Montague didn't make life easy on itself Friday night against Manistee, but the Wildcats' Dane Roesler came up with a late interception to avert what would've been a huge blow to their postseason hopes, preserving a 24-22 win.
The 'Cats only scored three second-half points, but made them count as Jonah Henderson made a 27-yard field goal with seven minutes to go that proved to be the game-winner.
"That's why you have soccer kids that kick," Montague coach Phil Koops said. "Jonah executed in the face of some pressure and won us the game."
The field goal was necessary after Montague's drive stalled inside the 10-yard line due to a holding penalty that Manistee helped create by blitzing on a toss play to Moss, Koops said.
Bbetween the atmosphere of homecoming and Manistee having lost five games in a row coming in, the coach felt his players may have struggled to focus on securing a victory.
"Credit to Manistee, they did what they wanted to do," Koops said. "They ran the ball, controlled the clock and kept it away from us like we like to keep it away from other teams. We told the kids that if we can't get them off the field, it'll be an interesting game."
Montague got off to a good start, with Moss recording an 84-yard pick-six to go ahead 7-0. The 'Cats built the lead to 21-6 by halftime on a pair of scoring runs by quarterback Eli Petersen. However, with the lack of possessions created by Manistee's ball-control attack, it was hard to develop a rhythm on that side of the ball.
"We were pretty frustrated going in after the game and started talking. but we scored on three of four possessions in the first half and in the second half, we might have had three possessions before the last one where we kneeled it out," Koops said.
Manistee worked its way back, and quarterback Dayvion Neal-Berry threw an 80-yard touchdown to Braylen Zimmerman, his second scoring toss of the half. The following two-point conversion gave Manistee the lead before the Wildcats worked downfield to get it back.
Roesler then sealed the win by playing well in coverage and pulling in a deep pass.
"Just like us, their offense isn't really built to throw the ball like that," Koops said. "We were in a conservative coverage without being in prevent. Dane knew the situation. We were going to make them drive the ball. They threw a long pass much like the one they caught for a touchdown, and this time Dane played the ball perfectly and came down with the pick."
While the 'Cats are in good playoff position regardless of next week's outcome against Ravenna, the visiting Bulldogs will have Montague's attention after pulling off a comeback win over Oakridge Friday.
"We'll have to have our ducks in a row and be ready to play," Koops said. "Ravenna will be fighting for their playoff lives."
