Dunham had a short week to shake back from its first regular-season loss in nearly two years.
And the Tigers (3-1) responded in emphatic, dominant fashion in all three phases Thursday in a 42-7 rout of Ascension Catholic (2-2) behind four Richard Montgomery Jr. touchdowns from Elijah Haven and a near-shutout defensive performance.
“I feel like we took the loss (to St. Charles Catholic) in a great way,” said Montgomery, the senior receiver and defensive back. “Of course we took it hard, but we didn’t take it too hard to where it messed up our mental. We kinda used it as motivation to bounce back and show teams that even though we kinda fell off last week, we’re still a team that can go to the Dome and win this time.”
Haven and Montgomery linked up for first- and second-quarter scores, while a pair of fourth-down stops and a Joshua Lazard interception highlighted a shutout first half.
Dunham kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard until the final minutes of the contest, meanwhile blowing the game open with four third quarterback touchdowns: Haven to Montgomery twice more and Khris Thomas and Jarvis Washington Jr. (South Alabama) once each.
“I think just our base stuff, the stuff we’re really good at, you saw it flourish today,” said Haven, the highly touted junior quarterback. “And Richard’s a great player, so giving him the ball in space, he’s gonna be able to go make plays.”
The Tigers opened the night with a quick defensive stop and then methodical, 12-play, 69-yard scoring drive that included two fourth-down conversions: an Ascension Catholic offsides penalty and a Haven-Washington connection.
Haven and Montgomery capped the first possession with a 4-yard touchdown pass over the middle on which the latter made a leaping grab and held on through contact.
“This summer and spring, (Montgomery) was committed he wanted to get his hands on the ball,” Dunham coach Neil Weiner said of the two-year defensive starter. “And he put in the work and earned it. And you can see what he did tonight. He’s been doing it all season.”
Ascension Catholic’s best opportunities to answer came on red zone trips late in the first quarter with a forced fumble by Shane Aucoin recovered by fellow senior Joshua Barber and early in the second quarter with a long run by senior Trevin Simon.
But, each time, Dunham stood up for fourth-down stops with a disruptive defense spearheaded by seniors Elliot Trahan and Raymond Dragseth and juniors Charlie Myers, James Johnson and Richard Bonneval in the box.
“I think it was the preparation coming into this week,” Myers said. “We were playing with a chip on our shoulder after losing to St. Charles last week. That really fueled us. And those defense stops down there, that’s just the character of our team bouncing back.”
Haven and Montgomery linked up again in between, this time a 61-yarder on a leaping, twisting catch down the sideline and acceleration away from the defensive back contesting.
And the Tigers only gained steam in the second half, seeming to click on all cylinders to blow open a lopsided victory in a series that had been decided by just a combined five points the past three years.
“Tale of two halves,” first-year Ascension Catholic coach Taylor James said. “First half we had kind of the game we thought it was gonna be. It seemed like the 50-50 calls didn’t go our way, and we’ve gotta be able to handle that. It’s not always gonna be sunshine and rainbows, right? Sometimes bad things are gonna happen. How are you gonna handle that? First half, we did OK with that with that. We made the next play.
“We go into halftime, should’ve been a one-score game, but it’s a 14-point game. We get out in the second half and kinda bust a coverage and give up a quick one, and then just kind of as a young team we have to be able to respond to that. And at times we didn’t do that very well tonight.”
