Not even the force of Hurricane Joaquin could dampen Richard Montgomery football’s firepower as they ran their way past Walter Johnson, 43-6, bringing their season tally to 5-0. With rain slashing down under the Friday Night Lights for RM’s Homecoming game at Roy Lester Stadium, the Wildcats could not find an answer for a three running back rotation responsible for three of the touchdowns, nor could they break down the staunch Rocket defense.
RM remains one of five Montgomery County football teams undefeated on the season. Damascus, Seneca Valley, and Paint Branch all advanced to 5-0 along with the Rockets Friday night. Sherwood, also undefeated, will play Northwest on Saturday, an interesting game to watch as the Rockets play at Northwest next Friday.
A revitalized offensive line for the Rockets gave life to three backfield threats, seniors Jhordan Greene and Gabe Gomez, and junior Tylen Hebron. “We’ve been working real hard and to have it come to fruition is awesome,” senior offensive lineman Julian Avenilla said. A testament to the push upfront by the offensive line, Hebron was untouched on both of his short yardage touchdown carries on the night.
The increased amount of carries for Gomez adds a lot to the offense. Smaller in stature than the other two, Gomez uses his strength to get through holes in the offensive line, and even can put on a burst of speed around the corner, as he did on his 11 yard touchdown run in the third quarter. “Ty [Hebron] and Jhordan [Greene] both play a bunch of defense,” Coach Klotz said, “it’s great to have [Gomez] in that mix to give Ty and Jhordan some rest.
“[Gomez] has been working his tail off for the past two years and […] kept getting better and better and better, and these past two weeks, he’s really started to look good in practice and I gave him a shot as one of our top backs and he got in there and ran really hard and did a great job in the run game for us,” Coach Klotz continued. “I’m really proud of Gabe.”
“Ty’s a really good power runner, sees everything, has great vision. Jhordan’s one of the biggest dudes on the team, he’s got a lot of strength,” Gomez said. “Hopefully, to the team I add a balance of that. I can make people miss, maybe run a couple people over, and I hope to fill my role in the team whenever they need me.”
For Greene and Hebron, the luxury of having another running back able to carry the load was evident in the energy on other sides of the ball. “Having those three rotations, for me for example, keeps me fresh on the defense and fresh on offense,” Greene said, a running back and defensive end.
Hebron, a running back and defensive back, seconded Greene’s idea. “Hats off to Gabe, he stepped in when he had to.”
On Walter Johnson’s first possession of the game, Jhordan Greene burst through the Wildcats punt blockers to block the kick, and senior Alex Medrano recovered it in the end zone to put the Rockets up 7-0 early.
From the fast start, Walter Johnson could not keep up. Relentless defensive pressure knocked Walter Johnson’s quarterback out of the game in the first quarter, and that only intensified the pressure. “[Defense] is really the strength and identity of our team this year. The mentality, every time we take the field we are just going to be relentless, tenacious, and try to be as intimidating as possible,” Coach Klotz said.
The defense forced four turnovers Friday night, two of which resulted in touchdowns. One, a fumble recovered by sophomore Traevon Parsons within Walter Johnson’s ten yard line, led to the second running touchdown by Hebron. A fumble recovered by junior Jack Fonseca, stopped a Walter Johnson drive at midfield. Senior Javontay Offutt had two interceptions, including an interception returned for a touchdown late in the game, sealing the victory for the Rockets, 43-6.
In bend but don’t break fashion, RM’s defense stopped Walter Johnson twice within RM’s ten yard line, forcing field goals. Those were the only points given up by RM on the rainy night.
The Rockets are at Northwest High School next Friday to challenge the Class 4A state champions. “We are going to learn a lot about ourselves next week,” Coach Klotz said. “The good thing is, we knew that at the halfway point, we needed to be 5-0. To take care of business these first five games.”
The Rockets have secured a non-losing season, and have already matched the win total from the previous two seasons combined. “Now that we look at the second half of the schedule, we’re going to have some good tests to find out how good we are,” Coach Klotz continued. “Hopefully, our fans have been having fun these last five weeks and will travel up to Germantown, and we can get Hell’s Kitchen and all of that involved up there on the road.” It has to be better weather next week than it was Friday night.
