It's been clear all season that Cole Moss provides a different
dimension for the Montague Wildcats, and Friday night saw him show that
talent on a postseason stage.
Moss opened the scoring against
Central Montcalm with a 75-yard punt return touchdown in the first
quarter, scored two touchdowns on the ground and caught the final score
in the air, spearheading the Wildcats to a dominant 40-20 victory.
With the win, Montague advanced to face Reed City on the road in next week's district finals.
"We
try to do a lot of things to make sure he touches the ball," Montague
coach Phil Koops said. "(His punt return score) was huge for the
confidence. You're playing an opponent that's 7-2, and to get off to a
great start was huge."
The Wildcats (6-4) entered the game
confident their strength of schedule in the rugged West Michigan
Conference Lakes, plus non-conference tilts against very good Forest
Hills Eastern and North Muskegon squads, would work in their favor, and
that's exactly what happened.
A key sequence in the game was
the 'middle eight' - the four minutes that end the first half and begin
the second. It's every coach's desire to win that stretch of the game,
and Montague did it in resounding fashion, scoring three touchdowns in
that span. Cooper Bradley scored a touchdown with 3:20 to go in the
first half, then Moss ripped off a 49-yard run with 1:02 to go, and the
'Cats also scored on the first drive of the third quarter when Fletcher
Thommen punched it in from eight yards out. Those touchdowns made it
34-6 and from then on Montague was in total control.
Koops
looked forward to the big matchup with Reed City, which has faced the
Wildcats in each of their last three playoff trips and knocked them out
the last two.
"It'll be strength on strength," Koops said.
"We're pretty good at stopping the run, and they're pretty good at
running the ball, and we're pretty good at running the ball. You'd think
they're pretty good at taking on double teams and down blocks, so we'll
see who flinches first."
