LINDEN - North Montgomery relied on constant defensive pressure in their 14-7 victory over Hamilton Heights. The Chargers defense controlled the game and even scored a safety midway of the first quarter.
The Charger defense came out firing on all cylinders early in the game. In fact, North Montgomery held the Huskies to a mere 28 yards and surrendered only one first down in the first half.
The solid start pleased Charger coach Josh Thompson after sluggish first half in last week’s victory at North Putnam.
“I thought we came out and played much better tonight,” Thompson said. “It made a difference we had a game under our belt.”
The Chargers forced a three-and-out on Hamilton Heights’ first drive. The North offense the proceeded to march 56 yards in 8 plays. Facing a fourth down from the Husky 38 yard line, Charger quarterback Ross Dyson hit a streaking Wil Ramsey for the score. After an unsuccessful conversion attempt, the Chargers led 6-0.
Just 1:08 later, Charger Austin Sulc tackled Husky quarterback Bodie Derrer in the end zone for a safety. Sulc ended the first half with four sacks.
Neither team found the end zone in the second quarter. North Montgomery twice had the ball in the end zone but both drives were ended with Huskie interceptions.
The teams came out for the second half but neither team threatened to score. The Chargers controlled the ball with their offense in the quarter racking up a total of 71 yards compared to Hamilton Heights 41 yards.
Again both teams’ offenses went cold for most of the fourth quarter. But North Montgomery was able to drive the ball on the ground to keep the Huskie offense on the sidelines. Finally, North Montgomery went on a 10-play drive that ran 5:14 off the clock. The drive ended when Sulc barreled his way into the end zone with 2:15 left in the game.
Hamilton Heights did score with 1:36 remaining which made the score 14-0. Key plays on the quick drive was a 50-yard from Derrer to Tyler Champion followed by a 15-yard strike to Champion.
North Montgomery never let the Huskies get the ball again as they got two key first downs to run out the clock.
Thompson said his team did a good job of sticking together and moving the ball on the ground when they had to.
“Our kids hung tight all night,” Thompson said. “We scored on our first drive and again at the end of the game. I will take that anytime.”
“We have a lot of experience on defense up front,” Thompson said. “They play with enthusiasm and get after it. They are fun to watch.”
North Montgomery racked up 264 total yards of offense while holding the Huskies to just 126 yards.
Dyson led the Charger attack with 100 rushing yards on 18 carries and threw for another 89 yards.
North Montgomery will travel to county-rival Southmont next week. Both teams have won their first two games. The game will be the first time the rivals have played since the 2020 season since last year’s game was canceled due to Covid-19.
