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SOUTH CENTRE TWP.-There was plenty to like about the way Montoursville played in a 35-0 win over Central Columbia on Friday night. The Warriors scored on five out of six first half possessions, limited a struggling Blue Jays’ offense to just 74 total yards and saw Rocco Pulizzi continue to make big plays in the running game. Montoursville (5-4) stayed in position to earn a first-round home game in District 4 Class AAA playoffs, but may need a win against Selinsgrove next week to secure one of the top four seeds in a tightly bunched field.
“We’re just continuing to try and build for the playoffs, and build for a really good Selinsgrove team next week,” Montoursville coach Mike Boughton said. “We needed to get some wins under our belt, and we’ve done that the past two weeks. We’ve got some guys healthy again, and hopefully we’re ready to go at it next week.”
The opening possession for Montoursville was balanced and well-executed. On a drive that went 12 plays and 73 yards, quarterback Maddix Dalena completed all five of his pass attempts to four different receivers. Following a couple of penalties that pushed the Warriors back, Pulizzi took a handoff and raced 16 yards up the middle for his 16th rushing touchdown of the season with 4:50 left in the opening quarter.
“Balance is very important, because you always want to keep the defense guessing,” Dalena said. “You never want to go off a set playbook. You always want to keep that mix of run and pass plays. We think it’s important to always keep the defense guessing on what’s coming.”
Less than four minutes after Pulizzi scored, the senior was at it again when he made the biggest play of the night. Pulizzi found running room, cut to his left and pulled away from the defense down the left sideline for an 83-yard touchdown run that put him over the century mark on just six carries. Early in the second quarter, a disaster on a Central punt snap set up Montoursville just inches from the goal line. Pulizzi waltzed into the end zone untouched for his third score, but had to cut his night short, as a lower-body injury forced him out of the game after gaining 123 yards on the ground.
“Rocco means a lot to us,” Boughton said. “He does a lot of things, and it was nice to see him back out there having a great run like that. He played a great first half of a football game. We’ll see what happens from there.”
With Pulizzi out, the Montoursville offense showed no signs of slowing down. The Warriors continued to navigate short fields with ease, and it was passing game that took over late in the first half. Dalena connected with Marco Pulizzi on a short pass over the middle that ended up going for a 12-yard touchdown. David Kennedy recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and the turnover was promptly cashed in for points. Ben Conrad hauled in a slant from Dalena, and crossed the goal line from 11 yards out to cap off the game’s scoring, and enable Montoursville to play reserves for the entire second half.
“Yards after the catch are very important,” Dalena said. “I just put the ball in my receivers’ hands and let them do the rest like they have all this year. We were definitely efficient tonight. Our week of practice this week to prepare for this game was just a different mentality. Ever since the Danville loss, our practices have been more efficient and guys just know what they’re doing. Everyone is just getting that chemistry together.”
Central Columbia (2-7) has only scored nine points over its last five games. Outside of a screen pass that went to Gage Chipeleski for 30 yards early in the game, the Blue Jays only had one other play of at least ten yards. The Montoursville defense registered a shutout for the first time this season, and held Central to minus-1 yard of offense on 15 second-half plays.
“I think our defense played well,” Boughton said. “But (Central Columbia) has a bunch of young guys trying to get through things. They’re doing the best that they can. I think our defense came to play. We’re getting better each week, and like I said, we’re getting some guys back. Brayden Brown and Matthew Conklin came back, so it was nice to have some guys return in defensive roles.”