REGION CHAMPS: Montgomery Academy holds off Trinity to take title

Montgomery Academy’s Ali Nelson fights for yardage against the Trinity defense in the Eagles’ win Friday at Ragsdale-Boykin Field. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

It’s still October, but Friday’s region championship battle between Montgomery Academy and Trinity at Ragsdale-Boykin Field had a playoff feel about it.

“We knew that this team was going to be physical and just throwing haymakers at us and they were,” Montgomery Academy quarterback Reid McBride said. “On defense, they were seriously kicking our tail. That definitely lived up to what a championship should be.”

Montgomery Academy (9-0) won the Class A Private Region 2 championship with a 21-7 win over the Wildcats (7-3), but virtually every yard was contested and every missed opportunity was magnified as the two teams battled for region supremacy, not to mention bragging rights in the Capital City Conference.

“Hat’s off to Trinity, their staff and their players,” Montgomery Academy coach Ethan McBride said. “They played a heck of a game and that’s what you want out of a game that determines the region championship. I told our guys at halftime, ‘Guys, we want games like this.’ These are the games that we need people to poke holes in what we’re doing defensively and to give us problems offensively. How else are we going to grow.

“They did a good job of taking away parts of our passing game, then our guys did a good job of responding. Hat’s off to our coaching staff as well. Coach (Jeremy) Arant and Coach (Brad) Parker really did a lot of stuff at halftime, made some adjustments, made some blocking changes, and our guys came out and executed in the second half.”

Arant and Parker, the co-offensive coordinators for the Eagles, had to win the chess match with Trinity defensive gurus Tommy Shoemaker and Jon Shamburger, who kept the game scoreless through the first 19 minutes by limiting the touches of Montgomery Academy stars Braden Gordon and Jarrett Friendly.

“I thought we did a great job, especially with Jarrett,” Trinity coach Brian Seymore said. “We were really concerned with him with his height and length and Braden, but Braden snuck down the middle there (and pulled in a touchdown pass). But I really thought we had a good scheme. I thought Coach Shoemaker and Coach ‘Sham’ did an incredible job with the defense this week.”

Twelve times in the first half, Reid McBride would drop to pass. Five times, he’d have to scramble for yards.

“Trinity came out with stuff we haven’t seen,” Reid McBride said. “Credit to their coaching staff and their players, they played their tails off. They were one of the most physical teams I’ve played and they came out with a great scheme. Nobody could get open early. I thought the protection was solid, but I kept having to run around and try to find guys. They weren’t biting on anything and then when I took off, every single one of them rallied to the football. So it was tough.”

 McBride connected with Gordon on a 28-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter, then the Eagles’ defense protected the lead. Patton Mitchell’s pass to Mackin Roth looked like a game-tying play, but William Marks ran down Roth after a 62- yard gain to the Montgomery Academy 12-yard line and Victor Fahel’s 28-yard field goal attempt three plays later banged off the right upright.

After a McBride interception, the Wildcats came back down the field but ran out of time and downs with 28 seconds left. This time, Fahel’s attempt was blocked by Charlie Adams, leaving MA with a 7-0 halftime lead.

“I just thought any points would help the momentum there,” Seymore said. “We hit the crossbar with one and got one blocked, so that was very disappointing but we also missed some opportunities in the passing game here and there.”

Trinity took the opening drive of the third quarter and marched 68 yards in 10 plays, scoring on Mitchell’s 3-yard run to tie the game.

Montgomery Academy responded by changing tactics, attempting just one pass in the second half as the Eagles utilized the feet of tailback Ali Nelson along with Reid McBride. McBride rushed for 137 yards on 17 carries and Nelson rushed for 178 yards on 22 carries, with 101 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter.

“Coach Shoemaker does an amazing job with their defense,” Ethan McBride said. “Even if the look was similar, they were doing some different things as far as trying to take away the interior gaps. And I thought our guys did a good job in the second half of using their technique against them and then that opens up a lot more lanes.”

“We didn’t know what they were going to come out with early in the game and obviously they were stuffing us early,” Reid McBride added. “We started breaking things down, getting everything simple and going back to our basic plays.”

One of those was a 60-yard sprint to the end zone by McBride on the final play of the third quarter as he faked to Nelson running left, went through a hole on the right side, then quickly cut back left and headed for the goal line.

“We ran the same play three times in a row and I saw the edge (rusher) biting,” Reid McBride said. “I was like, now might be the time to pull it and every single player running on the play side bit because we ran it three times in a row and I had an easy cutback lane. It was a great setup by our coaches and great blocking up front.”

“Those guys have made elite tackles all game,” Ethan McBride observed, “and you finally made one miss and then he’s off.”

The next time Montgomery Academy got the ball, the Eagles marched 87 yards in nine plays, featuring Nelson runs on eight of the plays, including the 2-yard touchdown run for a 21-7 lead with 3:56 remaining.

 “They started cutting it back,” Seymore said of the run scheme. “Kudos to them. We know what kind of player Reid is. Reid’s the key to the whole team. He makes them go. We knew the quarterback run, the quarterback counter and some of the read-option stuff with him can give you problems. We miss-fit one and he scored on an explosive play.

“But I’m proud of our kids. We’ve got two front-line guys out in Reed (Bledsoe) and Brandon (Boswell) but the guys played extremely hard. I think it showed the kind of football team we’ve got. We have played some top-caliber teams and they (Reeltown, Westbrook Christian and Montgomery Academy) were all undefeated going into tonight. We’re 7-3 and get a chance to host a playoff game, but you’ve got to tip your hat to them. Coach McBride’s done an incredible job and they have an outstanding football team. But if the good Lord’s willing, I’d like to have one more shot at them.”

That won’t happen until the semifinals of the Class A Private playoffs. Trinity will take next week off, then play host to Cottage Hill in the first round of the playoffs on Nov. 6. Montgomery Academy will return home to play St. Anne Pacelli next Friday, then host Providence Christian in the first round of the playoffs on Nov. 6.