When Matt Clark played his first game with the Montgomery County Middle School football team against Bowling Green in seventh grade, there was one thing that caught his attention – playing defense.

“Watching the defense on the field, I was like, ‘That looks amazing. I want to be out there.’ I really strove to be out there,” Clark said.

Now, Clark is one of the top defensive players for the Montgomery County High School football team. Going into this season, the linebacker has a total of 74 tackles and five sacks during his high school football career.

“Matt is a big time player for us from the standpoint of making those really big plays defensively, like getting a sack, hurrying the quarterback, causing the fumble, recovering the fumble or making the tackle for a loss,” MCHS coach John Klekamp said. “That’s who he’s got to be for us this year.”

Last year, Clark enjoyed his best season of his high school football career, earning a first-team all-Eastern Missouri Conference award on defense after finishing with 39 tackles and a team-high four sacks. The effort helped the Wildcats finish with a 6-4 record, their third straight winning season.

“Last year, we got into some injury-type things,” Klekamp said. “We lost a lot of senior guys early. Matt had to change positions. We changed our defense a year ago. The defense was built for him to play where he’s playing now. So we’re able to put him back into an inside linebacker position where we wanted him last year. I think he’s going to thrive there. I watched film on the game against Hermann last year when he was still playing that spot. He did some really good things there.”

Clark finished with four tackles against Hermann last year, helping the Wildcats pull off the 31-16 win. He also had a season-high six tackles in MCHS’ 26-8 loss to Centralia in a district quarterfinal game.

This year, Clark is one of nine seniors on the team.

“It’s great to be back, especially with the senior group,” Clark said. “We’re definitely a small group, but I love these guys to death. I definitely think we can pull it together.”

Clark has been playing varsity since his freshman year, when he finished with six tackles in four games. When he was a sophomore, he finished with 29 tackles and one sack.

This year, Clark is part of a defensive group that includes seniors Travis Hill, Harrison Bishop and Brenden Luttrell. He said tackling and preventing other teams from scoring are his favorite parts of football.

“Defense is great, especially since I can’t catch,” Clark said. “Coach gives us simple plays to look out for like how to run them and how to counter them. We just go out there, do our thing and look good doing it.”

At 6-foot-5, Clark is the tallest player on the MCHS team. He grew two inches from his freshman year. He said his height has played a big role in his defensive game.

“It makes pass rushing a little easier and it kind of puts pressure on the quarterback,” the senior said.

Clark said despite a season-opening loss to Hermann on Aug. 26, he has high hopes for his team for 2022.

“I love this team,” Clark said. “Being an old guy watching some of these younger guys evolve, listen and grow, it’s amazing. This is a great team. This could be an incredible year as long as we remain together and do what our coach tells us.”