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| Tribe falls to Titans in Rec Bowl |
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8/26/2016
By Dan Manley
Advocate Sports Editor
Montgomery County began a new coaching era in football Saturday night at Cunningham Field.
Jamie Egli took over for long-time coach Dan Gooch, who retired at the end of last year. He brought in a new offense and unveiled it in the Recreation Bowl against Collins High School.
The end result was a 34-18 Collins victory and a game that saw the Indians fumble the ball an astonishing 11 times, losing four.
But at the end of the night the overall mood seemed to be positive.
“Obviously, you’re not going to beat a good football team fumbling the ball like that,” Egli said. “But we’re making progress and I think this team will get better and better as we gain some experience.”
On the positive side, the Indians outgained the Titans 358 to 310 in total offense and the defense was certainly respectable as Collins got two of its scores.
“The defense really didn’t play that bad,” Egli noted. “They had some short fields to work with and were certainly a number of things that we can build on for next week that we did pretty well.”
This week the Tribe will travel to Lawrence County to face the Bulldogs who lost last week to Boyd County, 24-20.
Last season the Tribe handed Lawrence County a 28-14 setback at Cunningham Field and then the Bulldogs went on to post a 9-4 record, winning two games in the playoffs.
great start
The Indians got off to a great start Saturday night, taking the opening kickoff and marching 63 yards in just seven plays to take the lead.
Senior quarterback Tanner Wells, starting at the position for the first time, fumbled one snap in that series and was able to recover the ball and senior halfback Dillon Akers set up the score with runs of 33 and 11 yards.
The other four carries went to senior fullback Jake Harvey and he picked up 19 yards on those attempts, waltzing into the end zone from three yards out with 7:54 to play in the first quarter to put the Indians ahead 6-0.
A high snap on the extra point left the lead at six points.
Collins bounces back
The rest of the first half belonged to the Titans.
First they took the ensuing kickoff after the Indians’ opening TD and went 54 yards in five plays to take a 7-6 lead.
Junior quarterback J.R. Lucas, the son of Coach Jerry Lucas, completed a pair of passes for 23 yards and had a 15 yard run before turning to 2015 Recreation Bowl MVP, junior Sean Roseberry, who rambled 13 yards for a first and goal at the five yard line and then scored on the next play as the Titans went in front 7-6.
Following the Titans kickoff, defensive tackle Duane Kidwell recovered a fumble at the Montgomery County four yard line and Lucas tossed a scoring pass to junior receiver Dalton Maggard on the next play as Collins went from a 6-0 deficit to a 14-6 lead in less than two minutes.
A short punt gave the Titans their next possession at the Montgomery County 33 yard line and Roseberry scored on a 24-yard run with 1:13 still to play in the first quarter as the lead grew to 21-6.
The Indians missed one great scoring chance when they moved the football 65 yards in 16 plays only to fumble the football away at the goal line with Collins tackle Dustin Hinkle recovering in the end zone for a touchback.
Back in the game
The Tribe managed to close the gap early in the second half when they recovered a fumble at their own 14 yard line to stop a Titan drive and then went 86 yards in seven plays to cut the lead to 21-12.
Akers had a run of 51 yards in the drive while Harvey had 17 yards on another carry and Josh Claypoole added a nine-yard run. Akers scored the touchdown from three yards out and the game was on again with 6:38 still to play in the third quarter.
Collins scored on a 61 yard drive on their next possession, converting three times on third down and scoring on a fourth-down play when Lucas found the end zone from four yards out with 9:30 to play making it 28-12.
Montgomery County bounded right back with a 67 yard drive in 10 plays with Harvey gained 30 yards on five attempts in the drive and Akers scoring from five yards out with 5:27 to play.
But the Indians were stopped just short of the goal line on the extra point attempt as the Titans maintained a two-score lead.
Late addition
The Titans added a late score after a penalty gave the Titans the ball at the Indian 35. Lucas teamed up with Maggard on a 20 yard TD play that put the game away with 5:05 to play.
The Indians came close to scoring again after sophomore Pharoah Davis made a sensational catch and run on a 43-yard pass play that gave the Indians a first and goal at the Titan seven.
But the Collins defense held and then the Titans ran out the clock.
Two over 100
Montgomery County showed a dual threat in the backfield as Akers ran the football 13 times for 135 yards and Harvey carried 32 times for 128.
Wells finished three for nine through the air for 83 yards but did not throw an interception.
Roseberry led Collins with 102 yards on the ground on 13 attempts while Maggard had five receptions for 86 yards, although 59 of those yards came in the final drive for the Titans after they appeared to already have the game on ice.
Montgomery County’s offense generated a total of 56 rushing plays and nine passing plays on the night compared to 25 rushing attempts and 22 passing attempts for the Titans.
Egli said he expected the Indians’ offense to become much more versatile as Wells and the other newcomers get additional reps under their belts in the weeks ahead.
The Titans will be at home this week to face Bullitt East and will play three of their first four games on the road.
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