LINDEN — North Montgomery saw the football season come to an end Friday. Western Boone benefited from three Charger turnovers with a dominating defense to earn a 35-0 win.
Western Boone led 20-0 at the half and added two more scores twice more to ensure a running clock to finish the game for most of the final quarter.
A disappointed Charger Coach Josh Thompson said his team just could not get going against the Stars’ defense.
“I thought we had some good moments in the game, but we could not sustain our drives,” Thompson said. “We had too many mistakes against a well-coached Western Boone team.”
Western Boone opened the game with a 14-play 75 yard drive that ate 7:15 off the clock. The drive included two fourth-and short plays that kept the drive alive.
“We just could not get off the field after forcing (Western Boone) into several third and fourth down situation,” Thompson said. “When we did get the ball the turnovers made it very difficult to overcome.”
North Montgomery tallied just 149 total yards on offense. The running game totaled 92 yards led by senior Dakota Glasson’s 92 yards on 15 rushing attempts.
Charger senior quarterback Cayden Eller was harassed by the Stars’ defense and was sacked five times. He completed 10-of-23 passes for just 57 yards.
The Chargers’ frustration seemed to peak early in the third quarter when Glasson carried the ball for a 50-yard gain to the Stars’ five yard line. However, Western Boone’s defense shut the door by recording three straight plays resulting in negative yards for North Montgomery and a fourth-down interception.
“When we didn’t score from the five-yard line our players got frustrated which was understandable,” Thompson said. “We had a hard time getting anything going after that.”
Western Boone junior Jack Mallory led the Stars in rushing with 89 yards on 19 attempts. Senior quarterback Quinn Westerfeld added 85 yards on seven rushes.
The Stars totaled 249 yards on the ground and 118 in the air with a total of 367 yards.
With the loss North Montgomery says goodbye to 17 seniors. An emotional Thompson said the seniors will be missed and will force North to fill many holes next season.
“Fourteen of the seniors have been with us for four years then we picked up the rest in the last few years,” Thompson said. “These guys gave a lot to our program and we all wish we could have another game with them.”
North Montgomery finishes the campaign with a 4-7 record.
Western Boone (8-3) will travel Friday to Tri-West (8-3) for the 3A No. 29 Sectional Championship.
