TURBOTVILLE - Two double-digit losing streaks were on the line on Friday as Montgomery visited Warrior Run. The Red Raiders, with a 13-game losing streak dating back to last year, were looking for their first win since Sept. 23, 2011, while the Defenders, with an 11-game losing streak, last won two weeks after Montgomery's last win a year ago, on Oct. 7.
As it turned out, Friday's game looking nothing like a battle between 0-7 teams as Warrior Run raced out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and outgained Montgomery on the ground by more than 300 yards as the Defenders broke their losing streak, 42-6, on homecoming night.
"In earlier games this year we scored (early), we just didn't stop anybody. Tonight we finally stopped somebody," said Warrior Run coach Mark Burrows. "I'm very happy with the way we ran the football again. That was our game play coming in, to run the ball and that's what we did, so I'm happy with that."
Warrior Run got big games on the ground from Derek Keiser, who touched the ball just six times but ran for 135 yards and two touchdowns and Mark Blanchard, who rushed for 116 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. The Defenders were also efficient in the few times they threw, completing 6 of 7 passes for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
"I knew we were going to struggle with their size right off the bat. I knew defensively, it was going to be a struggle," said Montgomery coach Randy Boone. "It's a struggle when a team is that much bigger than you and I have a 125-pound lineman going against a 307-pound tackle that they have on the line."
The Defenders scored on each of their first three possessions to seemingly put the game out of reach after just one quarter. Montgomery received the opening kickoff but went three-and-out on each of their first three possessions and were forced to punt each time and Warrior Run turned each of its possessions into touchdowns. Each of Warrior Run's scoring plays in the opening quarter came from over 30 yards. Blanchard broke free for a 31-yard run on just Warrior Run's sixth play from scrimmage for the Defenders' first score.
Keiser then went nearly untouched for 56 yards to the end zone on Warrior Run's first play on its next drive, which would be the first of two one-play Defender scoring drives on the evening. The Defenders needed just four plays on their next drive to score as Nick Bohm hauled in his only pass of the night from Garrett Moser from 46 yards out to put Warrior Run up 21-0.
Montgomery drove into Warrior Run territory on its next drive but it stalled at the 41-yard line. The Defenders then fumbled on their next drive early in the second quarter but Montgomery was unable to take advantage as they punted for the fourth time in five drives.
Despite his team's struggles this season, it has not been an entirely dismal year for Boone.
"It's been a struggle but the kids aren't quitting," said Boone. "It's been one of the most pleasant years I've had as a coach Monday through Thursday on the football field. These kids come with a smile on their face every day, they do whatever we ask and they fight for four quarters every Friday night so I'm very pleased with them (in that regard)."
