Running back has three scores as Cougars football improves to 3-1
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
After what amounted to a very frustrating junior year, Kevin Azimi is making the most of his senior season with the Montgomery High football team.
”Last year I was injured for most of the season with a stress fracture and wasn’t able to play,” Azimi said. “But I pushed myself and worked my tail off to get back. I’m fully healthy now and ready to go.”
Azimi certainly looked like a healthy running back on Friday night, rushing for 132 yards and scoring three touchdowns as the Cougars topped Warren Hills, 41-21. With the win, Montgomery improved to 3-1 on the season.
Montgomery scored on its first six offensive possessions and did not turn the ball over in the win. In addition to the three touchdowns from Azimi, DJ Ruhlman threw touchdown passes to JT Tartacoff and Taylor Mulligan. Tartacoff also ran for a touchdown.
”Tonight we clicked,” Montgomery coach Zoran Milich said. “Our kids executed really well. Kevin ran the ball well and DJ did a great job. I give the offensive line a lot of credit. They did a real nice job tonight. There are three new faces there and they did a tremendous job. Kevin Lisanti at center is doing a great job. Fred Klostermyer is a first-year starter and he’s a big kid who came to play tonight. John Foley was out injured all last year and does a great job. Then you have (Anthony) Donadio and (Mike) Woitach who are captains and they solidify the whole thing.”
For Azimi, the game was the third this season in which he has rushed for over 100 yards. In four games, he already has 465 yards rushing.
”It’s exciting to be 3-1 and contributing,” Azimi said. “We wanted to play well and hopefully be successful. I think after our Bridgewater loss a couple weeks ago we learned that we had to work hard to get better. We’re just looking forward to each week now one at a time and we want to keep getting better.”
Having Azimi running ability combined with a solid passing game makes the Cougars tough on offense. It’s a balance that should lead to big things down the road. And for Azimi, it’s made for a nice return after a frustrating year.
”By the time he healed we were already three quarters of the way through the season and he was kind of out of the mix,” Milich said. “We already had Jon Gutman in that position, so it wasn’t like he was behind someone he should have been playing ahead of. We knew that Kevin could be really tough at that position. For what we do, he’s a perfect running back in this offense.
”Everyone thinks it’s like it was a couple years ago, but we really run the ball a lot more than we did then. We used to release five guys out on routes. But now we run the ball more and Kevin does a lot of blocking for us. He’s a good blocker.”
And he’s a good runner. One who helped the Cougars pull away after falling behind, 14-7.
”We stepped up, especially in the second half,” Azimi said. “The offensive line played real well. That was a question mark for us going into the season. But those guys have done a great job so far this year.”
As has the whole Montgomery offense. Ruhlman was a force in the air, where he threw for 105 yards, and on the ground, where he rushed for 82 yards. Tartacoff scored once through the air, where he caught four passes, and once on a 36-yard run.