MONTAGUE — Montague got off to a dream start Friday night against North Muskegon. A big kickoff return, a couple of big runs and a touchdown put the Wildcats ahead, and visions of a huge win and a boost to the team's playoff chances were no doubt dancing in the heads of many watching.
However, that vision never came to fruition, as the Norsemen converted on a couple of massive plays late in the first half to take the lead, and they never gave it back, dealing the Wildcats a 35-20 defeat.
The pivotal drive came late in the second quarter. With the game tied at 7, Montague's defense - and some penalty issues - put North Muskegon into second-and-15, fourth-and-13 and second-and-18. The Norsemen wriggled out of trouble every time, the last coming on a 23-yard lob to the end zone by quarterback Teddy Lamiman that was somehow pulled in or a touchdown by Carlton Williams despite his being blanketed by Levi Auger and Cole Moss in coverage.
The air seemed to come out of the Wildcats (2-5) after that, and a team that coach Phil Koops has consistently praised for their refusal to roll over did not seem to play with the same level of urgency from then on. Koops pointed to a drive in the final minute of the first half, in which Montague was unable to get any points out of an Evan Francis interception.
"There was just no sense of urgency out of some of our guys," Koops said. "Before halftime, it's a minute and something left in the half...and we're wandering and waddling up to the ball. I'm frustrated. The kids are frustrated. Everybody's frustrated. This is not how you draw it up. This is not what we wanted."
Montague's Cole Moss gets loose from North Muskegon's Tobin Jones during Friday's game at Montague. Moss had three touchdowns in the Wildcats' 35-20 loss.
It didn't help that North Muskegon's Cullen Bartos was an unstoppable force. The Norsemen's star senior offensive weapon sliced and diced the Montague defense all night, doing a credible imitation of Moss, who usually plays that role against other teams. He scored three touchdowns, including a 25-yard run and a 56-yard reception, and had huge plays on both of the drives that ended with other players in the end zone. (Moss was hardly a slouch himself, scoring all three Montague touchdowns and ripping off some big gains at key moments.)
"No. 6, holy smokes," Koops said. "There were some things where there's nothing there, and he puts his foot in the ground and goes the other way. That's as laterally good, outside of number zero, Cole Moss, that I've seen...I don't get to vote for him, but I would jump up and down until all of the (WMC) Rivers coaches decide to vote for that kid for all-conference. He's really something."
The Wildcats struggled with penalties all night. Three of them were what prevented Montague from scoring off the Francis pick. North Muskegon then took the first drive of the third quarter straight down the field - Bartos had two big runs - and scored on an easy touchdown throw to Beckett Hoppa.
Montague did twice battle back to get back within one possession - Moss had a 30-yard scoring run on a fourth-and-2 and then scored again in the fourth quarter on a short run - but Bartos answered each of those with quick touchdowns.
Whatever led to the struggles in Friday's game, Koops said the Wildcats will aim to fix it. They have no other choice; they face Fremont and Ravenna, both high-achieving teams, to finish the season, and almost certainly have to win both to entertain playoff dreams.
"We've got six seniors that we really like, and I want to coach those guys as long as I can," Koops said. "Who wouldn't want to coach Cole Moss and (Chase Kurtzhal)? They're good kids. Kian Peters, man, does he play hard. He was not a problem with the effort. He plays his heart out.
"It's never as good as you think and never as bad as you think. We'll go watch the film, we'll coach them up and try to play better at home next week against Fremont. That's all we can do."
