The Montgomery County football team made its first state quarterfinal appearance in 20 years on Saturday.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats didn’t come out on top.

MCHS dropped to the St. Pius X Lancers 14-0 in a Class 2 state quarterfinal game that was played at St. Pius X High School in Crystal City. The Wildcats finished their season at 9-3 and had their seven-game winning streak snapped. 

Eight MCHS seniors played their final game on Saturday. They were Adrian Combs, Chase Queathem, Colby Ellis, Cameron Knapp, Rylan Redditt, Ashton Johnson, Mac Farrar and Wyatt March.

The Wildcats advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2005 by beating Bowling Green 42-6 in a Class 2, District 2 final last week. It was also the first time in 20 years the Wildcats won a district championship. They have won 12 district titles in program history.

St. Pius qualified for the Elite Eight for the first time in program history by beating Caruthersville 28-14 in a Class 2, District 1 championship contest last week. The Lancers won their fifth district title and their first since 2001.

With the win over MCHS, St. Pius advanced to the Final Four for the first time. The Jefferson County Catholic school improved to 8-5 and will host Monroe City at 1 p.m. on Nov. 29 in a state semifinal game. Monroe City beat Mid-Buchanan 58-21 in a state quarterfinal game on Saturday.

Liberty High School of Mountain View and Blair Oaks also won their state quarterfinal games on Saturday and will square off in the other semifinal on Nov. 29.

The Class 2 championship game is scheduled for Dec. 6 at St. Joseph. 

The Wildcats came into Saturday’s game averaging 34 points per game. On Saturday, they were shut out for the first time since 2022.

MCHS had a chance to score in the first quarter after Queathem recovered a fumble on a St. Pius punt. The Wildcats had the ball at the Lancers’ 30-yard line, but they later turned the ball over on downs. 

The Wildcats had another opportunity to get on the scoreboard in the third quarter, when they had the ball at the St. Pius 27-yard line. But they lost that opportunity after Combs’ pass was intercepted by St. Pius’ Evan Eckrich on fourth down.

St. Pius scored all of its points in the fourth quarter. The Lancers took a 6-0 lead on a 30-yard touchdown run by Brody Ervin with 10:58 to go. Cody Shaver, who came into Saturday’s game with a school-record 2,645 yards, scored a 21-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion to complete the scoring.

There was some controversy before Ervin scored his touchdown. Combs’ punt was blocked and Ervin touched the ball, but fumbled it and the Wildcats recovered it. The referees, however, awarded possession to St. Pius and the Lancers took over at the 30-yard line, setting up Ervin’s touchdown.

MCHS played its first Saturday afternoon game since 2016. The Wildcats also played their first road game since a Week 8 contest against Wright City.

Editor’s note: A print version of this story will appear in the Nov. 26 edition of the Montgomery Standard.