On a cold and rainy night, No. 1 Montrose hosted Heritage and the Indians won 56-12 to remain unbeaten in 2021 and improve to 2-0 in the 4A Southern League.

“Another great nigh to be a Montrose Indian,” Montrose head coach Brett Mertens said. “Proud of how hard this team plays and how they buy into playing team football each and every week. We are excited for the victory and look forward to trying to get better every week.”

The visiting Eagles got the ball to start the game and were held scoreless, setting up a 38-yard touchdown pass from Montrose’s Gage Wareham to Ethan Hartman. Following a Hartman interception on defense, the Indians turned that turnover into a touchdown with a six-yard run by Torrie Eckerman that gave them 14-0 lead after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Griffin scored from three yards out and 12 yards out, and Heritage’s Zane Pavelko connected on a touchdown pass to Terron Young to bring the score to 28-6 at halftime.

“Our kids competed the whole way through and played with great toughness and character,” Hertigae coach Tyler Knoblock said. “Two classy teams that play the game the right way. Montrose executed well and in key situations, especially in the second half when our kids had worked their way back into it a bit.”

Following a second-half onside kick, Heritage’s Zach Seigler scored from 45 yards out and it was 28-12 before the Indians scored 28 unanswered points to finish out the contest. Griffin, who finished the game with three touchdowns, Hartman and Ila accounted for the Indians four second-half scores.

The Indians are at Vista Ridge on Saturday. The Eagles will host Ponderosa on Thursday.