Montcalm opens with rout of Hannan
Montcalm (50) vs. Hannan (12)
Written: Aug 31, 2015
By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
MONTCALM — The long road back to Montcalm from the Ohio River Valley was a happy one late on Friday night for the Generals football team.
Beating the Hannan Wildcats 50-12 in Mason County in their first game of the year got the season off to an “awesome” start, senior Colton Egnor said on Monday afternoon.
Taking a brief break from team weightlifting, Egnor said about the postgame scene, “We got in the locker room and we were all pumped up. By the time we got on the road, we were all asleep, just being worn out.
“But it was a great game, and it was awesome to have that feeling of accomplishment back at Montcalm.”
Assistant coach Adam Havens said, “Up there, our kids were very focused, and on the way back, they were exhausted but excited. There’s nothing like getting a win, and getting to travel back with 30 of your closest friends, being as excited as you are.”
Egnor tallied the game’s first score on a 61-yard interception return, ending Hannan’s first offensive series.
“It was pretty cool,” Egnor said. “It was my first pick-six of my high school career, so I was really pumped. I feel like it really changed the tone of the game. They knew that we were there to play some football.”
“We’ve been actually working really hard on pass coverage here in the past couple of weeks. I was just reading the quarterback and it seems like he threw it right to me. So I got the ball and I just took off.”
Havens said, “I think that’s what we needed to get us going. After that, we just got on a roll.”
Junior fullback Trevor Poynter soon recorded the Generals’ first offensive touchdown on a 32-yard jaunt.
Havens described it as “a dive that he really turned nothing into something. He broke a couple of tackles, and got to the edge and scored for us. That was an impressive run.”
Ultimately the Generals generated 282 rushing yards and 314 total yards on offense out of the wing-T.
Running back Marcus Mitchell, a transfer from Bluefield, ran for 125 yards. He carried the ball nine times, and four of them went for touchdowns of 20, 15, 19 and 33 yards. Including a 60-yard kickoff return and a 21-yard punt return, he racked up 206 all-purpose yards.
“Marcus does good things for us,” Havens said. “We can try to get on the edge and beat defenses with his speed. He’s a hard-nosed runner.”
Egnor scored on a 32-yard run in the fourth quarter, after Hannan claimed two unanswered touchdowns in the third period to cut Montcalm’s lead to 28-12.
Havens added, “I can’t say enough about Colton’s leadership. He got the ball 16 times for 98 yards and a score. He just gives us so much in the leadership category. He’s always the first one out on the field for practice every day, and the last one to leave.
“He’s always the one asking questions about more game film (and) what can he do to make himself better. And the rest of guys see that, and that makes them want to work harder.”
Egnor talked about addressing the locker room at halftime, with Montcalm ahead 20-0.
He said, “The biggest thing that we stressed to them at halftime was, ‘When we’re going back out here, the scoreboard’s going to be zero to zero. Play like we’re not ahead by 20. Play like we’re still fighting to win.’ That’s what they did. These guys did great.”
Sophomore linebacker Brian Taylor “had a great game defensively,” Havens said. “He forced one fumble and recovered it, and he recovered another that was on the ground.” Taylor had nine tackles, five of them for a loss, including a quarterback sack.
In the middle of the offensive line was junior center Jake Krabbe. Havens said, “He’s our anchor. He gets everybody going, and sets the tone.
“He’s done a great job with his leadership as well, coming in and getting everybody motivated to work hard during the week, and stay focused.”
Montcalm assistant coach Brian Krabbe commented that he was “proud of this offensive line. (Hannan) has a nose guard who was 6-foot-7, 350 pounds ... but their big guys could not get inside on us. We were stronger.”
Senior Nate Breeden started at quarterback, completing three of five passes for 20 yards and a two-point conversion. Sophomore Hunter Hodge also got plenty of snaps at QB, playing most of the third quarter.
“They both did a really good job of controlling the offense,” Havens said. “They handled the pressure of the first week of the season really well. We’re proud of both of them.”
“Depth is something that we’re not used to. Getting the game experience is incredible for us — especially when you’ve got a senior and a sophomore.”
There are about 25 players on the Montcalm roster, and Havens said “at least 19 are sophomores or freshmen. So those guys coming in and getting quality game experience, it’s priceless.”
An initial “W” in the win column is worth quite a bit, too, especially when the margin of victory is 38 points.
“Anytime you can start the season 1-0, it motivates the guys,” Havens said. “It breeds confidence, and helps (them) continue the drive for perfection.”
The Montcalm community is known for coming out to support the school’s sports teams, win or lose. The winning part can’t hurt, of course.
Havens said, “It helps everybody get enthused about being here, coming out and supporting us. They want to see what 50-12 looks like, so hopefully we can give them a good showing on Friday.”
“As our program’s grown, we’re starting to become an attraction on Friday nights for the community. We have a Little League now, that’s in its fourth year, and it’s thriving. The community’s just embraced our school and our football team, and they just support us, no matter what.”
“The student body’s been supportive,” he added. “Everybody’s pretty excited about what we have in store for the season, hopefully.”
Coming up on Friday at Prudich Field is the home opener against the Twin Valley Panthers from Pilgrim’s Knob, Va.
Havens cautioned that Twin Valley is “really strong. They’ve got their quarterback, running back coming back from last year. In the past, they’ve been very physical. (They are) a very well-coached team, so it’ll be a good challenge for us.”
Egnor said, “It (the victory) definitely builds us up, but we know Twin Valley’s not going to be a pushover, and we know they’re going to be ready to play football — but we are, too.”
Head coach Jimmy Redmond was not available on Monday. Krabbe said he was fighting a case of the flu.
— Contact Tom Bone at
tbone@bdtonline.com
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