By MATT JOCKS
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
HEMET Shawn Montgomery has seen too many disappointing finishes in his Hemet West Valley football career. He was determined that this game wouldn’t be added to the list.
Montgomery capped a big game on both sides of the ball Friday by making the game’s biggest stop as West Valley hung on for a 21-16 Mountain Pass League win over Hemet.
Hemet (3-6, 1-3 in league) had put itself in position to steal a come-frombehind victory after Kyle Serna made a spectacular catch in traffic, good for 39 yards to the West Valley 17. However, on third-and-1 with less than two minutes remaining, Montgomery shot the gap to throw Hemet running back Denzel Graves for a 9-yard loss.
On fourth-and-10, quarterback Joey Iribe went for a potential winning touchdown, but West Valley cornerback Israel Amezquita
deflected the ball away from receiver Jakob Jurado to seal the victory.
Turning away Hemet was motivation enough for Montgomery, but he had a little extra. He had fumbled at the Hemet 10, as the Mustangs (3-6, 2-2) were driving for a potential clinching score.
“I was a little nervous after making that mistake,” he said. “We just had to get the ball back.”
A senior, Montgomery has played through a rough stretch. The Mustangs were 3-27 the three previous seasons and Friday’s victory marked the first time they’d won more than one league game since 2011.
The Mustangs had to overcome three secondhalf turnovers.
“That (the turnovers) normally would have been really bad news,” West Valley coach Matt Willard said. “By the grace of God we were able to overcome it.”
West Valley rode the legs of Dahron Gilchrist to a 1410 halftime lead. He ran for more than 100 yards and two scores in the half, including a 59-yard scoring run on the first play.
Montgomery gained 90 yards and scored a TD in the second half.
“They (West Valley) have done a great job,” Hemet coach Jason Thornburg said. “They’ve got 36 seniors and that makes a difference.”
Source: www.pe.com