#TrainingCampTour Day X: Montville
September 1, 2015
Montville coach Tanner Grove has gotten his message across to his players. It is almost time for them to execute against their opponents.
You Are Your Brother’s Keeper At Montville Camp…
The last two seasons at MHS have been shrouded in mediocrity. Tanner Grove’s teams have finished with identical 7-4 records, without a playoff berth to show for it.
“It’s not good enough to not make it so after every season he {coach Grove} comes in and he’s like “guys we have to sharpen up!” said offensive guard Kevin Murtha. “We have to do this. We have to do that and we have to make the playoffs this year.”
The Indians finished 4-1 in ECC Medium play last year, but the one loss was a glaring one, 48-19 against “ECC Big 5” school Ledyard. They were 1-2 against large schools. Norwich Free Academy stomped Montville 47-14, while East Lyme disposed of them 37-14.
“Not every year can a school with 600 kids line up and play with a school with 1,500, 1,800, or 2,000 kids,” claimed Grove. “I understand that, but here at Montville, we have a very proud tradition, so we attempt to play every large school in our area year in and year out knowing that when we win enough games on our schedule, we are in the playoffs.
The schedule talk is an important issue to raise when discussing Montville because it shows that maybe the Indians could get in the playoffs if they did not play as many big school teams. It gives the Tanner Grove an excuse as to why his team is not in the playoffs. However, the important lesson, especially for Grove to teach his kids, is that there are no excuses. Accountability is the key to improving in the game of football, and more importantly life as we know it.
Which brings us to the oldest of life lessons. Kevin Murtha shouted out the Book of Genesis (Christian Old Testament or Hebrew Bible) when discussing how he and his teammates will be accountable for one another this season.
“We are our brother’s keepers,” announced Murtha. “That’s our big spring motto this year that we had come out during our spring football season. We are responsible for one another. It’s from the story of Cain and Abel from the bible. We have to be responsible for everyone.”
According to the Book of Genesis, Cain and his younger brother Abel were the children of Adam and Eve. The boys grew up. Cain was the farmer. Abel, a shepherd. The boys both offered gifts to the Lord. Abel’s was looked upon more favorably and Cain got jealous. The Lord prompted Cain not to act on sin. Cain ignored the request and murdered Abel. When Cain was approached by the Lord to explain his where his brother was, he asked: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain was subsequently damned and essentially reminded “yeah, you are your brother’s keeper, dummy.”
Kevin Murtha is a 6’2″, 290-pound offensive guard. He is looking to go biblical on some defenders this season.
Murtha is a believer. He has bought in fully to what his coach is preaching. Jonathan McCray, the other offensive captain on the team, has as well.
“We just kind of took it upon ourselves to keep each other going,” said McCray. “Me and Murtha come out here and try to push each other to do what we got to do so we can try to get better and try to return to the playoffs.”
The Indians are in a decent position to succeed in 2015 because these two captains are both all-state players from 2014. McCray collected 16 touchdowns as a dynamic playmaker, while Murtha blocked for an offense that scored 34 points per game.
Murtha will be blocking for McCray this season, who will play quarterback after the graduation of Tyler Quidgeon. Both players looked very strong during my time at practice, as Murtha commanded his line-mates to heed his every word (and they did) and McCray rushed untouched for several LONG touchdowns.
Jonathan McCray is listed as an “ATH” on the Montville roster. He is a dynamic play-maker with elusive quickness.
“We got a lot of seniors this year that are dedicated to what we are trying to do: trying to get back to states, and make Montville what it used to be,” stated McCray.
“We have a group of 16 seniors right now and 14 of them were around in 2012 when we were in the playoffs,” said Grove. “Some of them have siblings and guys that they were very close to, so I think this group understands the expectation a little bit better than our last two groups.”
That expectation is to win behind responsible leadership.
Follow the #TrainingCampTour as it happens on Twitter. Please check in to cptvsports.org nightly for other team training camp recaps. For more on the Indians, tune in to the 2015 High School Football Training Camp Special on September 4th at 7 p.m.
It was nice to be greeted by some nice folks at Montville practice!