Senior center back’s talent and leadership helped guide rebuilding Lower Cape May

Posted: October 28th 2025

Center back Johnny Montgomery was a standout for the Lower Cape May Regional High School boys soccer team for the past four seasons.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

It’s been a trying few seasons for the Lower Cape May Regional High School boys soccer program.

The team won just 12 games total over the past three seasons as a new head coach, Cristian Valencia, arrived and established a new system while trying to develop a group of players that were often short on experience compared to many of Lower Cape May’s opponents.

Through it all, however, Valencia and the Caper Tigers could always count on Johnny Montgomery.

A starting center back for nearly all of his four seasons at Lower Cape May – he came off the bench for his first few games as a freshman before quickly being inserted as a full-time starter by then-coach Dennis Elia – Montgomery brought sublime talent, savvy steadiness and brave leadership to the Caper Tigers at a time when the program desperately needed it.

It wasn’t always easy, particularly when the team endured a 2-16 campaign during Montgomery’s sophomore season, the first under Valencia.

“The whole team went through some adversity because we had a new coach,” Montgomery said. “Coach (Dennis) Elia was here for 20 years, and then a new person comes in and it’s a new system and everyone has to adjust. But I pretty much agree with what Coach Cristian preaches – hard work, being in shape, playing hard and giving it your all. That was easy for me, because I always tried to follow those same standards that my parents set for me. It helped me stay the course.”

Montgomery helped Lower Cape May become more competitive over the past two seasons. As a center back, he didn’t get many chances offensively – he scored just one goal during his career – but his play in anchoring the Caper Tiger defense helped prevent many goals by the team’s opponents.

Montgomery missed four games this season after suffering a dislocated kneecap and small crack in his femur in the final seconds of a 1-0 win over Buena on Sept. 15. But he returned for a game against Atlantic City a couple weeks later and helped spark one of the team’s best efforts of the season in a 2-1 loss in extra time to a Viking side that entered this week at 10-6-1. 

Montgomery, who began playing recreation soccer at age 5 before eventually moving to Cape Express travel soccer through eighth grade, was recently recognized for his efforts this fall by being named a first team Cape-Atlantic United Conference all-star.

“I’m proud of myself and how I’ve grown as a player,” Montgomery said. “I wouldn’t have believed where I am now as a player when I was a freshman. I feel like I had a lot of personal growth, too, but it’s tough that we didn’t have a lot of team success. But my sophomore year was the worst. I felt like these last couple years were better.”

The Caper Tigers narrowly missed qualifying for the state playoffs, so their season is now complete with a 5-13 record. Montgomery credited his teammates for pushing forward despite not experiencing the joys of winning on a consistent basis.

“Guys were working hard,” he said. “You go through all the summer practices and all the grind and it’s tough not seeing results in games. It’s hard when you feel like you work so hard and then sometimes you go out in games and get beat up. It’s tough but you just have to keep playing through it. You just have to see it through.”

Montgomery, a member of the National Honor Society who’s enrolled in advanced placement classes at Lower Cape May, plans to attend college next year. He’s considering Coastal Carolina University, Flagler College and other schools in Florida, and has already been accepted at Montclair State, Rowan and Chestnut Hill. His plans are to study criminal justice or political science with an eye toward an eventual career in law enforcement.

Montgomery, also a member of the swim team at Lower Cape May, will take a lot of lessons learned on the soccer field with him when he moves into the next chapter of his life.

“I think the main lesson is not giving up no matter what and working hard,” he said. “Our assistant coach, Shawn Gerry, played center back in high school and he always told me he never wanted to be the guy someone else has to pick up the slack for. That’s something I always tried to take with me out on the field. I wanted to ensure I’m doing my job and that no one else had to cover for me. I always wanted to be the one helping others out. 

“I feel like I learned a lot of leadership traits from being a captain for two years. Even though we didn’t see a lot of success as a team, it was important to me to be a leader.”

Meanwhile, as he moves on, Montgomery can take pride in knowing he helped Lower Cape May’s boys soccer program get to a better place.

(Photo courtesy Erin Ridgway)