MONTGOMERY — The message was a simple but effective one from Montgomery’s coaches to the players: earn a statement win on Friday night in Week 5.

And that’s precisely what Montgomery did on Friday, and did so emphatically.

Montgomery started Friday’s game with seven possessions for seven touchdowns and never let off the gas en route to a convincing 54-0 win against Canton to improve to 4-1 and hand the Warriors their fourth loss.

“We needed a statement win tonight. We told them all week, we need a statement win,” Montgomery coach Joel Knoebel said.

The Red Raiders dominated from start to finish on Friday and never let Canton get any momentum going. Of Montgomery’s possessions in the first half, they went for 65, 42, 46, 46, 35 and 60 yards, each one resulting with a touchdown run or pass to continue to increase the lead.

“It was exactly what we prepared for and exactly as a coaching staff what we wanted to see: a dominant execution (of plays),” Knoebel said. “We didn’t have any mistakes to hurt ourselves like in every game of the first half to date, but we cleaned that up and we’re in a really good spot.”

Lincoln Miller capped a 65-yard drive on Montgomery’s first possession for a 7-0 lead before Logan Joy came up with an interception and then reeled in a 42-yard touchdown pass from Parker Persing for a 14-0 lead halfway through the first quarter. Montgomery’s Miller would score on a 1-yard run to close the first quarter with 2:12 to play.

Montgomery scored 21 points in both the first and second quarters.

In the second quarter, Josh Knoebel had back-to-back drives scoring touchdowns as he had a 2-yard touchdown run and a 6-yard score. Trace Furman scored with 17 seconds until halftime from 13 yards out and Montgomery took a 42-0 lead into the half and put the mercy rule into effect for the final two quarters.

“It was great. Don’t let off was the message to the team right out of the gate. We’re as balanced as you could ever ask for. I don’t even know what the stats were, but I think our three (main) carriers were balanced in their attempts and the total yardage was great,” Knoebel said. “Everything was working. Parker’s settling in. He’s really showing we have an effective passing attack that you have to respect and that’s something we didn’t have the first two weeks of the season.”

Montgomery was led by Knoebel’s 103 rushing yards on 13 carries and Trace Furman’s seven attempts for 78 yards. Persing ran it three times for 44 yards and Miller had five carries for 33 yards. In total, Montgomery accumulated 348 yards on the ground and dominated in total offense, 405-41.

Montgomery’s Hayden Denton had the Red Raiders’ two second-half scores. In the thrid quarter he punched in a touchdown from 3 yards out with 5:22 to play to extend the lead to 48-0 and then broke a 47-yard run up the middle untouched for a 54-0 lead with 9:11 to play in the game.

While the offense was firing on all cylinders and moving the chains at will — the Red Raiders picked up 21 first downs — the defense was just as superb. Montgomery held Canton to just 41 yards of total offense and didn’t allow Canton to run the ball. The Warriors had 25 carries for just seven yards.

In the first half, Canton’s drives resulted in an interception, a turnover on downs, and three punts. In addition, only one of those drives went for double-digit yards. Canton never crossed midfield against Montgomery either. The Red Raiders had three players record sacks in Miller, Seth McClintock and Ethan Tupper.

“We harped all week: play your position, play your position, play your position,’ Knoebel said. “In our 3-4 defense, you have to play your position and when you do, you limit the defense and they did a really good job of locking down and shutting them down.”

Canton had just 34 passing yards as well, with 18 coming from Owen Moore (2 for 6) and 16 from Aaden Dowling (2 for 6).

Montgomery routinely sustained drives and didn’t allow Canton to force turnovers or punts. Montgomery had one drive end with a missed field goal attempt six seconds into the fourth quarter and one ended the game as the clock ran out after picking up a first down. Aside from that, every possession resulted in a touchdown.

Montgomery was 5 for 6 on third down conversions and was 6 for 8 on converting red zone opportunities, although the final red zone trip resulted with Montgomery running the clock out.

“That’s huge to just control the tempo of the game and just impose our will,” Knoebel said.