This week in Montclair football history: October 6-12

Montclair running back Ira Williams (40) became the first player in school history to run for 300 yards in a game this week in 1976. Williams ran for 323 yards — still the fifth-best total for any Montclair rusher — and three touchdowns in the Mounties’ 47-8 win over Kearny at Woodman Field.

As part of our mission to celebrate the past, present and future of Montclair High School football, each Wednesday we’ll be taking a look back at some of the notable moments, biggest wins, and most thrilling finishes in program history from each day that week in history.

OCTOBER 6, 1956: In perhaps its most dominant defensive performance ever, Montclair limits Kearny to minus-39 yards of total offense on 40 plays in a 41-0 blowout win at Woodman Field. The visiting and previously unbeaten Kardinals complete 6 of their 12 passes for 27 yards, but a dominant Mountie defense — led by Dick Butterfield, Tony Carnevale, Pete Work, Herb Garrett and Mike Nicholl — continually sacked the Kearny quarterback, resulting in a final rushing total of -66 yards on 28 attempts. This game continues to mark the Montclair school record for fewest yards allowed in a game, and is just one of four games on record in which the Mounties held an opponent to negative total yardage. Not to be outdone, the legendary Haines twins, Richie and Robert, combined for five touchdowns (Richie on a punt return and a short run, Robert on two running plays and a 35-yard reception).

OCTOBER 7, 2017: Quarterback Tarrin Earle throws for 211 yards and four touchdowns as MHS overwhelms East Orange, 44-16, to improve to 4-0 on the season. It was just the 13th time in history a Mountie quarterback had thrown for four TDs in a game, and Earle’s second (he would add two more such games before the 2017 season was over). Earle connected with Tyshawn Williams for two scores, and also hit D.J. Williams and Charles Murphy. The Mounties rolled to a 44-2 halftime lead behind the passing attack of Earle, as well as Gary Robinson’s 36-yard fumble return score.

OCTOBER 8, 1966: Before he was the president of baseball’s National League, Len Coleman was a Mountie legend as a running back, and on this day, he had the finest statistical performance of his career. In a crushing 53-7 win over Kearny, Coleman ran for a career-high 185 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 13 carries. The Mounties cruised to victory behind the running of Coleman, Mike Chavies (3 TD runs) and Mike Ferlauto (127 yards and a TD).

OCTOBER 9, 1999: Montclair holds off a solid Teaneck team, 20-13, to remain unbeaten through four games thanks to a fourth-quarter touchdown from running back Rikki Cook. The Mounties’ two-headed RB monster that season is out in full force, with both Cook (161 yards) and Justin Ashe (177 yards, TD) giving the Highwaymen all sorts of problems. Meanwhile, Raheim Pelham puts his name in the record books with the longest kick-return touchdown in Montclair football history, a 97-yarder that gives MHS a 13-7 lead in the first quarter.

OCTOBER 10, 2014: In Montclair’s first-ever road game outside of New Jersey or New York, the Mounties roll up 645 yards of offense in a record-breaking 64-35 win over St. Mark’s of Wilmington, Del. Senior quarterback Elijah Robinson runs for a career-high 330 yards and 5 touchdowns (including TD runs of 80, 80 and 78 yards), which still stands as the fourth-highest rushing total in a single game in program history. Robinson also passes for 115 yards and a TD to Daniel Webb, and running back Shaquan Oliver chips in 119 more yards and 2 TDs on the ground. The Mounties gain 645 yards of total offense, tied for the program record (see below), and their 530 rushing yards is third-most all-time. Scoring-wise, Montclair’s 64 points represents the program’s highest-scoring game of the modern era (since 1900), and the 99 combined points remains the third highest-scoring game in Mountie history.

OCTOBER 11, 1976: There must be something about this time on the calendar and record-breaking offensive performances: in the other game tied for Montclair’s highest single-game offensive yardage total in program history, running back Ira Williams becomes the first Mountie to ever run for 300+ yards in a game in a 47-8 wipeout of Kearny on a Monday afternoon at Woodman Field. This game is also the first time two Mounties ran for 200+ yards in a game, as Williams’ 323 yards and 3 TDs on 23 carries was complemented by Mark Tyree’s 217 yards and 2 TDs on 18 carries. Throw in a 100-yard passing day for QB J.R. D’Alessandro and the Mounties set what was then a program record with 645 yards, which would stand for 38 years. The following week, meanwhile, Williams would join Aubrey Lewis and Richie Haines as the only Mounties with multiple 200-yard rushing games (though several players have accomplished this feat since 1976).

OCTOBER 12, 1996: In one of the biggest regular-season wins under then-coach Ed Lebida, Montclair rallies from a two-touchdown halftime deficit to stun unbeaten Bergen Catholic, 27-19, at Woodman Field. Montclair trails 12-0 at halftime before a furious rally that sees them score four unanswered touchdowns. Shawn Plummer scores on a two-yard run to put MHS on the board, followed by Anthony Nesbit’s 42-yard TD run midway through the third, giving the Mounties the lead for good. Plummer would put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, catching a 21-yard TD pass from Brian Roth and plunging in from three yards out to make it 27-12 with 4:31 to play. You can check out the full replay of this memorable game on YouTube.