Montclair Kimberley Academy football team holds off Garfield, 7-6, to improve to 6-0

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MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Kimberley Academy football team defeated Garfield 7-6 to improve to 6-0 on the season.

MKA has been turning heads lately taking on all comers from in and out of state. The Cougars, who are in Non-Public B and play an independent schedule, were home at Van Brunt Field in Montclair to host North Jersey Interscholastic Conference’s Garfield Boilermakers. The Cougars have been running through their schedule with relative ease, taking four out of their last five opponents to the wood hed this season. Montclair Kimberley’s defense has allowed an average of 8.6 points over the first five games. The Cougars have also outscored their first five opponents by an average of 32.6 points.

Garfield, on the other hand, is one the few Group 4 schools in the NJIC where the competition is mostly smaller Group 1 and Group 2 schools. The Boilermakers lost the first three games, going back to a 20-14 Week 0 heartbreaker. They then traveled down the Route 17 corridor to Becton where they ran into a 41-7 buzzsaw. The Boilermakers had a tough outing against Cresskill, losing 28-7 before righting the ship a little. They turned the losses into two straight wins against Palisades Park and backyard rival Elmwood Park by the combined score of 50-6 coming into the matchup with the MKA Cougars.

From the opening kickoff, MKA  was impressed with the level of competition it was able to get from the Boilermakers. Kick returner Xavier Sanabria exploded through the MKA special teams unit and nearly broke it, but was shoestring-tackled at the MKA 49-yard line. The Boilermakers, led by sophomore quarterback Talib McCullough, struck first, going 49 yards in 10 plays, with running back John Pickett closing the gap with a 3-yard touchdown with 6:19 left in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead after missed the extra point. 

But the lead was short-lived as the Cougars responded early in the second quarter. They started at their own 33-yard line, with just over a minute in the first quarter. With a fourth-and-one from the Garfield 49-yard line, QB Carl Flocco fed the ball to Josh Katz, who had already had enough for a first down, but fumbled the ball as he was being tackled. Senior RB Kalvin Thomas trailed the play, scooping up the ball for an explosive 49-yard touchdown. But hold everything –  the play was called back due to an early whistle, calling the play dead much to the dismay of the MKA fans.

Thomas struck again four plays later, this time from 21 yards out for the house call, giving MKA  a 7-6 edge. Garfield attempted a 37-yard field goal with 13 ticks on the clock before the half, but it sailed wide left, putting the ball back in Montclair Kimberley’s hands.

The second half saw two scoring opportunities for the Cougars slip out of their hands when they had costly holding penalties where that would push them back and out of the red zone. Garfield snagged two interceptions in the third quarter, keeping the Cougars by their tail, only to turn the ball over on downs and keeping the Cougars out of the end zone for the rest of the game.

“We had some great opportunities to score more points,” said Montclair Kimberley head coach Anthony Rea. He went on to say that the mistakes and penalties were what kept them from opening the game up more. “We wanted to be challenged and this is what we got. I am glad we were able to get the competition from Garfield, they really had us thinking outside our comfort zone.” 

Rea explained that although MKA is classified for Non-Public B and is eligible for this year’s playoffs, he will want to participate in the Independent Prep league playoffs that they are a part of since they are one of the top teams this year. “If it works out, schedule-wise, we would definitely play in the state playoffs, but we will see,” he said.

Garfield head coach Pete Santacroce spoke very highly of his players and of MKA, stating that his squad consists of mostly freshmen and sophomores. “We have only eight seniors and six juniors currently. I am proud that they were able to play their game against a very good Montclair Kimberley squad and hold them to a touchdown.” He said that he was impressed with Kalvin Thomas, who went to personally shake hands with Garfield’s quarterback Talib McCullough and the rest of the Boilermakers, who were very appreciative of his sportsmanship and leadership after the game. “He’s a great kid and I certainly wish him well in whatever he decides to do next,” said Santacroce. 

Garfield will close out its NJIC Colonial Division schedule on Saturday, Oct. 12, at home when perennial high-powered Lyndhurst comes for a visit. Garfield will wait until after their game against the Golden Bears to find out if it will play a crossover game or a conference playoff.  MKA will host two out-of-state schools over the next two weeks. The Cougars will play the Hopkins School out of New Haven, Connecticut, on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 10, at 3:30 p.m. and then will close out the regular season with highly-regarded Ethical Culture Fieldston School out of the Bronx.

Photos Courtesy of Kerry E. Porter

  Montclair Kimberley Academy football