FINDLAY – As the most heavily recruited high school quarterback in northwest Ohio history gets ready to embark on his final prep season with the Findlay Trojans, Georgia-bound senior Ryan Montgomery has a few boxes left to check before joining the powerhouse Bulldogs next year.
■ Winning another Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division title – this one an outright crown – is at the top of his list.
■ Making a deeper run in the Division I playoffs is also something not too far-fetched for Findlay, which lost in the opening round a year ago.
■ Defeating perennial state power Central Catholic for the first time in his career.
The last of these presents the greatest challenge.
Central Catholic’s Fighting Irish enter the 2024 season riding a 31-game winning streak and back-to-back state titles. They have beaten Findlay 11 straight times, with the last Trojans win in the series coming in 2011.
“We’ve got a tough task ahead of us Friday at Central Catholic,” Montgomery said. “They always have a really good team, and it’s going to be really tough. But, I think we’re ready for it. I’m excited to see how we can do. I know that we’re going to compete and battle, and whatever happens, happens.”
After Montgomery became Findlay’s starting quarterback as a freshman in 2021, the Trojans fell 41-6 at Central Catholic. In 2022, the last year of the Three Rivers Athletic Conference, the Irish rolled to a 50-17 victory at Findlay.
Last season, no longer as TRAC foes, Central Catholic again traveled to Findlay, this time for the 2023 season opener. The result was familiar — a 47-14 Trojans loss.
“Obviously, they’re very talented and athletic and big,” Montgomery said. “I think the biggest thing for us is just the mental side. We’ve made too many big mistakes in those moments. This year we’ve just got to be able to minimize mistakes in crucial moments. You have to limit mistakes as much as possible against a team like Central Catholic.”
Findlay was within 21-14 of Central just before the break last year when the Irish scored a touchdown on the final play of the half.
They added three third-quarter scores on three straight possessions to turn the seemingly close battle into a rout, that despite Montgomery’s 28 of 50 passing for 260 yards.
Findlay regrouped to win five straight games by an average score of 47-10, then lost at NLL Buckeye foe Anthony Wayne, 18-14, on a last-second TD by the Generals.
The Trojans rebounded again, winning key Buckeye Division games at Perrysburg, 42-35, and at Whitmer, 40-14, before blanking Northview, 48-0, to close the regular season at 8-2 overall. They shared the Buckeye title with Anthony Wayne and Whitmer at 4-1. Findlay lost its playoff opener 36-35 to Powell Olentangy Liberty.
NEXT LEVEL NCAA FBS-level talent will be all over the field during Friday's Central Catholic-Findlay game. Here is a breakdown.
Central Catholic ■ DB Victor Singleton (four-star recruit)
■ LB Mike Besteda (offer from Toledo)
■ TE Preston Fryzel (three-star)
■ WR/DB Sharard Vaughn (MAC and Marshall offers)
Findlay ■ QB Ryan Montgomery (Georgia commit)
■ OL Baylor Wilkin (Indiana commit)
■ TE Reece Little (MAC offers)
■ DL Ashton Yeager (MAC offers)
“Last year gave us momentum for what we can do,” Findlay coach Stefan Adams said. “…It's just a matter of being able to execute at a high level.”
When the Trojans and Irish meet Friday at Central’s Gallagher Stadium, Montgomery, Adams, and the rest of the Trojans’ players and coaches will get one last crack at northwest Ohio’s top football program.
No longer in the same league, the Central-Findlay series will be discontinued after this year.
Theoretically, if there is an opportune time for Findlay to face Central Catholic, it would seem to be in the first game of a season after which the Irish have absorbed major losses to graduation, before their inexperienced players fully grasp the offensive and defensive schemes.
But, Adams isn’t certain there is “best time” to face the Irish.
“At the beginning of the year, they’re maybe still looking to find the pieces to the puzzle,” the fourth-year Trojans coach said. “In the middle of the year they’re getting confident. This [first week] may be a great time, but it comes down to — did they rebuild or just reload?
“Those [new starters] were getting experience in big games last year because they were beating people pretty good. Deep down, you want to catch them early before they build some continuity in their offensive line. But, it doesn’t really matter when you play them. It’s more about whether you can go out there and execute against them.”
Gone from the Central Catholic roster are all five members of what was arguably the greatest prep offensive line group in this area’s history.
It was a line, led by first team D-III All-Ohioan Marc Nave (now at Kentucky), that paved the way to back-to-back state titles, with four of the five 2022 starters returning to the O line in 2023. The fifth 2022 OL starter (Davontae’ Wright-Ward) switched to defense last year, and became a first team all-district linebacker.
Also gone are three other first team D-III All-Ohioans — running back Marquan Braswell (1,923 rushing yards, 31 TD), receiver Jaylen Watson (62 catches, 1,101 yards, 14 total TD), and defensive lineman Mike Cannings. Seven other Irish seniors that received honorable-mention All-Ohio recognition in 2023 also graduated.
At most programs, this type of void might be considered too much to overcome. But, at Central Catholic, the annual expectation is to simply reload.
That’s why the coaches in the Michigan-based Catholic High School League’s Central Division picked the Irish to repeat their title in a preseason poll vote.
Whether or not the Irish live up to that forecast remains to be seen, as does the chance of Findlay ending Central’s winning streak.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Montgomery chose Georgia — college football’s back-to-back national champion in 2021 and 2022, and the preseason No. 1-ranked team entering 2024 — from among 27 Division I scholarship offers.
Included among his offers were those from defending national champion Michigan, as well as 2024 preseason No. 2 Ohio State.
“Finally having that recruiting process wrapped up, and being committed to a place where I want to be and not having to worry about that anymore, I’ll be able to go out on Friday nights my senior year and not have to worry about anything,” Montgomery said. “I just want to go out there and have fun with the guys and go win some football games.”
Last season, Montgomery was 258 of 376 passing for 3,377 yards and 38 touchdowns, and rushed for 257 yards and 10 scores. He was named first team Division I All-Ohio, All-NLL Buckeye, all-district, and was The Blade’s 2023 player of the year.
Through three varsity seasons, he has passed for 7,584 yards and 89 TDS.
“He is definitely in complete control right now,” Adams said. “He’s got the keys to the car, and he’s in the driver’s seat. He’s the one pushing the agenda forward and making sure that he’s an extension of our offensive coordinator on the field.
“Watching him in practice and in our scrimmages, we see a guy who is confident and completely aware of what’s going on. His anticipation is great. He knows where the ball is supposed to go. That’s the growth and development of being four years down the road.”
Win or lose Friday, Montgomery is poised for another great season to cap his career.
“I’m definitely a lot more prepared,” Montgomery said. “Each year I’ve felt more prepared, and have a level of comfort with the offense having three years under my belt at the high school level.
“I am uber comfortable back there now. I don’t want to say that I’ve mastered the offense because you can never say you’ve learned enough of an offense or defense in the game of football. I’m still learning. I’m always going to be learning.”
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