Montague fought as hard as it could through injuries Friday night, but was unable to do enough to hang on to a win, falling to Fremont 16-7 in West Michigan Conference Lakes play.
The Wildcats (2-6, 2-4 WMC Lakes) lost starting center Jace Collins to injury on the third play of the game, coach Phil Koops said, forcing sophomore Alex Breed, whom Koops said is 145 pounds, into that position to guard "the biggest nose tackle in the league." Later, Cole Moss went down with an injury, leaving the Wildcat offense hamstrung.
Despite all of this, the 'Cats went into the halftime break with a 7-0 lead thanks to a one-yard scoring run by Max Dyer and a great defensive effort.
However, Fremont came out of the locker room with a renewed emphasis on the running game, and it paid off as the Packers quickly went ahead with a touchdown and two-point conversion. Montague worked its way back downfield, driving into the Fremont red zone, but missed a field goal that would have put it on top on the first play of the fourth quarter. Fremont then put the game away with an 80-yard scoring drive.
By the time the Wildcats got the ball back, Koops said, the team was "dysfunctional" as the injuries limited the plays he could call on offense. Instead of calling plays based on the opposing defense's looks, the team had to settle for plays he knew his inexperienced reserves could run correctly.
"I'm super proud of how hard the kids played," Koops said. "They never quit. It was another competitive football game in the fourth quarter with a very young football team. I think we had maybe nine upperclassmen dressed to play a varsity football game and filled in with 10th-graders."
A week prior, Koops expressed frustration that his scrappy team had not displayed that quality as well in a loss to North Muskegon. That certainly did not repeat itself. He said Fremont coach Jared Hudson expressed admiration for Montague's effort in the teams' postgame handshake line.
"Our kids answered the bell," Koops said. "You just feel bad that they're listening, being coachable and trying real hard, and there's just a gap in the level we're executing and the level it takes to win. Some of that is we've got to do some things better, and some of it is just physical. We have a young team with a bunch of sophomores and sometimes it looks like that."
The Wildcats will play one more game next week against Ravenna, and the team will work to send their seniors out winners. At the same time, the future looks bright. Montague's JV team won the WMC Lakes title despite many of the school's sophomores being pressed into varsity duty, and the ones playing varsity are gaining valuable playing time that should help them in future seasons.
"We feel really good about what's to come and the culture pieces that are coming along," Koops said. "Everyone will have to take a deep breath and be patient and be confident that we have kids and coaches doing things the right way. Unfortunately, this isn't the NFL. You can't make a trade or go to free agency. We have our guys, and many of them aren't the normal varsity playing age. You hope in the long run, the experience these kids are getting will pay off.
