Susquehanna moved into Montrose territory on each of its first six possessions during Friday night’s Battle for the Bluestone.
The Meteors defense then sent the Sabers offense in reverse on five of those drives and took the ball away in the other.
With Seth Bulkley and Derek Nunez leading the way, Montrose threw Susquehanna for 13 losses totaling 64 yards to emerge from the defensive struggle with possession of the Bluestone Trophy for the first time after winning, 3-0 at William Emminger Memorial Field Friday night.
By the time the game was over, Susquehanna had plays that lost yardage in eight of its nine possessions.
The Sabers managed eight first downs, but all the negative plays meant they finished with just 53 net yards in 45 plays while being shut out for the third time in a four-game losing streak.
Montrose heads into Lackawanna Football Conference Division 2 play on a four-game winning streak and with its best midseason record of the millennium.
Zach Conrad led Susquehanna to nearly as strong a defensive game. The Sabers only allowed Montrose to pick up 91 yards in 44 plays, holding Nunez to 15 yards one week after he ran for 382 yards and six touchdowns against Holy Cross.
Montrose got five of its first downs in the game’s only scoring drive, a 69-yard advance on 12 plays that needed assistance from a pair of personal foul penalties against Susquehanna.
Matt Saravitz sent a 27-yard field goal right down the middle with 7:48 left in the half and it held up as the game-winning score.
Susquehanna had won six straight meetings with Montrose, including the first three games that were contested for the Bluestone Trophy.
In addition to the Bluestone Trophy, the first Thomas E. Robinson Memorial Award was presented for outstanding play while showing respect for opponents and officials.
Bulkley, a sophomore offensive guard and defensive end, received the award.
Montrose coach Lou Cella said Bulkley may be the team’s most effective offensive lineman, but it was his defensive play that stood out Friday night.
Bulkley had four tackles for losses, including two on sacks, for 18 yards total. He also assisted on tackles on a seven-yard loss and a play that went for no gain, as well as rushing the passer into a third-down incompletion with less than five minutes left.
“My job was just to get to the quarterback and make him pitch,” Bulkley said of the defensive end’s role defending an option team.
Cella noticed Bulkley just a bit too late last year as part of a strong group of players who make up the current sophomore class. Bulkley is one of those that the coach has identified as being capable of helping the varsity last year when they instead were part of a successful freshman team.
“We didn’t have enough time to evaluate the young kids, but he would have started for us last year if we had moved him up,” Cella said. “He did very well in junior high.
“He came up and he had a great summer. He really asserted himself. … Defensively, he does a great job setting the edge.”
Nunez took care of disrupting the interior with many of his blitzes. He finished with five tackles, five assists and a rushed passer. Nunez had a sack for a 12-yard loss, made another tackle for a loss, assisted on two other losses and contributed on other plays that wound up resulting in losses.
Linebacker Bryden Jerauld, another from the strong sophomore class, had five tackles, including three for 11 yards in losses, three assists and a broken-up pass.
Jake O’Brien intercepted a pass and came up from the secondary to make five tackles, including one for a loss.
“I’m really thrilled with our defense right now, but offensively, we have got to do a better job of blocking,” Cella said. “It’s not just the offensive line, but on the perimeter as well.”
The Meteors were unable to block Conrad, who joined nose guard Cameron Mallery to stuff plays up the middle, then took off from his middle linebacker position to join Wes Richardson and Evan Aldrich in stopping plays on the perimeter.
“Conrad is unreal,” Cella said.
Conrad put up the biggest numbers yet in what has been a brilliant senior season, leading a defense put under constant stress by a struggling offense. He made 12 tackles, including three for eight yards in losses, and assisted on nine more.
Mallery had eight tackles, including one for a loss, and two assists. Richardson, an outside linebacker, had seven tackles and four assists. Aldrich, playing defensive end, had five tackles, including four for 13 yards in losses, and two assists.
The teams combined to keep each other from ever producing a play of more than 16 yards.
Montrose got closer than the Susquehanna 36 just once.
The Sabers move inside the Meteors 38 just once, as the clock was winding down in the first half.
Kyle Donovan hit Adam Roe with a 14-yard pass on third-and-13, Jarred Mills got just enough on third-and-one and Mills ran for 16 yards on fourth-and-six to reach the 16.
Nunez got into the backfield on a second-down play that turned into a four-yard loss. Bulkley sacked Donovan for an 11-yard loss on third down.
Zoe Casselbury then intercepted a pass at the 2 with 18.1 seconds left in the half.
Neither team came close to scoring in the second half.
“I knew it was going to be physical,” Bulkley said. “ … I expected more offense though, too.”
WEEK IN REVIEW
Forest City advanced to the Lackawanna League Class AA boys golf final when it defeated Riverside, 8-1, in Friday’s semifinals.
The Foresters were scheduled to face Holy Cross Tuesday for the title and a berth in the District 2 championship match against either Holy Redeemer or Lake-Lehman.
Montrose also made the playoffs but lost in the league quarterfinals to Riverside, 5-4.
Holy Cross finished first in the regular-season Lackawanna Class AA standings at 11-0-1, followed by: Forest City 9-2-1, Riverside 8-1-3, Dunmore 9-3, Lakeland 8-3-1, Montrose 7-4-1, Mid Valley 5-6-1, Old Forge 5-6-1, Lackawanna Trail 4-7-1, Mountain View 3-9, Carbondale 2-10, Elk Lake 1-11, Blue Ridge 1-11.
In girls golf, Montrose finished second at the District 2 Class AA Team Championships Thursday at Scranton Municipal.
Scranton Prep won with a 343, followed by Montrose with 419 and Lakeland with 556.
Brianna Baker led Montrose with a 93. Emily Hare shot 102, Lindsey Kerr 111 and Cammi Clark 113.
In cross country, Montrose used an all-underclassmen lineup to win the Unseeded Boys Varsity A-2 race in the 51st McQuaid Invitational at Genesee Valley Park in Rochester, N.Y.
Owen Brewer, Brandon Curley and Zach Mead finished seventh, eighth and ninth to lead the Meteors to a 79-point victory over second-place Hannibal in the 43-team, small-school field.
There were 308 runners in the race, but Montrose had its five scoring runners all place in the top 35. Freshman Liam Mead was 26th. Jerome Washo, who, like Curley, is a sophomore, finished 35th.
Brewer ran the 3.0-mile course in 16:18.5.
The Montrose girls finished 15th out of 36 teams, also in the Unseeded Varsity A-2 division.
Georgia Smith led the way, placing 45th.
Susquehanna was sixth out of 45 teams in the Junior High Boys #1 race, led by Dylan Crawford placing 29th out of 440 runners.
Montrose’s Hannah Perkins was ninth out of 311 runners in the Junior High Girls #1 race.
Taylor Huyck was 25th, leading Susquehanna to a 19th-place finish out of 30 teams.
Elk Lake was seventh out of 39 teams Friday in the Girls White race at the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University in Bethlehem.
Justine Johns was 16th, Keri Jones 18th and Katie Bennett 19th for Elk Lake out of 332 runners in the race.
Elk Lake was 24th out of 46 in the Boys White race.
Earlier in the week, Montrose defeated Elk Lake, 19-41, in a battle of Lackawanna League boys unbeatens at Lackawanna Trail.
Last week’s schedule was the one in which teams that run today weekly in the same cluster – such as Montrose, Elk Lake and Blue Ridge – were scored against each other for the only time all season. Montrose went 5-0 on the day, also winning 15-49 over Blue Ridge, 18-44 over Lakeland, 17-46 over Lackawanna Trail and 15-50 over Mountain View.
Montrose came out of the meet with a 12-0 record while Elk Lake is 11-1.
COLLEGE CORNER
Kellie Grosvenor, a junior from Elk Lake, was Cairn University’s fourth finisher Friday in the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University.
Cairn finished 27th out of 43 teams in the White Division.
Grosvenor finished 174th out of 328 runners, completing the 6-kilometer course in 26:33.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Montrose will open Lackawanna Football Conference Division 2 play Friday night at home against Lakeland.
The Meteors are 4-1. The Chiefs, who are also playing their division opener, are 3-2.
Susquehanna is home Saturday afternoon against Holy Redeemer. Both teams are 1-4 and come into the game on four-game losing streaks.
The Homecoming Day game has a scheduled 2:15 p.m. kickoff.
Our high school football predictions for last week were: 7-2 (77.9 percent), bringing our season record to 46-20 (69.7 percent).
This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: Lakeland 28, MONTROSE 10 … SUSQUEHANNA 25, Nanticoke 15 … RIVERSIDE 30, Western Wayne 0 … CARBONDALE 26, Lackawanna Trail 12 … Dunmore 36, HONESDALE 6 … Old Forge 29, MID VALLEY 6 … Delaware Valley 13, NORTH POCONO 12 … Scranton 21, WEST SCRANTON 0 … VALLEY VIEW 14, Abington Heights 0 … HOLY CROSS 45, Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech 35.
In high school golf, the District 2 boys team championships are scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m. at Fox Hill Country Club.
The individual tournament is Monday, Oct. 12 at Elmhurst Country Club.
Montrose’s Austin Smith, a state qualifier last year is part of the Class AA boys field along with Montrose teammate Paul Motsko, and Forest City’s Dylan O’Dell, Chris Bebla, Adam Kowalewski and Mitchell Blake.
Baker and Hare from Montrose have qualified for the Class AA girls tournament along with Blue Ridge’s Isabella Cosmello.
In girls’ tennis, the District 2 team tournament is scheduled for quarterfinal play Friday followed by semifinals and finals Tuesday, Oct. 13.
In boys’ cross country, Montrose and Abington Heights, two of the three teams that entered this week unbeaten Lackawanna League records run against each other at Montrose, Oct. 13.
First, Montrose was scheduled to go against Wallenpaupack, the other unbeaten, Oct. 6.
In running, the 20th annual Steamtown Marathon will be held Sunday, beginning at 8 a.m at Forest City High School and finishing in downtown Scranton.
In professional hockey, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are at the Providence Bruins Friday night when the American Hockey League opens its regular season.
The Binghamton Senators open their season at home Saturday against the Albany Devils.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
