John Carroll’s offense has many scoring options, but a 1-2 tandem has clearly emerged.

Quarterback Nick Semptimhelter and wide receiver Tyren Montgomery formed a lethal combination with the Blue Streaks’ biggest game of the season.

On Nov. 16 at Don Shula Stadium, the 7-2 Blue Streaks defeat 8-1 Marietta in a game with national implications. A win for Marietta almost certainly puts it in the NCAA Division III playoffs. A JCU win eliminates Marietta from playoff contention and puts the Blue Streaks on the playoff bubble.

First up for JCU: They must beat a talented Pioneers team that nearly upset Mount Union a week ago before losing, 28-21. The JCU-Marietta winner earned second place in the Ohio Athletic Conference behind the OAC champion Purple Raiders.

The Blue Streaks will need points to keep up with Marietta’s high-scoring offense, which is averaging 44.2 points and 469.2 yards. JCU’s offense has been clicking of late, scoring 171 points over its last three games – an average of 57 points.

At the head of this charge was the Semptimhelter-Montgomery connection, which produced remarkable results.

Semptimhelter is the OAC’s passer leader and his 200.4 passer efficiency rate ranks 5th nationally in D-III. In nine games, he threw for 2,334 yards, completed 75.2 percent of his passes (167 of 222) with 26 touchdown passes and just two interceptions.

“He’s a great student of the game and he’s very intelligent. He understands what we’re trying to do on offense,” JCU head coach Jeff Behrman said.

Montgomery is JCU’s top threat. He has 41 receptions for 843 yards, averages 20.4 yards per catch and has 13 TD catches.

The way Semtimhelter and Montgomery arrived at JCU was anything but conventional by D-III standards.

For years, the JCU football program has recruited from reliable areas like, of course, Northeast Ohio and the rest of the state, and from areas like Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago.

Semtimphelter is from Nashville, Tenn. He played four years at Bucknell, mostly as a backup, and came to JCU with two years of eligibility. He is working on a master’s degree in business and hopes to coach football one day.

By transferring to JCU, Semtimhelter helped create a family atmosphere among Blue Streaks athletics.

Graci’s sister also transferred to JCU (from Ohio Wesleyan) in the fall and is a 13.5 point guard this season. Nick’s high school teammate Kenneth Rawls is also a transfer and is the team’s tight end.

“The whole family is here, so it’s been a great transition,” Semptimhelter said.

Montgomery’s football story is surreal. He is a Houston native and only the second player from the state of Texas to play football for the Blue Streaks. Michael O’Neal, a 2010 Dallas graduate, is the other.

Here’s the problem: Montgomery never played football in high school. How JCU landed Montgomery…well, here’s Behrman.

“It’s a bizarre connection, honestly,” he said.

After graduating high school in 2019, Montgomery — a standout basketball player for The Woodlands High School — enrolled at LSU, where he went on to make the Tigers’ men’s team. He lasted one semester at LSU before returning home due to poor academics.

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“I feel like I failed early in my life because I wasn’t open to learning and I couldn’t take criticism,” Montgomery said. “I overcame that … just growing, learning from mistakes.”

He eventually enrolled at the University of Houston with the intention of walking on to the football team, but then COVID-19 struck. Two years later, he enrolled at Nicholls State, and after an injury-riddled year in 2022, Montgomery finally got some playing time in 2023. He then put his name on the transfer portal after that season.

During his time between Houston and Nicholls State, Eddie Franca was running a flag football team in Las Vegas and made a request for players. Montgomery responded and earned a spot on the team.

Meanwhile, Franca had a brother who played for Behrman when Behrman was coaching at Union College in New York. When Montgomery entered the portal, he contacted Franca asking for any help in finding his next college football home. Franca then called Behrman.

“He said, ‘There’s a guy down here that you might be interested in,'” said Behrman, who is obviously glad he took the call.

That’s because Montgomery has developed into an all-conference player who might even garner some All-America votes.

“He is an elite athlete. He can run, he can jump. And he’s still growing as a football player,” Behrman said.

Montgomery is 23 years old and Semptimhelter is in his fifth year of college football. But the JCU QB has been playing the sport since he was 8 years old. Montgomery and his QB could not be more opposite in football experience.

“I remember the first time I got a playbook. It was like a foreign language to me,” Montgomery said with a laugh. “I didn’t understand anything. It took a lot of film study, talking to guys who have played their whole lives. I had to be an open book.”

It took some time for Semptimpehlter and Montgomery to be on the same page on the football field, but the QB appreciated the transition period.

“It’s a great story,” Semptimhelter said. “I had to remind myself many times that this is only his third year playing football. Not just college football, football period. This year he’s made great strides… Seeing him learn the game and become a great player has been a great thing to watch.”

While Semptimhelter has one more year of eligibility remaining, Montgomery is unsure of his football future. He said it’s “50-50” the NCAA gives him another year and returns to JCU, but his immediate focus is the Marietta game.

“I’m extremely grateful for that,” Montgomery said of playing this season at JCU. “I’ve been working for this… it’s unfolding before my eyes and I’m shocked at times. We’ve come a long way in the last three, four years.”

Marietta to John Carroll

When: 14:00, November 16

Where: Don Shula Stadium

Records: Marietta 8-1, 7-1 OAC; JCU 7-2, 7-1 OAC

Radio: WJCU-FM 88.7