Rain, fumble help Braves tame Tigers

NEW LONDON - Just seven days after seemingly everything went right for New London's Tigers, Friday night, seemingly everything went wrong.

An undefeated football season came to a rain-soaked end when No. 7 Montezuma (3-0) took a decisive 56-20 victory.

The Tigers saw injuries, miscues and an inability to stop Montezuma junior Eddie Burgess, who ran for 188 yards on 24 carries and surgically dissected New London's defense. Burgess was 15-of-23 passing for 224 yards, threw four touchdowns, returned a kickoff 65 yards for another score and bullied into the end zone for two rushing TDs. For good measure, Burgess collected seven tackles on defense.

'We had something to prove,” Burgess said. 'We all came together and it showed on the scoreboard.”

The Tigers rarely contained Burgess, but remained within striking distance. Trailing 35-14, the Tigers crafted an impressive 15-play 64-yard drive to Montezuma's 1-yard line. Wet weather caused a fumbled snap, recovered by the Braves. Burgess methodically marched his teammates downfield and tossed a six-yard TD pass to Trey Shearer.

A possible 35-21 score was now 41-14 and the swing of momentum proved to be too much for the Tigers to overcome.

'We had a lot of positives,” New London coach Mark McSorely said. 'I feel that at some point the kids need to kind of settle down and trust the game plan and see that stuff is working. We started on our own 15 and drove to their 1-yard line. At that point, we were down three scores and I figured that if we scored there, we would go into the locker room only down two touchdowns.”

Burgess' coach Patrick O'Brien agreed that drive was pivotal and helped carry the Braves through the rest of the game.

'That drive was huge and our defense also stepped up,” O'Brien said.

The steady rain that dampened New London's offensive firepower turned into a consistent downpour. Burgess made a mistake on the first play of the third quarter, throwing an interception to the Blaise Porter. However, Porter fumbled back to Montezuma as he looked return yardage. Shearer's 10-yard TD piled on the Tigers' misfortune.

Porter, who ran for 210 yards on 19 carries, had an impressive 65-yard touchdown sprint. But, Burgess' assortment of plunges off right and left guard finalized another drive with a seven-yard run. The two-point conversion started the running clock.

New London fumbled the ball six times and lost three. Quarterback Ethan Streeter's and senior Brody Butterbaugh's injuries were testimony that it was not the Tigers' night.

'New London is a real powerhouse in 8-man football,” O'Brien said. 'They are always well coached. They are one of the best defensive teams in 8-man in my opinion.”

Porter had 8.5 tackles with Currey Jacobs-Miller and Boden Pickle six each.