CCC BATTLE: Montgomery Academy tops Catholic for non-region win
Knox Morrison and company chase down Catholic tailback Tacorie Richardson in Montgomery Academy’s win over the Knights on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Catholic and Montgomery Academy renewed their series for the first time in three years on Friday night at Catholic, featuring a Montgomery Academy team that is considered one of the best in the state and a Catholic team that is rebuilding and was ready to challenge the Eagles in a classic early-season matchup.
Four plays into the game, however, the Knights forgot to block the game’s best player.
Facing fourth down at the MA 37-yard line, the Knights shifted into formation for a quick kick by quarterback Will Blackwell, but Montgomery Academy’s Braden Gordon blocked the kick, scooped up the loose ball at midfield and sped to the end zone in a defining moment that set the tone for both teams in a 39-26 Montgomery Academy victory.
“We had practiced it and Coach said it’s going to be an easy block,” Gordon said. “I heard him say ‘go’ right before the play started and I went. Once I saw it, I was taking that to the crib. I was not taking it down. I was going.”
It was the first of five turnovers by the Knights that overshadowed a Catholic offensive performance that featured 310 yards and 16 first downs.
“We had a blown assignment on the punt,” Catholic coach Aubrey Blackwell said. “We don’t touch the three technique (Gordon), which is crazy because he was the game plan the whole time, to make sure we had two blockers on Gordon the entire night and nobody touched him on the punt. Then we had the same issue with him on a couple of times when Will got sacked and threw the ball up.
“We did everything we could. We sat in seven-man protection most of the night. We doubled their two edge rushers (Gordon and Jarrett Friendly) most of the time and we still didn’t do what we needed to.”
Gordon carried the ball 10 times for 38 yards and three touchdowns. After his punt return, he scored on runs of 2 and 8 yards to help the Eagles to a 19-0 lead. Catholic responded with a 61-yard touchdown reception by Ty Player, then recovered a Montgomery Academy fumble two plays later on the Montgomery Academy 6-yard line. Three plays later, the Knights were forced to settle for a J.P. Costa field goal and the Eagles responded with an eight-play drive for another Gordon touchdown and a 26-10 lead at the half.
“We knew they were a good team,” Gordon said. “They weren’t going to lay down for us because no good team does that and they have aspirations that we have, to win a state championship. They fought and we prevailed. That’s what good teams also do. We withstood it and finished out the game.”
Montgomery Academy coach Ethan McBride called the stop after the fumble “massive for our defense.”
“To give a team the ball at the 5, to bow up, to shut down the run twice in a run-heavy package, force them to throw the fade ball and execute on that to hold them to a field goal, if you tell the defense they’re going to get the ball at the 5 and you hold them to three points, that beats the analytics 10 out of 10, so we’ll take that,” McBride said. “But it’s our guys understanding that’s a win and then using that as momentum.”
Catholic’s first two possessions of the second half ended with interceptions, the second one being turned back at the Montgomery Academy 1-yard line.
“We didn’t get that punched in (after the Montgomery Academy fumble), then we’ve kind of got them back on their heels, a little tired, and we throw that pick there,” Blackwell said. “We never could hold them after we capitalized. After we took the ball down the field and scored, we never held them and got a three and out. We would get a little bit of momentum offensively and then we never could stop them.”
After the second interception, Catholic found a little rhythm in the fourth quarter, scoring on a 15-yard run by KJ Johnson and a 22-yard pass from Blackwell to Elijah Nunnerly but by then the hole created by the turnovers was too big to overcome.
Montgomery Academy quarterback Reid McBride, who rushed for 165 yards on 16 carries, scored on runs of 31 and 51 yards to keep the Knights at bay.
“The runs that I run, we run a lot of misdirection,” he said. “The coaches draw up phenomenal plays for me to get the best running availability possible. Us motioning out, doing a lot of motion, it allows me to free up and be able to bust it.”
The last time the two teams met on this field, in 2022, Catholic was handing the Eagles a humiliating 72-15 defeat.
“I’ve been wanting to play them for so long,” Gordon said. “Just to finally get that rivalry back and be on the other side of it, it felt great.”
Ethan McBride, coaching his first game in the series in 2023, suffered a 48-0 setback to the Knights and wondered if his team could maintain a business-like approach on Friday night.
“Can we execute in big games? Can we execute when we’re emotional? Because these city games are emotional,” he said. “Us and Catholic haven’t played for years. The last time we played Catholic, they were refusing a running clock and trying to hang 60 on us. For us, you’re going to be emotional in those games. Can you control those emotions?”
After defeating a program that has been the city’s best over the last five years, Montgomery Academy can now claim the distinction as the best team in the Capital City Conference.
“These games are special,” Ethan McBride said. “People outside of our city don’t realize how awesome these games are and how awesome this environment is. These games are forever memories for these kids and these fans. Have they been the top dog in the city? Yes, it’s hard to say they haven’t been. Does that make us the top dog in the city? I don’t know that’s the case. It’s hard to say we’re the best when we’ve still got three (Capital City Conference opponents) to go.”
The next one is at home, where Montgomery Academy (2-0) will play host to Alabama Christian next Friday in the Class A Private Region 4 opener. Catholic (1-1) will travel to Mobile to play Faith Academy in the Class AA Private Region 1 opener.