Montclair Prep Survives Challenge

There were approximately nine minutes remaining in the game between hitherto unbeaten and unchallenged Montclair Prep and Alpha League rival L. A. Baptist Friday night when an eerie thought crossed the minds of those in attendance.

Heck. We have ourselves a ballgame.

Big, bad Montclair Prep was leading the Knights by just two lousy points. In the fourth quarter, no less.

Alas, Montclair Prep rose to its first challenge of the year. The Mounties buckled their chin straps and hopped onto the shoulder pads of running backs Michael Jones and Derek Sparks, who did not disappoint.

Each scored a touchdown in the final seven minutes, and Montclair Prep (8-0, 3-0 in league play) escaped with a 34-19 win at Kennedy High.

If the Alpha League were to count victories on the basis of heart, however, the powers that be would be forced to award a big, fat “W” to the gritty bunch from L. A. Baptist (6-2, 2-1).

“They could have easily rolled over coming into the game,” said Sparks, who gained 132 yards and scored three touchdowns in just 12 carries. “But they showed us some heart.”

As one may imagine, L. A. Baptist Coach Mark Bates wasn’t willing to trade a spiritual victory for a concrete win. “You can see we played our hearts out,” Bates said. “But in the end it comes down to athletic ability and there was no doubt who had superior ability.”

That much was for sure. After Knight quarterback Chris Robinson scored on a four-yard run to make the score 21-19, Jones and Sparks showed why the Mounties are the No. 1-ranked team in Division IX.

From the Montclair Prep 36-yard line, Jones carried three times for 51 yards, and Sparks carried three times for 13 yards, including a six-yard scoring jaunt with 7:11 left to make the score 28-19.

Wham-o. Six plays, game in hip pocket.

Jones added an insurance touchdown on a six-yard run with 3:49 left. But the damage was done on the six-play explosion.

“Derek said to me on the sideline, ‘Let’s go, Mike,’ so we did,” said Jones, who led all rushers with 184 yards and two touchdowns in 22 carries and now has 1,103 yards.

The Mountie win came in the face of a Knight team that entered the game with an exciting and unusual bag of tricks.

Bates had his players running reverses, throwing option passes, shovel passes and fake punts all night, gaining 276 yards against a defense that entered the game surrendering an average of 102.