NFA comes out fired up in convincing win over Montville

Montville — Norwich Free Academy is a different and dangerous football team when it plays with emotion.

Just ask Montville.

The Wildcats came out fired up and ready to play Friday night and rolled to a convincing 41-14 victory.

'This is a big win," senior Khaleed Exum-Strong said. "We played with emotion and we competed at the caliber that we should have been competing at the whole year."

It was a dominating performance, as Exum-Strong and sophomore quarterback Jawaun Johnson each rushed over 100 yards with help from a physical offensive line. Exum-Strong finished with 164 yards and two touchdowns while Johnson had 117 yards, ran for two touchdowns and threw for a score.

"They have an extremely good football team," Montville coach Tanner Grove said. "They have four or five kids who play on the line who are as big and strong as anybody in the area. When they choose to play well, they're very good. The weeks when they choose not to, they're not."

NFA (4-2) won its second straight game by a decisive margin.

The turning point for the Wildcats came after suffering an upsetting 27-24 loss to Griswold on Oct. 10.

"Emotionally, we weren't there," NFA coach Jemal Davis said.

They changed their work habits and adopted a new mindset. The next game, they routed Fitch 56-20.

"It showed us that we weren't working hard enough," Exum-Strong said of the Griswold loss. "We were fooling around too much, so we came back in practice and worked hard and everyone was ready and focused."

The Wildcats rode their emotional freight train right into Friday's game, scoring on their first three drives. Johnson weaved through traffic to score from five yards out to start the rout.

Then NFA turned a fumble on the ensuing kickoff into a score, capping a three-play, 29-yard drive with Exum-Strong powering into the end zone from a yard out.

Johnson, who attempted only three passes, hooked up with junior Griffen Gooden for a 13-yard scoring play, and then added a 22-yard run before the half for a 27-0 lead.

NFA executed its game plan, racking up 215 yards on the ground by halftime.

"We saw some things on film in terms of how they played against Ledyard and some other teams that we felt that we could run the ball effectively," Davis said. "We felt that they were going to leave some gaps."

Exum-Strong reached a milestone, going over the 1,000-yard rushing mark this season. He ran hard and tough, even fighting for extra yards with his team leading 41-0 late in the third quarter. He had a 29-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.

"I'm very excited for that," Exum-Strong said of the 1,000-yard mark. "It took awhile but we did it. I just want to thank my line and my teammates. It's a great accomplishment for me."

NFA added a special teams touchdown, as senior Ramel Pires returned a punt 42 yards.

Montville (4-3) scored twice in the fourth quarter. Senior Sean Peterson rushed for both scores and finished with 161 yards.

There was a scary moment early in the second half.

An NFA player drilled Montville junior Tyler Price behind the play during an interception return. Price stayed down and medical personnel came on to the field and eventually took him to the hospital.

Grove said that Price is going to be OK.

" "He had feeling and passed all the extremity tests," Grove said. "He was knocked out on the field for a few moments, so they took precautions. ... He got hit in the mouth with the crown of somebody's helmet considerably behind the play, so we were unhappy with that."

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe