Now He’s Older, Wiser on Varsity

The assignment that morning was rather simple. Everyone in Mr. Wellen’s sophomore English class was to take out their journals, choose a topic and write whatever came to mind. Craziest restaurant experience? Yeah, Larry Montgomery thought, that topic sounds pretty good.

He was just starting his second paragraph--getting to the part where the maraschino cherry lands smack on his baby niece’s nose--when the realization hit: The whole class was staring at him. His teacher was grinning. Girls were giggling. And John Turek, Troy High varsity football coach, was looking his way.

It was the kind of scene most boys only dream about. The head coach tracks you down, interrupts class, asks you to step outside. Listen kid, Turek said, I’ve seen you play--you’re good. I want to move you up from the sophomore team right away. You’re on the varsity now. You might start in this week’s game. Think you can handle it?

Montgomery, a running back, doesn’t remember his exact response. But witnesses say that after he and Turek finished their discussion, Montgomery, a soft-spoken sort, walked back into class, flashed a huge smile and pumped his fist high. His classmates roared their approval.

That was four weeks ago. These days, Montgomery is something of a local hero. Friday night, in only his second varsity start, Montgomery rushed for 160 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead the Warriors to a 28-0 victory over Sunny Hills. The victory gave Troy its first Freeway League championship since 1979. It also gave Troy opponents additional reasons to worry.

As if the capable combination of quarterback Brian Logan and halfback Matt Frobenius wasn’t enough, Warrior opponents now have to figure out how to stop this lanky-yet-sturdy speed machine. Even at 6 feet, 170 pounds, Montgomery is strong enough to bash through defensive lines and break tackles. In his varsity debut against Fullerton, when he rushed for 120 yards, he managed to punch through what looked to be an impossibly small opening in the line, bursting up the middle before being stopped deep into the secondary.

“My offensive coordinator (Jim Burton) and I both had our headsets on,” Turek says. “Both of us said ‘Wow!’ almost simultaneously. We haven’t seen that kind of explosiveness around here in years.”

Actually, Turek intended to promote Montgomery to the varsity after the team lost its league opener Oct. 15 to La Habra, but there was a slight problem. When Turek pulled Montgomery out of class that day, he didn’t know he was talking to a 14-year-old. Montgomery might have mentioned it had he realized the importance of age. No one told him you had to be at least 15 to play varsity (as he learned later that day).

It was disappointing, Montgomery said. But at least it gave him fodder for his English class journal: “My best day was when I found out I was going to play varsity football,” he wrote. “But it was also my worst day. I’ve been sad ever since.”

Sad, that is, until Oct. 31, Montgomery’s 15th birthday. Linda Montgomery says as a young child, her son sincerely believed the entire world celebrated his birthday by dressing up like ghouls and goblins and going out for trick or treats. Then one day, an elementary school teacher told him that just wasn’t the case. Larry listened quietly, lowered his head and just said, “Oh.” Birthdays, he figured, would never be the same.

Not until this year, anyway. His Halloween birthday two weeks ago was something to look forward to. He would finally be 15. Old enough to suit up, work out, punch that varsity clock.

It has been an adjustment, of course. Playing in front of big crowds, under bright lights, trying to outrun much bigger, stronger linemen. Trying to keep up on his studies in spite of being much more worn out . . .

Montgomery, who is enrolled in Troy’s accelerated educational program, which requires (among other things) 7 a.m. classes, was asked by his mother recently whether he wouldn’t rather switch to an easier class load because football is cutting more into his day. But the kid who wants some day to be a doctor, who reads Shakespeare for fun, said thanks but no thanks, Mom. I’d rather see it through.

If nothing else, it’ll give him something to write about when journal assignments come along.