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Montoursville pulls away in second half to earn 28-7 win at Central Mountain

By KENNY VARNER 4 min read

MILL HALL -- On Friday night, the Central Mountain football team welcomed in Montoursville with the hopes of notching their first victory of the season as the Wildcats celebrated senior night.

The two battled in the first half as both defense made statements and at the intermission the two found themselves tied at 7-all. But the Warriors offense started to take advantage of some costly Wildcats' miscues and pulled away late for a 28-7 win in Week 8.

"It was a tale of two halves. We had some mistakes in the second half. It didn’t go our way. We had some penalties," said Central Mountain coach Travis Thompson. "You know, they’re a good team, but I thought the guys played solid across the board tonight. They showed a lot of heart, and we just had some things not go our way. We gave them some short fields in the second half, but the kids kept batting, they kept on it. They got a couple more games left this season."

In the first half, the Wildcats forced three turnovers -- two interceptions and a fumble recovery on special teams -- to keep the scoring at a minimum.

Central Mountain's Gavin Heverly got the hometown crowd cheering early as he picked off the first pass of the ball game. But neither team were able to capitalize on turnovers in the opening quarter.

Late in the second, the Warriors marched down the field starting at their own 27 and culminated the 11-play drive.

Running back Kaden Kleinman, who finished with 53 yards on the ground, muscled his way in from one yard out for the touchdown. With the successful kick by Brent Crawford, Montoursville would take a 7-0 advantage at 2:47.

With the half winding down to under a minute, the Wildcats forced a huge turnover to give them a chance to knot the game at seven.

On a punt to the Warriors, Evan Batterson recovered a fumble deep in the Montoursville side, giving Central Mountain the ball and a first down own the Warriors 12.

On third-and-10, the Wildcats handed the ball to runningback Gavin Edmonston going around the left side. But Edmonston turned over and found quarterback Kyle Everett who was wide open on the right side. Everett ran in for the 12-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.

But things would start to slip from their hands as the Warriors offense started to heat up. On their first drive of the second half, Montoursville found themselves at the Wildcats 29.

Three plays later quarterback Elijah Eck called his own number and scamped to a four-yard touchdown run. With 8:23 left in the third quarter, the visitors took back the lead 14-7.

"I wish it wasn’t in the second half. I wish we could have came out in the first half and played like I know we can," said Montoursville coach Reese Holmes. "But, credit to Central Mountain. They came out ready to play football tonight with their senior night ready to rock and roll. They were flying around the field. So credit to them, but once we've got things going in the second half it got better. But again, it's tough to start slow like that. And, you know, we had some things not go our was."

"Thats the game of football. So the kids did bounce back in the second half," Holmes added. "Offensively, we played, well. I think we played good defense all game."

In the final quarter, the Wildcats battled but the Warriors would score once again.

At 9:42, Eck tossed a screen pass and completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Kleinman, making it a 14-point lead. Midway through the fourth, Montoursville scored once again on an Eck 1-yard run to end the scoring at 28-7 with 5:54 still showing on the clock.

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