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MHS football ‘D’ is bright spot in loss

WW-P South is lone Packet area winner

By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
   The Ridge High School football team used a pair of big third-down plays to score on its opening drive at Montgomery on Friday night.
   The Red Devils didn’t do much on offense after that, which was a tribute to the Montgomery defense. The problem was, Montgomery didn’t do much on offense either, opening the season with a 10-0 loss.
   ”I’m going to take full responsibility for the offense,” said Montgomery coach Zoran Milich. “If you would have told me we’d hold Ridge to 10 points and get shut out, I would not have believed it. We moved the ball all preseason and our kids played their tails off. I’m proud of our kids.”
   After allowing Ridge to score a touchdown on its first possession, the Cougars allowed just a field goal the rest of the way. They also sacked the Ridge quarterback four times, allowing only one big play the rest of the night. So, even in defeat, there were some bright spots for a Montgomery team that graduated eight starters on each side of the ball.
   ”There were some mental mistakes and some things we could have fixed,” said Montgomery senior Jon Gutman, who led the offense with 39 yards rushing and also had two of the quarterback sacks on defense. “They didn’t blow us out. It’s the little things that are going to make the difference. We weren’t bad, but we didn’t win and we want to win.”
   Gutman, who plays just about every play for the Cougars, is one of the seniors Milich will need to lean on as the Cougars look to overcome heavy graduation losses. There are holes to fill, but the opening night also showed a lot of promise.
   ”It’s an honor to be a leader on this team,” Gutman said. “Coach Milich has worked so hard. To work under him and help him lead the team is an honor. I like to make as much of a difference as I can.
   ”We’ll watch film. Some things we didn’t see tonight we’ll see on film and we have to correct those little things. We have a lot of new guys playing on defense. Last year they were getting in on the scout team and played against our offense in practice, so they got experience that way. Our slogan this year is ‘Rebuild or Reload’ and we’re not rebuilding. We’re reloading this year, despite the loss this week.”
   The Cougars went with three quarterbacks in the opener, with senior Connor Chick and sophomores DJ Ruhlman and Connor Oltmans combining to complete 11 of their 24 passes for 108 yards. Each quarterback threw an interception. Gutman and J.T. Tartacoff each caught four passes.
   Elsewhere in the Packet area over the weekend, West Windsor-Plainsboro South was the only team to come away with a win. The Pirates received a huge performance from senior quarterback Connor Farrell, who threw for 457 yards and five touchdowns in a 48-32 win over Lawrence. Jeff Riemann caught two of the touchdown passes, while Henry MacQueen caught four passes for 203 yards and a touchdown.
   Also on Saturday, Princeton dropped a 29-3 decision to Nottingham. Brian Vieten kicked a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter to account for the only Princeton points. Trevor Barsamian led the offense with 74 yards rushing on 16 carries.
   The Hun School opened the season with a 10-0 loss at Wyoming Seminary. Brendan Dudeck completed 11 passes for 124 on offense, while Brian Leffler and Donald Coleman each had 10 tackles to lead the defense. Princeton Day School fell to 1-1 with a 12-0 loss to St. Andrews of Delaware. Franklin Howard completed three passes for 47 yards to pace the offense. Brian Fishbein had 10 tackles and forced a fumble on defense.
   On Friday night, WW-P North lost its opener under first-year head coach Chris Casamento, 21-3, at Hightstown. Joe Behnke kicked a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter to account for the Knights’ scoring. Rob White completed eight passes for 99 yards, while Sean Reed rushed for 80 yards.