MONTAGUE — One thing was for sure after Montague put its brand-new
scoreboard at risk of being broken with overuse in a 70-64 win over
Fremont Friday: Everyone who played in the game would sleep well that
evening.
Calling the game a track meet wouldn't even do it
justice; the contest featured a slew of plays of 30 yards or more, two
onside kick returns for touchdowns, an interception return for a
touchdown, and, according to the MHSAA, the eighth-most total points in
the history of high school football in the state. It also, as you'd
assume with so much scoring, lasted longer than most high school games -
nearly three hours.
The offensive headlines for Montague (3-4, 3-2 West Michigan Conference Lakes) belonged to sophomore running back Devlin Dean, who has seized the starting running back role and displayed the talents that made that possible Friday. Dean sliced and diced the Packer defense to the tune of 335 yards on 39 carries, with five touchdown runs.
"He's a sophomore, and we've known he's our most
explosive player," Montague coach Justin Dennett said. "He's our fastest kid. He's really strong. He's a hard runner. He just had to learn. There's a lot of stuff he
had to learn. It's different than JV; you can't just bounce
everything (outside) and run around the edge. He started showing progress. That's why we gave him the role the last couple weeks, and he
showed tonight that he's a special talent."
At the same time, Dean's emergence wouldn't be possible without the original starting running back, Fletcher Thommen, gracefully ceding his carries, and Dennett gave Thommen credit for doing just that. The junior, in fact, has shifted to an H-back role and was lead blocker for many of Dean's yards.
"I'm really proud of Fletcher for just being selfless and
doing what's best for the team," Dennett said.
"His technique has taught me a lot and I
definitely look up to him," Dean added of his teammate. "He's really smart."
The Wildcats, of course, moved the ball at will much of the night, but early on things weren't quite as easy. Eli Petersen made a pair of clutch fourth-down throws in the first quarter to keep drives alive, and both those drives ended with Dean touchdown runs.
Petersen went on to throw for 111 yards, including a pair of touchdown throws to Ryver Jarka, both pretty, arcing tosses that gave Jarka the chance to run underneath them.
Montague's Ryver Jarka beckons the football into his waiting arms on a 19-yard touchdown catch from Eli Petersen during Friday's game against Fremont. Packers' defender Tritan Corrigan can only watch. Jarka had 87 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns in a 70-64 win.
The junior quarterback did throw an interception just before the end of the first half, but Dennett said Petersen continues to improve.
"Eli overall
had a really good game," Dennett said. "There were a couple decisions before the half that just come with experience that he's got to clean up but overall, really
happy with how he played too."
The Wildcats led 28-24 at halftime, a high-scoring half but barely a hint of what was to come in the second half. Only three possessions in the entire second half (and six overall) did not result in touchdowns.
Ironically, the first score of the second-half avalanche of touchdowns belonged to the defense. With Fremont driving to go ahead, Kellan Francis snagged a quick out from Fremont quarterback Brayden Crosley and raced 98 yards the other way for a pivotal score that made it 35-24. The Packers, of course, responded with a touchdown, but Montague got the next two, building an advantage it would hold on to the rest of the night.
Fremont kept coming back, boosted by an incredible 8-for-8 showing on two-point conversions that enabled it to claw back points even while giving up touchdown after touchdown. The Packers got to within a possession with 4:46 to go - after Riley Mulder returned an onside kick for a touchdown - on a long run by Khai Noordyk, who had a huge game for Fremont. They cut it to seven after the teams traded scores in the late minutes, and after Cooper Bradley followed Mulder's lead with a score on an onside kick, they got it to six after yet another score and conversion. However, the Wildcats dove on the final onside kick with six seconds left to finally secure victory.
Dennett said he would have to watch the film to get to the bottom of why the Packers had so many big plays against the Montague defense. He noted that while the Wildcats may have been physically wiped due to all the two-way players on the team, the same should have been true of Fremont.
"There's a ton of things we need to
clean up in the secondary and up front as well, because they ran
the ball all over us too," Dennett said. "Hats off to them. They had a really good
game plan and did some good things to take advantage of our weaknesses."
Nevertheless, the Wildcats will take the win. The playoff picture is murky, but Montague may have to win both its remaining games against Manistee and Ravenna to feel secure in its playoff positioning.
"We had a losing streak there for
a little bit, but we definitely got back on track with this," Dean said. "We're just going to build off
of this and hopefully do well in the next game."
