By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
SUAMICO – Because his older brother wasn’t in uniform, Bay Port’s Tevyn Montgomery said he had to step up and help his team.
Trailing 14-6 entering the fourth quarter, the Pirates scored 20 unanswered points – all by Montgomery – to escape with a 26-14, non-conference victory over Middleton Aug. 19 at Bay Port High School.
It was the area’s first fall football game.
“With (Jayden Montgomery) out, I had the mindset of working hard and helping my team,” Tevyn Montgomery, the son of Packers defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, said. “It was a good win for us against a quality team. Jayden is a great leader and a great brother, so it sucks he can’t be out here right now. Things happen, and you have to play through it. He supports me.”
The senior Jayden Montgomery, a verbal commit to Division I Iowa, is out after having sports hernia surgery earlier this year during the alternate fall season this past spring.
“Anytime you’re missing a player like Jayden, it hurts,” Bay Port head coach Gary Westerman said. “He’s day-to-day, and we hope to get him back soon.”
Tevyn Montgomery, who rushed for 58 yards on 16 carries, scored a pair of one-yard touchdowns and added a four-yard score in a span of about five minutes during the fourth quarter.
He also added a successful 2-point conversion run.
“It was fun to get back out here and have a normal game,” Montgomery said. “We played in the spring, but it wasn’t the same – look at all these fans here.”
Westerman was also impressed by the sophomore Montgomery.
“Tevyn did well,” Westerman said. “Middleton loaded the box up, so we tried to spread them out – it worked in our favor.”
Bay Port is trying to erase a 2-5 record during the alternate fall season, so Westerman said a win against a quality opponent is a good start for his squad.
“We moved the ball the whole game,” he said. “We simply sputtered out and couldn’t finish drives. Our defense shored up in the second half, and we used two turnovers by (Middleton) to gain some momentum. We played physical. It’s the first time we’ve played Middleton, so we didn’t have much film on them. We went into this game blind.”
After Middleton jumped out a 7-0 lead after the opening drive of the game, Pirates quarterback Cole Bensen scored from five yards out to make it 7-6.
The extra-point attempt failed.
With the Cardinals leading 14-6 late in the second quarter, the Pirates drove to the 13-yard line, but a bad snap over Bensen’s head killed the drive.
On the ensuing Middleton possession, with time winding down, Bay Port’s Evan Friendshuh intercepted a Logan Raffel pass to end the half.
With the game tied 14-14 in the fourth quarter, the Pirates Landon Gauthier intercepted another Raffel pass and returned the ball to the Middleton 13, setting up Montgomery’s second score of the night.
On the ensuing kickoff, Jojo Azure’s kick bounced off the helmet of a Cardinals player at about 15-yard line and rolled toward the end zone.
Gauthier recovered the bouncing ball at the three, which led to Montgomery’s third score moments later.
Bay Port outgained Middleton in total yardage, 335-162.
Bensen rushed for 124 yards on 24 carries to lead the Pirates, who rushed for 263 yards total as a team.