By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Grant Papa has seen the Montgomery High football team battle back from adversity before.
And the optimistic side of the senior linebacker sees last Friday’s 21-0 Homecoming Day victory over Plainfield as a step in the right direction for a season that still has its share of promise.
The Cougars started the season 0-4, including a 50-0 loss to Bridgewater-Raritan a week earlier, before Montgomery bounced back for the triumph against Plainfield.
“The coaches have talked about it and now that we have this first win so we can have the confidence and momentum going into next week against Warren Hills,” said Papa, who leads Montgomery with 58 tackles this season. “We hope to use this momentum from this win to help propel us to another win. If we can win, we can rise up.
“We may have been 0-4, but we got the win against Plainfield and then if we can take it to Warren Hills, we can be back in that playoff race. We just have to push it through. Two years ago we were 1-4 and we won three straight.”
With a young roster and more than its share of injuries, the first half of the season has been a struggle for Montgomery. The Cougars had been outscored, 162-49, in their first four games before putting all together in the game against Plainfield.
“We needed one, especially on Homecoming,” Montgomery coach Zoran Milich said. “Hopefully we can build from here.”
Damion Bland, who had missed the prior two games with a concussion, rushed for 82 yards and scored all three touchdowns for the Cougars. Papa also came through with a big defensive play in the game.
“He has been our best linebacker and most consistent defensive player,” Milich said of Papa. “He created some turnovers. We threw an interception that looked like it was really going to hurt us and on the next play he caused a fumble. He actually caused a couple of fumbles that were pretty key in the game.
“The first one was huge because we were up, 7-0, and then threw the interception. But he comes back on the next play and times it right and forces a key fumble.”
The victory helped Montgomery get to 1-4 on the season with a game at Warren Hills this week before home games against Phillipsburg and Immaculata.
“It was a huge weight off our shoulders,” Papa said. “We came in definitely expecting to win at least one of the first four games. Unfortunately, we were not able to do that. It all came together on Friday against Plainfield. We had some struggles on offense and we used three different quarterbacks. But in the end it all came together.”
The Plainfield game is always a special one for Papa. As a sophomore he got his first start against the Cardinals in a game that the Cougars won, 29-27.
“It is kind of funny because as a sophomore I got my first start against Plainfield because of some injuries to the guys ahead of me,” Papa recalled. “For some reason Plainfield is a team I have my best games against. Sophomore year, in my first start, I had two interceptions and one was for a pick six. That speaks as a whole for what I have had to do come back from a torn ACL freshman year. It came to a time five games into the season my sophomore year where we had lost six defensive starters. The next week they were throwing a sophomore coming off a pretty serious knee injury right into the fire and now I have started 20 games in a row.
“There is a kid now, Kevin O’Brien, and he had a great game this week with 13 tackles. This was his third start and he is a sophomore. He has been able to pull it together like I did sophomore year. I think it speaks to our next man up mentality. We have battled through injuries and it shows how hard we work as a team and coaching staff.”
Even as the Cougars struggled in their first four games, there was never any quit in the team. They have battled each week and were rewarded with their first win of the season.
“It’s frustrating, but the kids have worked hard,” Milich said. “Guys are going at it and we are getting better. It might not always show with the score. Against Bridgewater, any mistake we could make we made it. To come back after our worst loss in years and rebound the way we did shows how hard the guys worked. The kids battle and some of the younger guys are getting more experience and making less mistakes.”
Papa is in his final season at Montgomery, but he hopes he and his classmates are laying the groundwork for future success for the program.
“We had 36 or 37 freshmen come out for the team this year, so for the future we’re looking at good numbers,” Papa said. “Depth is a strength we have as a team. We’ve talked as a senior class about how we can still salvage the season. We have some winnable games. But we have to take care of Warren Hills first.
“People might look at our record and say at 1-4 there is not much of a chance for the playoffs. But we come in every day and give it as much effort as we did first day of practice in August. We are still working hard and the coaches are still working at it. One of the biggest things Coach Milich talks about is what do you want your legacy to be? When we leave we want to know we took take care of business. Can we be the class that turns it around and makes the playoffs?”
