Two months ago, the Montgomery County football team was off to a slow start, going 1-2 after losing 44-16 to North Callaway at its home field.

Now, the Wildcats are district champions. 

MCHS ended a 20-year district championship drought after cruising to a 42-6 win over the Bowling Green Bobcats in a Class 2, District 2 championship game on Nov. 14 at Jim Blacklock Field. The Wildcats won their 12th district title in program history and their first since 2005.

After the game, the seniors stamped 2025 on the district championship banner that is located on the bleachers. Adrian Combs, Colby Ellis, Chase Queathem, Cameron Knapp, Mac Farrar, Wyatt March, Ashton Johnson and Rylan Redditt will get to play another week of football.

“The seniors have been phenomenal, led by Colby, Adrian and Chase and all of these guys,” first-year MCHS coach Matt Smith said. “They just bought into working hard and it shows. You got to have a little luck with that, too. We got some good coaches who work hard and it all came together.”

The Wildcats advanced to play the St. Pius X Lancers in a state quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. on Nov. 22 at St. Pius X High School, located in Crystal City. St. Pius defeated Caruthersville 28-14 in a Class 2, District 1 championship game on Nov. 14 at Caruthersville.

With the win over Bowling Green in the district finals, players such as Combs, Ellis, Queathem and sophomore Jackson Benney may have to wait another week to report to the MCHS boys basketball team. The squad is scheduled to open its season on Nov. 22 against Hallsville.

“(MCHS boys basketball coach Dustin) Figg wants us to keep winning and he knows that this is everything for some of us,” Combs said. “He wants us to keep playing.”

Combs helped the Wildcats extend their season to another week by scoring three touchdowns, all of them in the second half. He also helped his team break the 40-point mark for the fifth time this season.

“It’s what we’ve been working for,” Combs said. “I’d be lying if I said I expect this to happen at the beginning of the season. But we kept fighting, we kept getting better and this is where we are now.”

MCHS improved to 9-2, won its seventh straight game and knocked off Bowling Green for the second time this season. The Wildcats beat the Bobcats by the same exact score as the district final – 42-6 – in a Week 7 game, snapping a six-game losing streak to the Pike County school.

The Wildcats haven’t lost since that Week 3 contest to North Callaway. They are enjoying their longest winning streak since 2013, when they opened the year at 8-0.

MCHS also made a big turnaround from last year, when it won just three games.

“We have worked hard since the start of the summer,” March said. “We worked hard up until this point. We deserved it. I think we had a little bit of doubt at the beginning of the season, but we kept proving them wrong and wrong. I’m just proud of my team. I’m proud of what we were able to get done this year.” 

March scored a 15-yard touchdown catch with 1:36 to go in the second quarter to give MCHS a 6-0 lead it would never relinquish. He caught Combs’ pass on fourth down and four.

“That was huge and gave us a little bit of momentum,” March said. “Without that, it could have been different.”

 MCHS scored 36 points in the second half to pull away from Bowling Green, which finished its season at 4-7. McCurdy started the second half with a 75-yard touchdown kickoff return to increase the Wildcats’ lead to 12-0. A three-yard touchdown run by Combs and a two-point conversion with 2:18 left in the third quarter boosted the lead to 20-0.

The Wildcats got a 38-yard touchdown run by Combs, a 62-yard punt return by McCurdy and a two-yard touchdown run by Combs in the fourth quarter to increase their lead to 42-0.

“We had to run a lot of quarterback tonight,” Smith said. “Adrian kind of got it going. Chase led him there. The kickoff and punt returns from Lafe set us over the edge. We were playing fast. I think we were pressing early, but it got better and I’m super proud of those guys for staying composed and working hard.”

Smith, who replaced John Klekamp as head coach, received a Gatorade shower after the game. 

“It was worth it,” Smith said. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

In 2005, MCHS defeated South Callaway in the district finals. That squad went on to finish second in the Class 2 state tournament.

A month ago, the 2025 squad saw members of the 2005 squad during a 20th anniversary reunion that was held at Jim Blacklock Field. Combs said he hopes his team goes on a successful run like the 2005 squad did.

“It will be great,” the senior quarterback said. “That’s obviously the goal, but we have to take it week by week and day by day and keep getting better.”

MCHS was the No. 1 seed in the seven-team district tournament. The Wildcats received a quarterfinal-round bye before beating fourth-seeded Hermann and second-seeded Bowling Green to advance out of districts.

With a win over St. Pius, MCHS will reach the state semifinals for just the third time in program history.

“We just have to work hard this week and see what happens,” Smith said. “We’ll just go down there and slug it out.”

Just like they have been doing the last seven weeks.