Montgomery at N.P.-Mansfield preview
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Montgomery PPG--35.6, PPA--9.4; YPG--319.6, YPA--168.6
Montgomery notes: Montgomery (7-1) enters tonight as the top-seeded team in District 4 Class A, but likely will move down to No. 2 for the playoffs if both it and Line Mountain go 9-1 since Line Mountain's final two opponents have a better combined record. Whatever the case, the Red Raiders are eager to keep building and have won four straight games. They thumped Towanda, 35-14 last week, leading by 28 twice in the fourth quarter before the Black Knights scored two late touchdowns. The defense has not let a team score more than two offensive touchdowns in a game and linebacker Cameron Woltz is 17 tackles from a third straight 100-tackle season. Fellow linebacker Lincoln Miller also is having a super season with five sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. All-state safety Trace Furman has four interceptions with 78 tackles and his brother Gage has 66 tackles. Hayden Denton has thrived in his first season starting, intercepting four passes and he and Josh Knoebel have returned picks for touchdowns. Miller, Knoebel and Trace Furman all have gone over 500 rushing yards this season and all have had multiple 100-yard games. Briar Persing also has run well, while leading the team in receiving yards. The offensive line has heated up since the second half of the Muncy game four weeks ago and seniors Connor Jarrett and Ethan Hugar help anchor that unit.
Montgomery player to watch--Evan Hugar: The junior two-way lineman started the season strong with a fantastic performance against Hughesville and has continued playing well since. He has helped open lanes for the linebackers and safeties, while also producing 40 tackles, including four for loss.
NP-Mansfield PPG--10.1, PPA--44.6; YPG--108, YPA--365.5
NP-Mansfield notes: An imposing stretch of games continues for the Panthers (0-8) who are starting mostly underclassmen and have played some of the NTL's best teams over the last four weeks. There has been a steep learning curve, but North Penn-Mansfield can look at Montgomery to see how quickly things can turn around. When the current Raider seniors were freshmen, that team went 1-9 before going 24-6 the past three years. North Penn-Mansfield has made some big plays at times and Jeremiah Lawrence ran for two touchdowns three weeks ago at Troy, including ripping off a 77-yarder. Sophomore quarterback Peyton Greene totaled 316 yards and four touchdowns against Northwest and Colton Pellett has caught three long touchdowns. Pellett also returned three kickoffs for scores last year. North Penn-Mansfield rallied from a 17-point deficit to take a late four-point lead against Sayre in Week 4 before the Redskins pulled out a 23-21 win. Lawrence ran for 71 yards and a score in that game.
NP-Mansfield player to watch--Bohdi Nickerson: The junior linebacker has played well throughout his debut season. Nickerson topped 10 tackles in each of his first three games and totaled 44 in his first four. He also made seven solo stops against Towanda and broke up a pass in three different games.
Outlook: Better days are coming for North Penn-Mansfield which has a strong junior high and youth program. Tonight, though, will be all Montgomery as the Raiders try building more momentum for the postseason.