Moon gets defensive in Week Zero victory over Montour

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Moon sacked Montour quarterback Luke Persinger 11 times and forced two Spartan turnovers en route to a 14-10 victory in a non-conference game Friday night.

It was the second year in a row the Tigers defeated Montour to begin the season.

Persinger was pressured all night, especially in the fourth quarter as Montour was trying to fight back from a 14-3 deficit. Persinger was sacked eight times by the Moon defense in the fourth quarter alone, led by sophomore Ben Bladel, who registered four sacks.

The Spartans scored on their first drive of their season. Persinger connected with Dom Magliocco on the first of two long passes in the first few minutes, which ultimately led to a 28-yard field goal by Robbie Rippole with 7:34 to go in the first quarter to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead. Persinger completed 12 of 24 passes for 155 yards.

Moon got on the board late in the first half and took a lead they’d never relinquish. Moon sophomore fullback Dylan Sleva cut through the Montour defense from 5 yards out and, with the Jacob Zimmerman extra point, the Tigers led 7-3 just before halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, Moon extended its lead to 14-3 on a naked bootleg from senior QB Dante Clay from 4 yards with 10:26 to go in the game. Clay accounted for 153 yards of total offense.

But, less than two minutes later, Montour answered with a touchdown drive of its own as Persinger connected with Anthony Guidone for a 5-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 14-10.

Montour’s Zimmerman missed a 37-yard field goal with 2:49 to play. And, despite converting a fourth-and-28 from their own 2, the Spartan offensive line couldn’t hold off the thrust of Moon’s front seven in the final moments, turning the ball over on downs at their 42.

Moon will host Mars next week for their home opener and Senior Night.