Central Valley, Montour maintain ‘really healthy rivalry’ with Week Zero rematch

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, August 23, 2024 | 1:01 AM

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One point was the margin last year when Montour and Central Valley met in a conference game, so how could they not have a rematch?

Realignment split the rivals into separate classifications this fall, but their coaches wanted to keep the game somewhere on the schedule. As a result, Montour hosts Central Valley at 7 p.m. Friday in a Week Zero opener.

“You don’t know how the conferences are going to shake out and who the WPIAL is going to give you,” Central Valley coach Mark Lyons said of realignment. “There are so many unknowns. So we talked early enough to say, ‘Hey, let’s at least lock this in.’”

Both teams were in the Parkway Conference the past two seasons. While Montour stayed in 4A, Central Valley dropped to 3A.

The all-time series is tied 5-5.

“It’s a good game,” Montour coach Lou Cerro said. “We’ve been playing pretty consistently over the last 10 or 15 years. We know each other real well, so we put the game together.”

Montour won, 21-20, last season. Central Valley won the year before.

Their rivalry got a jump start in 2010, which was Central Valley’s first year as a school. The Warriors won the WPIAL title that season by defeating Montour, 24-7, in the finals at then-Heinz Field.

A year later, Montour got payback by defeating Central Valley, 21-14, in the 2011 semifinals.

“It has become a really healthy rivalry between the two,” Lyons said. “There’s a lot of respect. When you have a history of playing in big games, that builds rivalries a lot quicker.”

The teams met eight times in six years from 2010-15 with each winning four. There was a six-year stretch that followed where they didn’t meet in a game but did scrimmage at times.

Last year’s game came down to a fourth-quarter gamble. Rather than kick a tying extra point, Central Valley went for two, but the Warriors’ pass was incomplete. Montour won, 21-20.

“Both teams are going to have their hands full (Friday),” Lyons said.

Montour is coming off a 10-2 season and an appearance in the WPIAL semifinals. The Spartans graduated a 2,000-yard passer who also led the team in rushing but bring back a strong nucleus.

Defensively, Montour returns its top four tacklers, including senior linebacker/tight end Kaleb Platz, who was credited with 110 total tackles last year.

Central Valley brings back leading rushers Jance Henry Jr. (1,008 yards) and Mason Dixon (819) from a team that went 8-4. They combined for 25 rushing touchdowns. The Warriors also have quarterback Steven Rutherford around for his senior season, and return three starters on the offensive line.

“People think I’m crazy,” Cerro said. “But I try to play the best competition.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Central Valley, Montour