"It’s a very big game for us, no doubt about it," said Lebida. "Ridgewood is an excellent team and Coach [Chuck] Johnson does an excellent job preparing his team for whatever comes their way.

"We had success in our two games last year against them due to our athleticism, so hopefully that is something we can take advantage of again."

Because they faced Bosco Friday night, the Mounties will have had more than a week to prepare for the Maroons. Lebida said his squad started conditioning work this past Saturday, and began their practice week on Sunday.

Montclair would likely surpass RHS in power points with a win on Saturday. A loss would drop MHS into the bottom half of the eight teams currently in one of the playoff spots.

"We are basically at the halfway point of the season, and it’s certainly a time we start looking at playoff positioning," Lebida said. "If we can beat Ridgewood, it will really improve our positioning."

SHOW OF CHARACTER

Boosted by a sack from junior linebacker Frank Cooper, the Mounties forced the Ironmen to punt on their first possession. Senior Zach Williams’ tackle for a loss and two incomplete passes during DBP’s next possession forced the Ironmen to attempt a 50-yard field goal.

The kick hit the crossbar, maintaining the scoreless tie.

Travis Hubbard punted for Montclair during its next possession, forcing a fair catch at the Ironmen 45-yard line. Bosco mounted a nine-play scoring drive, but not before the first-quarter clock expired.

"Keeping them scoreless in the first quarter gave us a lot of confidence for the rest of the game," said Williams. "They did score right after that, but they are a great team and keeping them scoreless for 12 minutes is certainly something we can be proud of."

A bad snap on the locals’ next punt set DBP up at the MHS 5. Three plays and a PAT later, Bosco led, 14-0.

"You can’t give a team that good a chippy like that," Lebida told The Times. "Our offense’s inability to move the ball made our punting game that much more important. The snap hurt us there."

The Mounties got on the board after Cooper recovered a Bosco fumble late in the second quarter. On 2nd-and-8 from its own 10, Landon Crawford raced 75 yards on an off-tackle run to the Ironmen 15.

After Montclair lost a yard on three plays, senior kicker Arman Walia booted a 33-yard field goal just before halftime.

MHS’ best scoring chance in the second half followed Shane Harris’ 53-yard interception return to the DBP 13 midway through the third quarter. Trailing 28-3, the Mounties ran once and attempted three passes before turning the ball over on downs.

Mountie Notebook: Close to 200 Mountie fans traveled to Ramsey to support the team this past Friday. Almost all of the MHS fans stayed until the final whistle, lending their loud support as Montclair walked to the team buses.

"That’s what high school football is really about," Lebida said.

Since 2003, Montclair is only the third NNJIL public school to keep the Ironmen to 35 points or less. Bosco beat Ridgewood, 28-0, last year and Hackensack, 35-7, in 2006. During that span, DBP has averaged nearly 42 points a game against all of its opponents, which include Bergen Catholic, St. Joe’s of Montvale, St. Peter’s Prep, De La Salle of California and several other out-of-state powerhouses.

When MHS steps on to the Woodman Field turf to host Clifton on Saturday, Oct. 25, 34 days will have passed since the locals last played there. An away game against Bergen Tech before a bye and two more road games (Bosco and Ridgewood) created the lengthy stay away from home.

A ceremony celebrating the completion of the Robert "Fuzzy" Furlong Field House will begin at noon before the 1 p.m. kickoff against Clifton. All fans are encouraged to arrive early and to take part in the ribbon-cutting for the $4.7 million complex.