Rays Turning the Corner?

As Lew Montgomery enters his fourth season as head football coach at Marco Island Academy, he sees a team that is finally coming together, with options at virtually every position. He also sees a team that can win, something the Rays have only done once over the past five seasons.

"I believe the wins will come,” Montgomery said, "and I think that needs to always be kind of a focus. And then if it's meant to be, it will be.”

The Rays snapped a five-year, 36-game losing streak when they downed Warner Christian Academy 36-20 last September. The ensuing celebration was unlike anything ever seen at the school. Montgomery wants to bring that feeling back for the school, the team, and the Marco community.

“We never gave in to being okay with losing,” Montgomery said. “We bonded through it. I think it strengthened us. We've made sure that losing is not the routine. In fact, I feel like we've finally turned the corner through all those struggles, through the kids really understanding what we were doing wrong and what it takes to do things right. This year, I see us being successful. I see us being competitive. I see myself and our coaches being very proud of the team that we'll take out onto the field. We finally have a group that has the potential. Honestly, I'm really excited about it because history shows that these guys are warriors, that they persevere. I really believe that they're going to excel.”

In past years, Montgomery and his fellow coaches had to practice with the players in order to make things happen.

“Literally, we were playing 7-on-7s using offensive linemen,” Montgomery said. "Now we finally have full team practices. We have scrimmages. I can do a true 7-on-7 with just specialists, not linemen involved, and then I can focus on the offensive line, working on their techniques. So, coaches are able to coach now instead of having to put on the pads, even though I'm sure they all enjoyed doing that. Most of us are getting to the age where we'd rather live in our glory days in our mind, than actually having to prove it on the field. I just feel like we've finally gotten to that point.”

Montgomery says the community has been there all along.

"The community has just been consistent,” he said. "I think it's been easy to be motivated when we have the community we have. The expectation was more on character, lessons learned, and not necessarily on the scoreboard. That's been a blessing, the fact that they've been so supportive. Everybody comes out of the woodwork and asks what they can do. And more importantly, they ask when's the next game. I know a lot of people are excited that we have four home games this year. When we won last year, the community that night set the tone. The kids felt that love. My wife felt that love. That's what allows her to be the wife of a coach that struggles through a couple of seasons. Because that night was joyous. And I know this season is just going to be so much more of that. That's what drives us.”

Past seasons have ended with the Rays having only 13 players on the roster - not enough to safely play a game of football. Today, the Rays' roster stands at 33 players and Montgomery is expecting to add a few more bodies to the fold. He's definitely seeing progress.

"I lost two years in a row and then we finally won a game,” Montgomery said. "The second year, we scored for the first time. Then, the third year was the first time we won. These kids are eager to be part of something, to be part of that brotherhood and to play the sport. These kids want to play football. The kids on those other teams had to all be iron men, even if they weren't born to be. I have a team now where I don't need that. I have a lot of players that still want to be iron men. And that's the key. We have that mentality. So as long as I can get that mentality from the core group that started this program for me, then we'll be okay.”

Montgomery is in an unusual position in that he does not have a tackle football feeder program. He said his schedule this season consists of other schools in similar circumstances.

"I think that we're going to find success this year facing teams that are similar to us in the fact that they don't have that feeder program,” he said. "I think that it's not just the size of the school. It really is the experience the kids come in with when you have a junior high feeder program that teaches the basics fundamentals and just introduces the contact, the etiquette and just the nuances of the game.”

The Rays do benefit from the local Optimist flag football league that runs through the eighth grade. 

“The beauty is a lot of our players are island kids,” Montgomery said. “A lot of them are kids that grew up here, that grew up playing optimist football. That's my feeder system. It's flag football. They get the kids out there. They've asked me to come out and they've asked the boys the last few years to come out to referee the games and just try to build some rapport with the younger crowd. Just let them know that this is an opportunity for them. We have real football here and they don't have to leave the island to play. I really like the atmosphere that we're creating with the home games. I'm hoping that lets the community know that this is the place to be."

Instead of having all of his players playing both ways, Montgomery now has decisions to make at most positions. And full-time, two way players are becoming the exception rather than the rule.

“The secondary is solid,” Montgomery said. "I feel like I finally have experience back there. Having experience allows me to run the defense that I want to run. It also allows me to be a little more aggressive with the guys up front. We're going to get after it."

Montgomery is excited about his new quarterback coach.

“This year has just been a year of blessings,” he said. "Coach Zach Mueller is an old quarterback from Ohio. So, he's taking on coaching quarterbacks. He’s giving those kids some one on one. And I like that we're in the middle of a quarterback competition. I have three healthy quarterbacks right now that really are able to play. I think all three of them are different. I've got a fourth one that hopefully gets released next week. He brings his own skill set to the table as well. I’ve got four guys that are intelligent, that have the mechanics to do the job. It's just a matter of how the team responds to each one of them. But all those kids that are involved in that competition will be on the field, it's just a matter of who, when, and where.”

Montgomery sees his program coming together.

"We're finally getting into where I feel like we're a true football program,” he said. “When we do team defense, the coaches and I just sit here and grin at each other because they're just firing on all cylinders. We have an aggressive group. We have a deep group. We're really just trying to figure out how to best put the pieces of that puzzle together. But, if they're in attack mode, they are running downhill, and it's finally something I can get excited about. Defensive coordinator Bill Adams has really been taking over the linebacker corps, and his whole persona has gone Dick Butkus. I mean, he is taking these kids to another level. I'm really excited about the whole defense. The offense is finally at a program level. It takes a little bit longer to get it going. I feel like we're got really good running backs. They are hungry and they’ve got speed.

Montgomery also likes his options at receiver.

"Receiver corps is good, too,” he said. “Receiving corps and tailbacks. The receiving corps is going to be fun. The kids are just very, very eager. They’ve got sticky fingers. They're catching with their hands. They're going after the ball. They're not waiting on the ball. I feel like our mechanics are finally getting there so we can throw the ball this year.”

Montgomery says he has the bodies to man the offensive and defensive lines.

“The linemen are good,” he said. “It's still a matter of putting the pieces of the puzzle together, finding which ones will be the best guards, which ones will be the best tackles. I want to be able to pull some guards. I think they have some fast feet, some of them have some long bodies, so I'm trying to figure out how to best put those frames together without making the line lopsided. I’m just setting it up correctly. I think it's fun that those are things that we're playing with now."

Gone are the days where all of his players are expected to play on both offense and defense.

“There may be one or two that choose to be two way players for us,” he said. "I don't know if they'll be full time, two way. I don't have to do that, and I don't want to do that. The key there is I'm trying not to have anybody on their feet running both directions. I have a lot of options and a lot of opportunities. I'm really excited."

Montgomery credits one of his young coaches for the improvement in the squad’s overall strength.

"Noah Annicelli has gone above and beyond leading the off-season program,” Montgomery said. “He really has come into his own as a coach, and I'm really excited to see what he can do for our program. He's a local and to see him really excel has been awesome. A lot of our success on the field is going to correlate directly to him and the work that he's done. The players are young, but they have that basic training look. They carry themselves with some finesse. They have a good core. I feel like we have some real athletes here. I’m very optimistic for this season. I think we’ll be good.”

The Rays open their season at Winterberry Park on August 30, at 7:00 PM against Auburndale Jordan Christian Prep.