Mason Leu had mixed emotions about his junior season with the Montgomery County football team last fall.

His strong defensive play earned him a spot on the all-Eastern Missouri Conference, all-district and all-state football teams. But his efforts weren’t enough to help the Wildcats finish with their fourth straight winning season as they went 2-8.

“I would trade the award for more wins,” Leu said. “It’s really an honor to get that. But at the same time it was bittersweet because we lost a lot of games, but I also had personal success.”

Now in his final year with the Wildcats this fall, Leu is determined to help his team turn things around. His senior year got off to a good start on Aug. 25, when he caught two touchdowns and finished with three tackles to help MCHS knock off Hermann 27-21 in the season opener for both teams.

Leu scored both of his touchdowns within a span of 47 seconds in the second quarter. He scored an eight-yard touchdown catch with 48.8 seconds to go in the quarter to cut Hermann’s lead to 14-6. After the Wildcats got the ball back on a Trenton Birkner fumble recovery, Leu scored a 13-yard touchdown catch to tie the game at 14-14. Leu got all of his tackles in the second half.

The six-foot-tall, 180-pound Leu said he was happy to start his senior year with a come-from-behind victory over Hermann. The Wildcats trailed 14-0 before scoring 27 unanswered points.

“We had a game plan,” Leu said. “We executed. We knew after the first quarter, everything was wide open. We weren’t catching footballs. We started catching footballs and we scored touchdowns.”

After the game, Leu got to take a picture with 12 of his senior teammates. Besides Leu, Jacer Brower, Ben Rajchart, Landon Massey, Bryson Hoffman and James Pollard also played with the MCHS program since they were freshmen.

“They’re my guys,” Leu said. “I love all of them to death.”

Leu has been playing football for seven years. He said his mother, Rachel, who is the head coach of the MCHS volleyball team, got him playing football in fifth grade.

“Every second, I love it,” Leu said. “I love it when it’s hard. I love it when it’s good.”

Leu played two years with his older brother, Ty, who was an two-time all-conference performer and is currently playing football at Culver-Stockton College.

“He’s got a goal to play college football and follow in his brother’s footsteps,” MCHS coach John Klekamp said. “I really think that Ty’s success pushed Mason even harder. Mason wants to be successful and he’s going to be successful.”

Leu received his first all-conference award after he was named first-team defensive back. He was one of five MCHS players named to the Missouri Football Coaches Association all-district team. He was the lone Wildcat selected to the MFCA all-state team as he earned third-team defensive back honors.

Leu finished with 56 tackles with two interceptions in 2022. He said he enjoys playing defense.

“I love it,” Leu said. “It’s my favorite side of the ball. I like being aggressive. It’s just fun.”

Leu also plays basketball and baseball for the Wildcats. Klekamp said during the 2023 baseball season, Leu did some training with MCHS head track coach Stephanie Finke.

“He did that before baseball practice,” Klekamp said. “He worked on speed and developed some speed.”

Klekamp said Leu will be a strong performer on both sides of the ball this fall.

“Mason is what makes great teams,” the MCHS coach said. “When you have a guy like that who is your hardest worker, that’s when you win. Mason does nothing but be our hardest worker.”