Swinton Gets 153 Yards to Lead Montclair Prep

In the story, David always beats Goliath.

Montclair Prep High has read the book. It has even tried to play the part during the preseason.

And on their third try, the Mounties finally perfected the role of the victorious underdog with a 19-7 victory over Van Nuys on Saturday night at College of the Canyons.

It was the third straight week that Montclair Prep had taken on an upper division opponent. In Van Nuys, a City Section 3-A team, the Mounties finally found someone to pick on.

“We had a very light summer,” Montclair assistant coach Les Himes said. “We weren’t involved in any passing leagues, we took life easy, and we didn’t come out as well as we expected.

“But from the films, I think we’ve been improving every week. Tonight, we played like we were supposed to from the start.”

There was still room for improvement for Montclair Prep, which won in spite of itself.

Van Nuys’ only score was set up when Anthony Pack fumbled the kickoff to begin the second half on the Mounties’ six-yard line.

Five plays and a Montclair penalty later, Randy Brown scored on a two-yard run for a 7-7 tie.

In all, Montclair had two turnovers and was penalized 11 times for 105 yards.

“We still make a lot of little mistakes that hurt us,” Himes said. “But I think we’re ready to explode.”

The explosion began in part under the direction of Jason Radovan, starting his first game at quarterback in place of Cliff Sullivan. Radovan completed 12 of 20 passes for 187 yards.

But the real fireworks were provided by Riche Swinton, who rushed 18 times for 153 yards and three touchdowns.

His 28-yard run on Montclair’s first possession capped a 10-play, 82-yard scoring drive to give the Mounties a 7-0 lead.

After Brown tied the game on a two-yard run to open the second half, Swinton came back to put the game away. He went 24 yards to put Montclair up for good at 13-7 with 7:25 remaining in the third period.