Mt. Healthy edges Sycamore on conversion

SYMMES TWP., Ohio — A late touchdown and two-point conversion helped Mount Healthy knock off Sycamore, 36-35 in an exciting Week 1 encounter Friday night on Coach Bud Acus Field at Sycamore Stadium.

Mount Healthy (1-0) led by 14 points late in the third quarter 28-14, but Sycamore (0-1) would rally to take the lead 35-28 with 6:07 remaining in the game.

The Owls then turned the ball over on a fumble by senior quarterback David Montgomery and it seemed that the game was out of reach.

“It was real bleak at one point we were feeling pretty down, I told the kids to fight through the adversity and this is a young team that showed a lot of heart tonight.” said Mount Healthy head coach Arvie Crouch.

Mount Healthy was able to force a quick Aviators punt and drove the ball into Sycamore territory before Montgomery capped off the drive with a 33-yard touchdown run, and an extra point kick away from the tie but Crouch decided to go for the win.

“I thought about it and asked the coaches, and I said heck with it let’s do it,” Crouch said.

The gamble paid off as Montgomery went off the left side of the line and scored the game winning two-point conversion easily with 2:01 remaining in the game.

“I’m going to keep the ball in the best guys hands and that’s David Montgomery, and he’s an incredible kid all the way around not just on the field.” said Crouch.

The Owls were led all night by their quarterback, who finished the game with 214 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

The Aviators showed heart too rattling off three straight second half touchdowns behind a strong offensive line and the running back tandem of senior Clarence Dawson and junior Ra’Von Bonner.

Each runner went over 150 yards for the game. Bonner scored two touchdowns while Dawson had one score and averaged 10.2 yards per carry.

After three straight Sycamore scoring drives, the Mount Healthy defense was able to turn things around and stop the running back duo on the Aviators’ final two possessions.

“We knew that they would use both running backs so we had to keep our heads on a swivel and lock them down,” said senior linebacker Timothy Wise.

After a slow start in which the first half ended with the Owls leading 15-7, the offenses took over in the second half and the game ended with 588 combined rushing yards.

The passing games were lacking for both teams though as neither team had over 100 yards passing and the longest pass play of the night was when Mount Healthy junior Wide Receiver Derell Williams took a reverse toss and threw it down field to junior wide receiver Tyree Roberson for a 47-yard gain on the Owls first offensive play of the game.

Mount Healthy looks forward to a matchup with Fenwick (1-0) next Friday at the Owls Nest while Sycamore will try to turn things around on Friday when it hosts Covington Catholic (0-2).

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