Montoya boots Hennessey to last-second victory

Hennessey’s playoff chances got a major boost Friday night and it had a lot to do with the toe of Luis Montoya.

The kicker booted a 21-yard field goal with just three seconds left to lift the Eagles to a dramatic 22-20 victory at Luther.

The win kept Hennessey right in the thick of the District 2A-II-1 playoff race with its 5-3 overall record and 4-1 district mark.

The win came despite four Eagle turnovers, one of which was a Colt Mc-Caslin 49-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

That gave the hometown Lions a 12-11 lead.

Later in the quarter, though, Hunter Weber returned the favor.

The Hennessey senior snatched an interception from his defensive end position with just one hand.

After making Luther’s running back and quarterback miss tackles, Weber raced 55 yards to the end zone.

“It was one of the most athletic plays I’ve seen,” said HHS head coach Mark Cox.

But the back-and-forth fourth quarter yo-yo’d back to Luther’s favor when the Lions scored on a 3-yard run to stake a 20-18 lead.

The Eagles’ last hope was a drive that started at their own 38 with about 2:00 to play.

Gunnar Holder worked them down the field and set Montoya up for his heroics.

It was the second field goal of the night for Montoya, who also got Hennessey started with a 38yard boot in the second quarter.

The Eagles led 3-0 at the half and were up 11-0 when Holder scored on a 1-yard run in the third.

Holder threw for 146 yards while Hennessey managed just 58 rushing yards on 32 attempts.

Luther had 161 on the ground and 81 through the air.

Jessin Hardin led the Eagles’ defensive unit with 14 stops.

Brandon Rodriguez and Jakob Johns were in on 10 tackles apiece.

Hennessey hosts Stroud on Friday. The Tigers currently lead the district with a 5-0 mark.

The Eagles close out the regular season with a trip to Casady, which, like Luther, currently has a 3-2 district mark and also has playoff hopes.