Julian Durden transferred into the Montour school district from North Catholic this summer after moving in with his aunt. Last night, he had Chartiers Valley crying "uncle."

Durden's debut in a Montour uniform was a smashing success, at least for a half. His running helped push Montour to a big lead, and the Spartans held off a second-half surge by Chartiers Valley for a 35-28 victory on the opening night of high school football in Pennsylvania.

"He makes us more balanced," Montour coach Lou Cerro said of Durden.

In reality, Durden's presence might tip the balance of power in Class AAA toward Montour. A 5-foot-8, 165-pound junior, Durden finished the game with 193 yards rushing on 26 carries. He gained 165 yards on 15 carries in the first half of this WPIAL Class AAA non-conference game and scored four touchdowns, propelling Montour to a 35-7 lead in the second quarter.

Durden was North Catholic's leading rusher last year. But North Catholic plays in Class A. Many wondered what he would do in Class AAA, against bigger, stronger and faster players.

"I think I proved a lot tonight," Durden said. "But this wasn't all about me. This was a game that set the tone for everyone. It let everyone know that Montour football is back."

Durden said he was inspired by some of his teammates' pregame speeches. Then, he went out and did a lot of talking with his running. Built low to the ground, Durden has speed, but also some power.

"He put them over the edge this game," said Chartiers Valley coach Chris Saluga.

Cerro said, "I thought he had a chance to be good, but I didn't know he'd be this good."

Chartiers Valley got a splendid performance from junior quarterback Wayne Capers, who was playing his first game since breaking his foot in the middle of last season. Capers believes his college future is as a receiver, but he looked awfully good as a quarterback. He completed 18 of 32 passes for 320 yards and also rushed for 62 yards on 11 carries.

He threw three touchdown passes in the second half -- 35 yards to Kevin Gillen, 76 yards to Christian Kuntz and 20 to Steve Burda. He also ran for a 67-yard touchdown in the first half.

Often, Chartiers Valley's best play was for Capers to drop back, scramble and make a play with a pass or a run.

"Nothing he does any more surprises me," Saluga said. "Sometimes, the plays you design don't work. Then, there's always him as a backup. It's kind of like backyard football. But you don't ever want to inhibit something he has with schemes."

Chartiers Valley was hard to figure out.

The Colts looked lethargic defensively in the first half as they struggled to stop Montour's offense. Besides Durden's running, quarterback Dillon Buechel looked in midseason form, throwing for 130 yards in the first half. He threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Darren Massey and Durden scored four times on runs of 5, 45, 50 and 7 yards.

"Montour is a very good team," Saluga said. "They look to me like one of the best offenses around."

The second half was a different story, though, as Montour had only three first downs.

"We made almost no adjustments in the second half," Saluga said. "We just said we had to play better. We have to make tackles and we have to catch passes. ... This was a good game for us. I'm proud of the way the kids rallied."

Chartiers Valley threatened to tie the score a few times in the second half. A fumbled punt by Durden gave Chartiers Valley the ball at Montour's 26, but a holding penalty and a sack pushed the Colts back, and they punted.

Capers left the game in the fourth quarter for a play and Bryan Leipold threw an interception.

Chartiers Valley moved to the Montour 28 with less than two minutes left in the game, but on second-and-10, Capers' pass was intercepted by Aaron McGee.

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