their final game on Thursday against rival Hillsborough.

