Mutton Powers Football Past Colonia; Volleyball Takes First Loss, Tennis and Boys Soccer Fall

Nicholas Mistretta

MHS ’79 Cougar Sports Correspondent

MONTGOMERY, NJ — Montgomery High School athletics produced a mixed slate of results, highlighted by a hard-fought football victory over Colonia. Girls volleyball suffered its first loss after opening the season with seven straight wins, while girls tennis dropped a close 3-2 decision to Ridge and boys soccer fell to St. Thomas Aquinas.

Mutton Scores Four Times as Football Holds Off Colonia, 28-21

Montgomery football used a punishing ground game and four rushing touchdowns from Zach Mutton to defeat Colonia, 28-21, improving the Cougars to 2-2.

Montgomery struck first when Mutton scored on a 1-yard run in the opening quarter. He added a 2-yard touchdown early in the second, with his extra point extending the lead to 13-0.

Colonia responded with two touchdowns of its own. Tyronn Holloway hauled in a 56-yard touchdown pass from Brady Hammond, and Hammond later scored on a 3-yard run to briefly put Colonia ahead, 14-13.

Montgomery answered before halftime. Mutton powered in from 6 yards out before Miles Dawson converted the two-point attempt, sending the Cougars into the break with a 21-14 advantage.

Holloway tied the game in the third quarter with a 36-yard touchdown run, but Montgomery regained control in the fourth.

Mutton delivered the decisive score on a 13-yard touchdown run, then added the extra point to give the Cougars the 28-21 lead they would protect the rest of the way.

Mutton carried the ball 21 times for 122 yards, leading a Montgomery rushing attack that accumulated 202 yards on 45 carries. Zach Furey added 54 yards on seven attempts, while Xavier Harrigan contributed 34 rushing yards.

Montgomery attempted only five passes but completed three for 69 yards. Harrigan caught two passes for 52 yards, including a 47-yard reception, while Furey added a 17-yard catch.

The Cougars finished with 271 yards of offense, relying primarily on a ground attack that repeatedly delivered in scoring situations.

Hopewell Valley Hands Volleyball First Loss of Season

After opening the season with seven consecutive victories, Montgomery girls volleyball suffered its first setback with a 2-0 loss to Hopewell Valley.

The Cougars fell 25-13 in the opening set before playing a closer second set, with Hopewell Valley completing the sweep 25-19.

Montgomery moved to 7-1, while Hopewell Valley improved to 3-4.

Pooja Venkat led the Cougars offensively with six kills and added four digs.

Ritisha Mungi finished with two kills, a team-high eight assists and seven digs, while Anita Balashova recorded two kills, two digs and two aces.

Defensively, Selina Tan led Montgomery with 16 digs. Carly Zissman added three digs and an ace, while Anshika Verma recorded Montgomery’s lone block.

The Cougars finished with 12 kills, 36 digs, eight assists, three aces and one block.

Despite the loss, Montgomery remains off to a strong 7-1 start after beginning the season with seven straight victories.

Ridge Edges Girls Tennis, 3-2

Montgomery girls tennis came up just short against Ridge, falling 3-2 and moving to 5-3.

The Cougars picked up victories at third singles and second doubles.

Mihika Doshi defeated Ridge’s Celina Chen 6-2, 6-3 at third singles.

At second doubles, Nikitaa Chandane and Nidhi Soppimath turned in a straight-set victory over Carys Dutton and Elena Zhang, winning 6-0, 6-4.

Ridge captured both of the top singles positions. Eva Rao defeated Montgomery’s Lanxin Xiao, 6-1, 6-4, while Isabella Xu topped Emily Ma, 6-1, 6-1.

The closest match of the day came at first doubles.

Montgomery’s Rachel Silverberg and Annie Xu dropped the opening set to Amina Rachidi and Elizabeth Lebedev, 6-4, but responded with a 6-1 second-set victory. Ridge ultimately secured the match in the deciding tiebreak, 10-4, giving the Red Devils the third point needed for the team victory.

St. Thomas Aquinas Pulls Away From Boys Soccer

Montgomery boys soccer fell to 2-3 following a 7-1 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas, which improved to 5-2.

St. Thomas Aquinas built a 4-0 halftime lead and added three more goals in the second half. Montgomery broke through for its lone goal after halftime.

The provided box score does not identify Montgomery’s scorer or assist on the goal.

Fola Odukoya led St. Thomas Aquinas with a hat trick, while Ryan Carrion, Matthew Rivera, Emmanuel Agbakoba and Wayden Markowitz each scored once.

Agbakoba also recorded two assists, while Rivera, Markowitz, Noah Charnecky, Elias Araujo and James Martinez each contributed an assist.

St. Thomas Aquinas was credited with 16 shots on goal.

Photo Credit: Nick Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomry.com