Montour uses last play touchdown to defeat Hampton in WPIAL first round

McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania – Friday night was the first time in five years that Montour had hosted a playoff game as the No. 8 Spartans battled the No. 9 Hampton Talbots in the WPIAL first round.

It could be argued that since Montour was established in 1956, that there hasn’t been a football game on that campus that ended as dramatically as this first round matchup did.

Montour started its final drive, which started at their own 1-yard line with 1:24 left in the game and it seemed hopeless for the Spartans to travel 99 yards.

However, the Spartans found a way to get the job done.

On the last play of the game, backup quarterback Kaleb Platz threw a 23-yard heave short of the goal line. Montour wide receiver James Bundridge and Hampton defensive back Eric Weeks went up for the ball and Bundridge ended up with the ball forcing himself into the endzone to help the Spartans win the game 34-33.

“I trusted my quarterback to give me the ball, Kaleb and I got that connection,” Bundridge said. “I wanted to catch it for all of my seniors and my team. I love these dudes, it was a great experience.”

While the catch is arguably one of the most dramatic catches that has ever been made at Montour and is the storyline of the game, decisions made by Hampton in the fourth quarter is what left the door open.

Weeks had scored what could have been the game-winning touchdown with 9:09 left in the fourth quarter when Talbots quarterback Adrian Midgley threw a 67-yard pass to him to give the Talbots a 33-28 lead at the time. Instead of kicking the extra point, Hampton decided to try and convert a 2-point attempt, which they were unsuccessfully able to convert.

The Talbots were able to stop the Spartans on defense and get the ball right back. Hampton was slowly able to move the ball down the field and got into the redzone.

Hampton running back Brock Borgo looked like he ended the game with a touchdown, but a penalty was called on the Talbots forcing them to move backward.

Then Midgley, who completed 11 of 18 passes for 303 yards and four touchdowns, was able to complete a pass to weeks at the 2-yard-line.

In this situation, with the Spartans having two timeouts left, instead of Hampton kneeling the ball to waste time off the clock, the Talbots decided to attempt to extend its lead. On the next play after Weeks big catch, Borgo took a handoff from Midgley and tried to run it into the endzone, but he fumbled before crossing the goal line, which was recovered by Montour’s Andrew Alston.

That set up the game-winning drive, even as Montour was without starting quarterback Jake Wolfe.

Wolfe had completed 13 of 18 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns but got hit in the head while trying to leave the pocket earlier in the fourth quarter and did not return.

“It meant everything to win this game,” senior offensive/defensive lineman Alonzo Labrie said. “No one on this team has won a playoff game. All week Coach Lou [Cerro] reminded all of us seniors that we have never won a playoff game and what was at stake tonight and we went out and did our job. We talked about adversity and how it doesn’t build character, but it reveals and I think we learned about our character.”

Hampton senior Benny Haselrig had three catches for 153 yards and three scores and also intercepted a pass. Joey Mayer rushed the ball six times for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Besides the game-winning throw that Platz made, he was able to make his presence all around the field catching a 20-yard touchdown pass from Wolfe in the first quarter while also recording an interception early in the second quarter.

Daniel Batch had six receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns for Montour, while Brock Janeda recorded a rushing touchdown for the Spartans.

The Spartans will take on the defending WPIAL/PIAA 4A Football Champions Aliquippa Quips in the next round.

“We have a lot of grit and tenacity on this team,” Janeda said. “We don’t quit, this team will never quit.”