Rays Looking More Polished in Year Two Under Montgomery

They haven’t played a down of football that counts yet, but Lew Montgomery’s second team at Marco Island Academy looks like they're well ahead of where they were last year at this time. And that team almost won their first game, falling 13-7 to Oasis of Cape Coral.

Montgomery is only responsible for last season, but the school’s 28-game losing streak dates back to the last two games of the 2017 season, after the island was pounded by Hurricane Irma.

"We talk about last season,” Montgomery said during a break in Friday’s practice. "We’re honest with it. If you don’t have that bad taste in your mouth right now, I don’t know where you were last year. You better use that as motivation. It’s forced, I know some of the players, but definitely us on the coaching staff, to re-evaluate everything."

The Rays program has shown promise, with a four, a three, and a two-win seasons on its 10-year resume. Southwest Florida isn’t the easiest place to build a high school football program. The competition is strong.

But Montgomery knows what top notch competition looks like. He comes from a tradition-rich program in Newark, Ohio that are perennial state championship contenders. His father was a high school football coach. Montgomery was honored by his college alma mater, Tiffin, this summer as part of their legacy program. He is their career sacks and tackles-for-loss leader. He’s also coached some on some state title-contending staffs. Now he has to teach his Rays how to win.

The good news is that he has a lot more help this year. There are now seven coaches on the Rays staff. Practice Friday was organized and crisp. There was a lot of coaching going on. And according to Montgomery, this squad does a lot of learning, too.

"The blessing we have is that this is one of the smartest teams I’ve ever been around,” Montgomery said. "They’re picking up things a lot quicker than I was anticipating. Every day we’re going faster than I anticipated putting in our offense. Because they’re ready. They’re picking it up. I believe they’re buying into it. We’re getting there.”

Montgomery sees his team literally improving every day.

"Every day we’re getting better,” Montgomery said. "That’s what I’ve really been stressing—every day you’ve gotten better. Every day you’ve come out with a little more energy, a little more enthusiasm. And you’re retaining the knowledge we’re asking you to. You can’t ask for anything else right now. I think that realistically, the team we have is meshing together. They’re really creating something special. They’re starting to define team, instead of individuals. In a lot of ways, even though we have our core back from last year, it’s a new team. We’ve changed up some things offensively. I think it’s more conducive to the players we have. It’s going to put them in a better position to succeed. That’s all we’re trying to do, put them in the best positions to find success at the end of the game. We’re getting some good upperclassmen leadership. We have some seniors who are stepping into those roles.

"We’re building a program. It’s year two. It looks like a program, it feels like we’re going in the right direction. Hopefully, we find the success that I believe we will. But I already know as far as the team concept and buying into that, we are already on the path to success."

The Rays will play a practice game against NSU University School at Nova Southeastern University, on Friday, August 19, at 7:00 PM at Winterberry Field.

“We need some fresh blood,” Montgomery said. "We need to go against somebody else to get a gauge. Right now with 23 players on the roster that are consistently here, to get a good look at a scout team takes a little alchemy. But we’re getting it done, and they boys are growing. I’m looking forward to the season."