Varsity Football

Montgomery Catholic High School Football
The 2000 Year In Review

The curtain has fallen on the 56^th football season for the Knights of Montgomery Catholic High School.  It was the second year under the tutelage of Coach Eddie Tatum.  Like Coach Tatum’s first year, the Knights finished the year with a record of 4-6.  It was a strange year for the Knights as this was to be the first year for them in the new regional football format.  The Knights were looking forward to the regional format until the AHSAA changed the rules of engagement last year.  Because of the success the private school members of the AHSAA were having in the playoffs, a move was made to remove them from the association.  Cooler heads prevailed, and instead of removing them, they handicapped them.  Each of the private school members of the AHSAA were assessed a 35% additive to their enrollment figures and then place into a new classification based upon the inflated numbers.  For the Knights it meant a move from Class 2A to Class 3A.  While such a move would have hurt the Knights playoff aspirations, the move was further compounded when the movement of schools caused four of the really strong Class 4A public schools down into Class 3A.  When all four of them ended up being placed in the Knight’s region the handwriting was on the wall.  It would be nearly impossible for the Knights to compete favorably in such a region.  Discussions were held within the administration and a public meeting was called to discuss this situation.  After all was said and done, the administration opted to not play the region schedule, thus removing the team from any possibility of entering the playoffs.  New teams were found to replace the four large public schools and a more competitive schedule was built.

That’s where the Knights found themselves when the season started.  The team consisted of 24 players, 12 seniors, 11 juniors, and one lone sophomore.  The leading returning players were Quenton Urquhart at QB, Chris Baker at Kicker, Richard Wilt at linebacker, and Ryan Robichaux, Dub Morris, and Justin Castanza in the line.  While the Knights did not have the luxury of large numbers, they did have a lot of spirit and pretty good senior leadership.  It was to be a very up and down year.  Win one week, lose the next.  The Knights were shocked in their opener, at home, by the their cross-town rivals, the Saint Jude Pirates, 28-8.  The Pirates had the Knights number all night long and the Knights never were able to claw their way into the game.  The next week it was a different Knight team that faced Ariton away.  It was a very well played game with the Knights’ defense holding Ariton in check and leading the way to a 24-14 victory.  The next game was at home against city rival ACA.  It was a tail of two halves.  In the first half ACA nearly passed the Knights off of the field and built a huge lead.  However, in the 2^nd half, with ACA’s sterling QB sitting on the sidelines with an injury, the Knights clawed their way back into the game and almost catching ACA.  A late ACA field goal sealed the Knights fate and they lost 31-21, but had played an exceptionally good 2^nd half.  They built on that strong half and went off to Barbour County HS and completely dominated the Tigers.  Led by a strong defensive effort, the Knights shutout them out 24-0.  Unfortunately the Knights reverted back to the loss side of the pattern the next week and were thoroughly dominated by city rival Trinity.  The Knights were never in this one and lost 34-0.  Based upon the win one, lose one pattern, the next week was a win one week.  Taking no chances, the Knights scheduled homecoming on this week.  They did not disappoint the alumni and throttled Bibb Graves 28-6.  After six weeks they were at .500 and won every other week.  Unfortunately the Knights continued the pattern the next week and dropped a 28-7 game to Montgomery Academy.  The Knights were keyed up the following week when they faced a good, playoff bound, Red Level team.  The Knights took it to Red Level all night long but only had a field goal to show for all of their efforts.  Late in the 4^th quarter disaster struck when the Knights had a punt blocked and Red Level took it in for a score and the lead.  A late meaningless TD by Red Level made the final 14-3.  The Knights were devastated by the loss.  They played well, they had the game in hand, and suddenly, they lost.  The funk carried over to the next week when they faced a winless Calhoun team.  Unfortunately for the Knights these Tigers had teeth and were keyed up for the Knights.  They ran roughshod over the Knights and came away with their only victory of the year 24-14.  The Red Level loss had taken more out of the Knights than expected.  Showing their will in the face of a losing season, the Knights came back and completely dominated Holtville in the season finale, 42-14. 

The Knights ended the year with a 4-6 record, but they knew they could have easily had a 7-3 record.  The losses to Saint Jude and Calhoun were unexpected, and they had played well enough to win the Red Level game.  Win those games and a ho-hum 4-6 season becomes a 7-3 season with reason to celebrate.

Leaders for the Knights this year were Quenton Urquhart on both offense and defense.  “Q” led the way at QB, passing for 529-yards and eight TDs.  Additionally, he spent a lot of time scrambling and ended up leading the Knights with 400-yards rushing.  On defense he was ferocious.  He had the Channel 12 Friday Night Fever “Hit of the Year” and was constantly in on tackles all over the field for the Knights.  Sean Waits added 250 rushing yards and Joe Cotromano followed right behind with 237 rushing yards.  Jonathon DuBose was on the receiving end of most of “Q’s” passes, ending the year with 15 catches for 366-yards and six TDs.  Chris Baker had 41 punts for an average of 34.8 yards per punt.  Will Lamar only had four punts, but they were all critical ones that he boomed out for an average of 46.0 yards per kick.  Baker also was 18/20 on extra-points and added 3 of 7 field goals.  Duke Schroll picked off a team leading six interceptions to help bail out the Knights on defense on numerous occasions.  Holder Nevins was another leader who was fearless as a kick-returner, solid as a receiver, and dependable at defensive end; however, a late season injury took him and his leadership away from the team.  The rest of the seniors added a great deal to the success of the team and will be greatly missed:  Justin Castanza, JW “Dub” Morris, Cole Swink, Chris Lombard, and Jacob Sadler in the trenches; Eric Knight at end; and Justin Cooper, an undersized package of dynamite who was the glue that held the team together.  They become the 56^th group of seniors to graduate from the Knights football program and we thank them for all of the blood, sweat, and tears they’ve left on the field in support of our program.  Good luck boys and we hope to see you back as alumni in the future.  To the undergraduates who will be returning next year, get in the weight room, start recruiting your friends, and get ready to lead the Knights in their 57^th season on the gridiron—the future is now yours!!