Montague was on the receiving end of an early scoring barrage from Ravenna Friday night, and the Wildcats were unable to come back, falling 42-14 in their season finale.
The host Bulldogs, playing for a home playoff game next week, ripped off a pair of touchdowns in each of the first two quarters, and Montague coach Phil Koops said his team, which has spent so much of the season battling in close games despite its 2-7 final record, mentally ran out of gas.
"We've been in all these tough, close games and when it started rolling the other way, I think our guys went, 'Come on,'" Koops said. "Football's not a game where you can lapse like that, and we did, and there's 28-0.
"Credit to them, though, too. They're big and physical and played pretty good. It was a frustrating first half. We challenged our guys, and from there we played a little bit better."
In the second half, Montague was able to play Ravenna evenly, with each team getting in the end zone twice. Koops said the coaches honestly told the players at halftime that if the team's effort and execution did not improve in the second half, the 28-0 deficit would get worse. Fortunately, the 'Cats did improve their play after the break.
Wildcat seniors Levi Auger and Cole Moss were able to go out scoring touchdowns in their final high school games; Auger caught a 35-yard scoring pass from Max Dyer, and Cole Moss, fittingly, scored on another explosive play, racing for a 62-yard touchdown.
"It was nice to get those kids a score," Koops said. "JJ Atchison got to run back a kickoff. Those guys had a good attitude. When you only win two games, you can have kids and parents turn sour on you, and we didn't have a lot of that, so that was good. That's a credit to our seniors and our community."
