Division 6 - Wildcats Snare Falcons 24-21

Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central and Montague have a history of winning. Like I was talking about earlier, these are another two teams that win more games than

Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central and Montague have a history of winning. Like I was talking about earlier, these are another two teams that win more games than they lose. SMCC tends to run the ball almost exclusively while Montague mixes in the run and pass. The biggest name in this game is Montague’s Cody Kater who has committed to play at CMU.

Montague’s Matt DeJong kicked off to SMCC and the ball sailed through the end zone for a touchback. Two plays later, the Falcons were at Montague’s 39. They got inside the 20 before facing a third and seven which quarterback Mike Howey picked up when he ran to the five. Jack Cusumano was able to score from five yards out by getting to the edge quicker than Montague. Kater started out by throwing a completion to Matt DeJong for 20 yards, picked up the needed yardage on third down, and got the ball down to the 22. Facing a fourth and goal from just inches out, Kater attempted a quarterback sneak but was denied the end zone. On fourth and less than a yard from the 10, SMCC punted the ball away after their attempt to draw the Wildcats offside failed. Montague took over on the Falcon 49.

With two nice passes from Kater, Montague moved inside the 15 just before the start of the second quarter. With a first and goal, Kater handed to Kevin Blackmer who scored from two yards out. DeJong booted the ball out of the end zone again and the Falcons took over on the 20. It didn’t look good after they took a penalty on fourth down, but Montague gave the yardage right back and allowed them a chance to go for it, and they made good on the attempt. A personal foul penalty put the ball at the 50. The Falcons were not able to gain much yardage from there and faced a third and long. T.J. Lovell caught a pass from Jack Cusumano for the first down. To that point, they had attempted two passes, which is more than they typically attempt in a game. Fourth down was not converted and the Wildcats took over on their 23. DeJong took a hard hit and retaliated on the ensuing play, but took a personal foul penalty. They went to punt, but DeJong was roughed and they got a first down. Kater had a great play; he rolled left, found no one open, got a block as he rolled back right, and found Blackmer for a 44 yard gain down to the 24. Montague went for it on fourth and a yard and Kater got inside the seven for a first and goal to go. On the next play, Kater found Anthony Root for a seven yard touchdown. Another touchback meant that St Mary Catholic Central had 80 yards to go in just over two minutes or go into halftime down by seven. They were not able to get much going and punted. A sack of Kater ended the first half.

Montague got the ball to begin the second half. Jake Freeland brought it out to the 28 and that’s where Montague started their drive. It took five plays, but they got into the red zone utilizing multiple players. A personal foul (late hit) penalty on Montague moved the ball back to the 18 with goal to go. Kater got most of the yardage back, but fumbled and SMCC got a touchback. They punted after the drive stalled, but Root mishandled the punt and the Falcons recovered. A play like that energizes a team and sometimes shifts momentum. They converted the third down and then on first and goal from the three, Howey got the touchdown to tie the game at 14. When Montague got the ball back, Kater got his team to the other side of the 50 mostly with his arm. Once they got to the other side, he utilized his legs and pushed inside of the 30. It stalled out and Montague was facing fourth and 11. Kater took the shotgun snap, found DeJong wide open, and they had a first down at the 15 yard line.

More penalties and incomplete passes forced a fourth and two from the seven yard line to open the fourth quarter. DeJong made a 24 yard field goal to give Montague a 17-14 lead. SMCC started at the 20, just like most of their drives began. The Falcons moved the ball out to the 38 before they faced a third and four. After a Falcon timeout, Howey took the snap, handed to Chris LaBeau, and they had a first down. A 15 yard personal foul penalty on the play moved the ball to the 43. First down was stuffed like yesterday’s turkey. On second down, Howey faked a handoff and raced 42 yards for a touchdown and the lead 21-17. It didn’t take Kater and DeJong long to get going; DeJong caught a pass for a 43 yard completion to the 37 of SMCC. Kater scored from ten yards out when he stiff armed two defenders and scooted inside the pylon. SMCC faced a fourth and one on their 29 yard line when Howey handed to LaBeau who got the first down. They couldn’t muster much else and a turnover on downs gave Montague the ball back with only a minute on the clock.

Cody Kater had a fantastic game. He finished 18 of 26 for 251 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball 17 times for 120 yards and the last score of the game. Matt DeJong caught eight footballs for 124 yards. DeJong also kicked a key field goal to begin the fourth quarter. Anthony Root ran the ball once for eight yards and caught four for 39 yards. On the Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central side, Chris LaBeau toted the rock 18 times for 102 yards. Quarterback Mike Howey was one of four for nine yards but carried the ball 13 times for 99 yards and two touchdowns.