MONTGOMERY – Warrior Run has made some outstanding strides over the last three weeks of the season.
Just three weeks after taking a 22-game losing streak into its Week 5 game against Northwest, the Defenders picked up their third victory in their last four contests, as they took advantage of three first-half turnovers by Montgomery to coast to a 41-6 win over the Red Raiders.
“We’ve come a long way, I’m so proud of every single one of these players,” said Warrior Run coach Derrick Zechman. “We went through the gauntlet early in the season, and we’ve got two really good teams to finish with, but the confidence is there. We’ve been battling through some injuries but they come to work every day to get better and that’s what I’m so proud of. You practice hard, the wins will take care of themselves and they’re starting to see that and starting to reap the benefits of the hard work.”
The Defenders, who up until stunning then-unbeaten Northwest just three short weeks ago, hadn’t won a game since 2019, are now 3-5 and still have a chance to finish .500 in the regular season, although they have a couple of tough opponents in Mifflinburg and Milton awaiting in the last two weeks. Regardless of those results, however, Warrior Run would appear to have locked up a playoff berth in District 4 Class 3A – no small accomplishment given where it came from.
Just as they’ve done in all three of their wins this season, the Defenders did it through the strength of their passing game. Quarterback Ryan Newton threw for 284 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 10-of-18 passing – all of which came in the first half, as he did not play after halftime. Several of those yards went to Samuel Hall, who scored three touchdowns – two rushing and one receiving – while making seven catches for 166 yards. He also ran for 47.
Two short touchdown runs by Hall in the first quarter, one for three yards and one for five, capped Warrior Run drives and put the Defenders up 13-0 after a quarter. Long passing plays jump-started both drives, as Newton hit Tyler Ulrich for a 25-yard reception on the first play of the Defenders’ first scoring drive, and then hit Stone Allison for a 22-yard connection on the first play of Warrior Run’s second scoring drive. Hall then handled most of the rest, as he picked up 36 of his 47 rushing yards on that drive.
“Sam is a big-time playmaker and when we can move him around and play different positions, you can utilize a matchup with him and it helps free up some other guys we have to make plays,” said Zechman. “We try to spread the ball around and we did that tonight and Sam capitalized on some good opportunities.”
Montgomery, which lost its starting quarterback, Parker Persing, for the season last week due to injury, turned to senior tight end Weston Pick to fill in under center, and the unfamiliarity with the position was evident, especially early, as the Red Raiders committed three turnovers, all in the first half.
The first one, a lost fumble on a mishandled handoff on Montgomery’s first offensive play of the game, didn’t hurt the Red Raiders as Warrior Run turned it right back over on its subsequent drive. But Pick was picked off by Hall early in the second quarter, as Hall added to his offensive exploits with a key defensive play, giving the Defenders the ball at their own 28. After a penalty backed them up 11 yards, Newton hit Carter Marr with a short screen pass, and Marr turned it into an 83-yard touchdown reception to put Warrior Run up 20-0.
Warrior Run would take advantage of another Montgomery turnover later in the quarter, as the Defenders recovered a fumble near midfield with 1:23 left, and on the first play of their ensuing drive, Newton hit Hall for a 51-yard touchdown pass, making it 27-0.
“It’s rocky water right now, but we just have to get through it and stay positive,” said Montgomery coach Christian Diggs. “We want to give the seniors something to remember and give the young guys something to look forward to so we just have to keep the positivity going and keep a positive mindset these last two weeks.”
The Defenders nearly put the game into the mercy rule at halftime, as Newton hit Marr in the end zone for what appeared to be a 17-yard touchdown pass with no time left on the clock. But Warrior Run was flagged for an illegal formation and the half was over.
It had to wait until Warrior Run’s first second-half possession that the game was put into the mercy rule. After Montgomery went three-and-out, a short punt gave the Defenders the ball at the Montgomery 39. Second-string quarterback James Keifer hit Hall for a 17-yard reception and then tossed a 16-yard touchdown to Eli Butler, and followed that up by hitting Ulrich for the two-point conversion.
Thomas Royles added a 44-yard touchdown run later in the third quarter with the running clock.
Montgomery avoided the shutout with a late touchdown in the fourth quarter, as Nevin Beachel ran it in the end zone from six yards out to cap a 12-play, 66-yard drive that took nearly eight minutes with the running clock. The Red Raiders converted a fourth-and-11 on that drive.
Warrior Run 41, Montgomery 6
Warrior Run (3-5) 13 14 14 0 – 41
Montgomery (1-7) 0 0 0 6 – 6
First quarter
5:38 – (WR) Samuel Hall 3-yard run (kick blocked), 6-53, 1:29
:07 – (WR) Samuel Hall 5-yard run (Hunter kick), 9-64, 3:25
Second quarter
8:45 – (WR) Carter Marr 83-yard pass from Ryan Newton (Hunter kick), 2-72, 1:17
1:11 – (WR) Samuel Hall 51-yard pass from Ryan Newton (Hunter kick), 1-51, :12
Third quarter
8:23 – (WR) Eli Butler 16-yard pass from James Keifer (Ulrich pass from Keifer), 5-39, 2:31
:14 – (WR) Thomas Royles 44-yard run (kick failed), 5-55, 4:22
Fourth quarter
4:27 – (M) Nevin Beachel 6-yard run (kick blocked), 12-66, 7:47
Statistics
WR M
First downs 19 14
Rushes-net yards 24-124 28-38
Passing yardage 317 104
Passing 12-21-3-0 13-29-0-1
Fumbles-lost 2-1 5-2
Penalties-yards 9-71 6-61
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Warrior Run: Samuel Hall (11-47-2), Thomas Royles (5-58-1), Stone Allison (4-12), Eli Butler (2-12), Ryan Newton (2-(-5)); Montgomery: Weston Pick (12-9), Nevin Beachel (9-33-1), Coy Bryson (4-(-3)), Peyton Hartman (1-7), Hayden Wilt (1-3), TEAM (1-(-11))
PASSING — Warrior Run: Ryan Newton (10-18-284-2-0), James Keifer (2-3-33-1-0); Montgomery: Weston Pick (13-28-104-0-1), Nevin Beachel (0-1-0-0-0)
RECEIVING — Warrior Run: Samuel Hall (7-166-1), Carter Marr (2-88-1), Tyler Ulrich (1-25), Stone Allison (1-22), Eli Butler (1-16-1); Montgomery: Hayden Wilt (8-54), Peyton Hartman (4-39), Tyler Kuhn (1-11)
