By Rob Tate
SportCast Media
Dayton (2-1) at Montgomery (3-0)
The details: 7 p.m. Friday, Montgomery ISD Stadium
History: This is the fifth straight year the Broncos and Bears have met, but the first time it’s a district game. Each has won two apiece with Dayton winning 39-34 last year.
Key player for Dayton: Broncos senior running back Jaleel Kendrick gets better by the week. He put together 154 yards and two touchdowns as Dayton beat Porter 40-20 prior to the bye week. Kendrick leads the Broncos in all-purpose yards with 358.
Key player for Montgomery: Quarterback Reggie Williams has been a starter all four years for the Bears. So far the senior has passed for 308 yards and two scores while rushing for 197 yards and four scores.
Stat attack: It could be considered a small sample size, but a year after allowing 33.7 points per game, the Broncos have dropped that down to 21.3 per game through their non-district slate.
Notables: Both teams went on the bye week prior to this District 8-5A Division II opener … It’s the third consecutive road game for the Broncos, who are 1-1 in the stretch after dropping to Kingwood Park in Week 2 and beating Porter in Week 3 … The 3-0 start for Montgomery is its best since 2021 when it went 11-0 … That was also the last time the Bears had more than three wins in a season … Dayton quarterback Jerry Prieto Jr has been steady so far with 490 passing yards, 104 rushing and six total touchdowns (three rushing) … Dayton last started a season 3-1 in 2022.
