BELGRADE – For nearly one half of football it looked like the Maroon’s froshmore team would relive Saturday’s nightmare of missed opportunities and self sabotage in a second straight game against Belgrade.
Down 20-6 with only 1:24 to go until halftime, Maroon quarterback Danny Peoples led a 65-yard drive capped by Kamen Richards’ two yard touchdown with :02 seconds left in the second quarter. Central took that momentum into halftime and played a nearly flawless second half, putting up 50 points while allowing only one first down in a 64-20 win Monday.
The Maroons forced five Panther turnovers and stopped two other drives on fourth down to go with a hand full of sacks and tackles for loss. Marcus Ferriter was a huge part of the turnaround, constantly harassing Belgrade in their backfield and forcing the Panthers into mistakes. Ferriter also had a series on offense where he pancaked a Panther defensive end on three consecutive plays that paved the way for a touchdown.
The Maroons took full advantage of their excellent field position and turned a nail biter into a mercy rule game mid way through the fourth.
Peoples connected with Chad Peterson several times throughout the game including a 30-yard strike on a first down after one of two Dalton Sessions fumble recoveries Peoples overcame an early interception and accounted for two rushing touchdowns. He was spelled by freshman Cole Harper, who also punched in two rushing scores, including the play of the game on a dazzling 40-yard tote where he ran from one sideline to the other before eluding the last Panther defender as he lunged into the endzone.
Peterson also showed some burst late in the game as Central was trying to run out the clock, he took a simple run off tackle made a cut and darted down the sideline for a 60-yard score that put the exclamation point on the victory.
Other contributors for the Maroons included Devin Maloghney, who stuffed a 2-point conversion and had several big blocks on the offensive line. Colin McArthur had an interception and a nice return that set up Harper’s long run.
Frank Hendrickson stuffed a fourth down conversion attempt behind the line of scrimmage early in the second half along with strong run blocking as an offensive tackle. Kyle Harrington had a sack on another fourth down and contributed on several other tackles.
Jake Michelloti came up with a fumble recovery during the second half onslaught. The Maroons will be back in varsity action on Friday as they make the trek to Havre to face the Blue Ponies, the froshmores will play in two weeks at Deer Lodge.
– Submitted by Derek Hendrickson
