Montague did not take the step forward it hoped Friday night against West Michigan Conference Lakes foe Oakridge, but as in week one, strong effort helped the Wildcats push the opponent to the end in a 15-7 defeat.
The difference in the game on the scoreboard was an 82-yard touchdown run by the Eagles in the first half, plus a two-point conversion. However, coach Phil Koops was equally dismayed with several errors of unfamiliarity on offense that kept the Wildcats (0-2, 0-1 WMC Lakes) hamstrung on that side of the ball.
"We didn't execute well enough to win," Koops said. "We had lots of penalties and lots of missed assignments, especially on offense. We thought we'd take a big step forward this week, but one mistake led to two, and two led to three. You can't win football games that way. We applauded the effort tonight, and the effort of our opponent, but we were really upset with the level of execution."
The bumps in the road haven't been unexpected given the new system Koops is trying to install on offense, but that doesn't make them less frustrating. Montague has some play calls on player wristbands, and on one play, a player misheard the call and came off the field, believing he was being subbed out, which created confusion.
"Some of it is kids being new to me and me being new to them," Koops said. "We're bouncing between personnel groupings. Oakridge did a good job mixing up their defensive fronts. Sometimes they gave us a four-man front, and sometimes they gave us a five-man front. Then you get some mental mistakes."
Devlin Dean scored the Wildcats' lone touchdown on a 21-yard run in the third quarter, getting Montague back to within a score, but an interception in the final minutes enabled Oakridge to stave off the comeback.
Koops credited the Wildcats' high effort, particularly on defense, which held the Eagles to two touchdown drives. It's the effort and the atmosphere within the program that gives the coach confidence good results are coming.
"The kids have to stay together...and I think they will," Koops said. We have good senior leadership ,good kids at Montague, and they're passionate about football. They know if we have internal infighting, that won't help the cause. All our goals for the season are right in front of us.
"Tonight was a tough one, very tough. Everyone wants to beat Oakridge. It hurt and we've got to get better if we want to win football games."
"Tonight was a tough one, very tough. Everyone wants to beat Oakridge. It hurt and we've got to get better if we want to win football games."
