Seton Hall
Linden Loses Final Game of the Regular Season to Montgomery, 28-13
Date: October 26, 2022By: Mike Bellifemini
Wilnir Louis/WillyWill Media
The Linden Tigers (3-5) fell to the Montgomery Cougars (7-3) on the road last night 28-13 in their final regular season game of the year.
It was the third straight loss for Linden to close out the season, getting outscored by opponents 87-27 in those games.
It was a slow start for the Tigers on defense, as the Cougars scored touchdowns on their first two drives of the game to take an early 13-0 lead.
Then about midway through the second quarter, Linden got on the board after an impressive 54-yard touchdown run by quarterback Te’Quan Thomas to cut the deficit to six points.
The Cougars helped give the Tigers more momentum after they fumbled the ball, giving Linden another offensive opportunity in the late stages of the first half.
However, they could not drive down the field and gave Montgomery solid field position after poor execution by the special teams unit.
Montgomery was able to capitalize on this mistake by punching in their third touchdown of the half to bring their lead up to 14 points after a successful two-point conversion.
The touchdown was scored with just 22 seconds remaining in the first half and it was scored by Chris Eubanks, who had a rushing and receiving touchdown.
In the second half, Thomas made a costly mistake while trying to get the Tigers back in the game by throwing an interception deep in Linden territory.
It didn’t take long for Montgomery to tack on seven more points after quarterback Michael Schmelzer ran the ball in himself which brought the lead up to 21 in the latter stages of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was relatively uneventful, as Linden could not convert on multiple fourth downs and towards the end of the game, both teams began to bring out their seniors to play the final snaps of their high school careers.
Linden capitalized on a successful drive by pushing the pile past the goal line as time expired to cut the difference in the contest down to 15 points. The rushing touchdown went to Davon McClinton who had 85 rushing yards during the game for the Tigers.
Schmelzer had three total touchdowns on the night for the Cougars, two passing and one rushing. Star wide receiver Matthew D’Avino recorded 85 receiving yards on 6 catches and 52 rushing yards on four attempts while registering the first Montgomery touchdown of the night by catching a 10-yard slant from Schmelzer.
The Linden Tigers may have had a disappointing ending to an emotional season but this team will be remembered for years to come in the local community for the way they persevered through a tragedy and how they honored their fallen teammate, Xavier McClain.
Check back to WSOU.net for more coverage of Linden Tigers football.
Mike Bellifemini can be reached at michael.bellifemini@student.shu.edu.
