Montgomery Shocks Unbeaten Sayreville with Second-Half Surge

Montgomery walked into Sayreville looking to bounce back — and walked out with one of the biggest wins of the season. The Cougars erased an early deficit and exploded in the second half to stun the previously undefeated and top-20 ranked Sayreville Bombers, 43–15, on Friday night.

The night began with Sayreville doing exactly what’s made them dangerous all year. Star running back Shaun Jackson, the state’s leading rusher, took a handoff near his own goal line and turned it into a 94-yard touchdown run that electrified the home crowd and gave the Bombers a 7–0 lead.

But from that moment on, Montgomery controlled the game. The Cougars’ offense, led by quarterback Jack Kristjanson and running back Caiden Miller, leaned on a balanced attack that slowly wore down the Bombers’ defense. Miller punched in two short-yardage scores in the first half to give Montgomery a narrow 16–15 lead heading into the break.

After halftime, it was all Montgomery. The Cougars came out of the locker room and put together a statement drive — 13 plays, 65 yards, capped by an 18-yard touchdown pass from Kristjanson to Trey McFadden. From there, the momentum completely flipped.

Sayreville’s offense, which had looked strong early on, began to unravel with three costly fumbles in the second half. Montgomery’s defense took full advantage, turning each mistake into points. Miller tacked on two more rushing touchdowns — giving him four total on the night — while Kristjanson added a 1-yard keeper to stretch the lead. By the time the final whistle blew, Montgomery had scored 27 unanswered points to hand Sayreville its first loss of the season.

After the game, Kristjanson credited the team’s mentality for the turnaround:

“Coming off a tough loss last week, we really needed to focus on the second half and not get complacent coming out in the third quarter,” he said. “Coming into the game, we knew they were gonna be tough, but if we played our brand of football, they couldn’t mess with us. Personally, I think I played well, but overall, it was a great team win.”

Miller finished with 128 rushing yards and four touchdowns, while Kristjanson added 89 passing yards, 44 rushing, and two total scores. Montgomery improved to 6–2 and firmly inserted itself into the playoff conversation as one of the state’s most dangerous bounce-back teams.

For Sayreville, now 7–1, Jackson’s 150-yard effort was the lone bright spot in a game that slipped away fast after halftime. The Bombers will regroup, but Montgomery’s second-half statement made one thing clear — the Cougars are built for November football.