Last season, the Montgomery County football team clawed its way back with 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to defeat Eastern Missouri rival Wright City at home.

On Oct. 17, Wright City nearly returned the favor by crawling out of a sizable deficit to force overtime as two fourth-quarter scores by the home team knotted the game.

Just like last year, though, Montgomery County (6-2 overall, 4-1 Eastern Missouri) was able to walk away with the win. This year’s edition came via a 26-20 overtime win at America’s Heartland Stadium, thanks in large part to a big effort from senior quarterback Adrian Combs.

“I was a little bit nervous, but I believe in us,” said Combs of watching a 14-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate. “I believe we won’t give up. We showed that and came out and got the win.”

Montgomery County (6-2, 4-1) has now won nine straight games in the series, including a 33-28 win last season in which MCHS scored in the final minute to earn the victory. 

Combs scored all four MCHS touchdowns on runs of 2, 58 and 1 yards before his 1-yard sneak on the final play of overtime ended the game.

The senior also added a key 2-point conversion strike to senior wide receiver Wyatt March late in the second quarter to make the score 14-6. The run and subsequent conversion came just 18 seconds after Wright City had tied the score.

MCHS coach Matt Smith said he had the utmost faith that his senior signal caller would come through in the clutch.

It’s what he and the team have come to expect from Combs, Smith said.

“That’s the thing about Adrian,” Smith said. “He goes out there and makes plays. He gets it done.”

For as solid as Combs was, Smith said that it was scary to watch the game’s final quarter unfold. The coach said he could empathize with what Wright City went through last year.

Smith added that, with the game ultimately on the line, it was an inspiration to see his defense shut down Wright City on four consecutive plays to give MCHS’ offense the chance to win.

“It was a crazy game with so much adversity we went through, the ups and downs,” Smith said. “The kids just kept fighting hard and I’m super-proud of their tenacity. We got four stops there and just played our butts off. I’m super-proud of our guys. Our defense has been really solid all year. I can't say that (ending) was something out of the ordinary. They (Wright City) gashed us there, but there are a lot of seniors in the club, and they’re resilient.”

With the win, MCHS will now turn its focus to the Louisiana Bulldogs for its final week of the regular season as the team returns home for a kickoff at 7 p.m. on Oct. 24.

Louisiana (2-6) will enter the game having lost all five previous meetings with Montgomery County. Last year, MCHS won 32-14 in a game played in Louisiana.