CCC BATTLE: Stars shine in Montgomery Academy win over Trinity

Montgomery Academy’s Ali Nelson fights through the tackle of Trinity’s Wilson Cherry in Friday’s game at Ragsdale-Boykin Field. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Montgomery Academy has one of the state’s best receiving tandems, but Braden Gordon and Jarrett Friendly don’t often get a chance to showcase their talents.

But on Friday night at Ragsdale-Boykin Field, the anticipated 3A Region 2 battle for region supremacy went to Montgomery Academy as Gordon and Friendly were unleashed on the Trinity defense in a 38-12 win by the Eagles.

“It’s not (fair),” Montgomery Academy quarterback Reid McBride admitted. “I have to give all the glory to them. Without them, I’m not who I am at all.

McBride completed 14 of 21 passes for 266 yards and five touchdowns, throwing the first to Gordon and the second to Friendly as the Wildcats broke down in a flurry of second-quarter turnovers that turned what was expected to be a fiercely contested battle into a one-sided affair.

“The passing attack has been there all year,” McBride said. “We were just waiting for that one game for it to break out. We knew Trinity was going to be physical up front and try to minimize the run game, so we had to attack in the air.” 

The Eagles (5-1) were coming off a 48-45 loss to 2A Luverne a week earlier in which big plays dictated the outcome. Montgomery Academy coach Ethan McBride wanted to make sure his players kept the Wildcats bottled up.

“They go very tight personnel and pack it in there,” McBride said. “For us, especially after the Luverne game, let’s just make sure we don’t give up the big play. And it helps to play complimentary football. It’s hard for them to live in that (run-oriented attack) if your offense is able to score points. I thought our offense did a great job of keeping their foot on the gas and when you do that, they have to be able to throw the football and it’s hard to do that against our pass rush guys.”

Montgomery Academy took a quick 7-0 lead on an 18-yard pass from McBride to Gordon, but the Wildcats still had hope entering the second quarter until two interceptions and two fumbles killed their chances.

“They did a great job,” Trinity coach Brian Seymore said. “They executed offensively. Four turnovers in the first half, you can’t do that against a good team and they’re a good team. We talked about rushing yards, we talked about turnovers and we talked about explosive plays. I hate to say it, but they won all three categories.”

 Land Sharpless faced pressure from John Bennett Lester and Gordon on all four pass plays the Wildcats ran on their first two possessions of the second quarter and both possessions ended with interceptions. On the first, Sharpless threw the ball away, but the freshman’s lob went straight to David Whisenhunt at the Trinity 23, leading to Friendly’s 12-yard touchdown reception four plays later

On the next possession, Sharpless unloaded a pass toward the sideline, but Friendly intercepted on the Trinity 35, resulting in McBride’s pass over the middle to Knox Morrison for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead on the next play.

“Once we were able to give (the Montgomery Academy offense) good field position -- there were a couple of times we forced a fumble or got an interception -- if you can give us a short field, we’ve got some explosive players,” McBride noted.

Trinity finally got on the scoreboard late in the quarter with a 52-yard pass from Sharpless to Wilson Cherry, but the Eagles countered with a 24-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass to Whisenhunt, resulting in a stunning 31-6 halftime lead.

 “David is a very sneaky athlete,” McBride said, “and he’s so quick and mobile. Every time I’m checking it down to him, he’s going to pick up yards and ultimately a few touchdowns.

By the second half, the style of play more closely resembled the identity of the two teams, but by then the damage had been done. Gordon had two catches for 30 yards and a touchdown and Friendly had six receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown as the two players took over the game on both sides of the ball.

 “They looked pretty good tonight doing it,” Seymore said. “You’ve got to tip your hat. They did a better job than us preparing their kids and their kids came out and played at a high level. We’ve got to go back to work. We’ve got three more region games to play and we’ve got to make plays and do a better job of taking care of the football. We’ve got to move on.”

Trinity (5-2) remains in second place in the region at 3-1 and travels to region rival Northside Methodist next week.

Montgomery Academy (6-1), meanwhile, remains unbeaten in region play at 4-0 and returns home to play region rival Slocomb next week.

Gordon led the defensive effort with eight tackles, including two for loss and a sack. Friendly only made one tackle, but he had an interception and forced a fumble.

“Those guys are going to continue to grow and continue to develop,” McBride said, “and Reid is as well. I thought what we did a really good job of is winning the matchups they gave us. So we had opportunities to hit Jarrett and Braden but also David Whisenhunt.

Whisenhunt had five receptions for 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns on offense and five tackles, an interception, a sack and a pass breakup on defense.

McBride added 75 rushing yards on eight carries and Ali Nelson finished with 123 yards on 23 carries in place of the injured Mac Benefield, who suffered a season-ending injury last week.

“We played this game the way Mac Benefield plays games,” McBride said. “He got injured in the last game and had surgery yeasterday, so we wanted to go out and play the game the way Mac Benefield plays -- with passion and desire and energy. And I thought our guys did that.”