Logan Hutcheson made sure the Montgomery County Wildcats weren’t going to get another loss when they traveled to Wright City on Sept. 24.

The MCHS senior helped his team snap a two-game losing streak by turning in his best performance of the season, scoring three touchdowns to lift the Wildcats to a come-from-behind 42-26 victory over Wright City. He scored two touchdowns in the first half and one in the second.

Hutcheson played his second straight game. He missed two games this season due to an ankle injury he suffered in MCHS’ season-opening contest against Hermann on Aug. 27.

“It’s a little sore, but I knew it was going to take a hard fight for us to come out here and beat them on their home field tonight,” Hutcheson said. “I was trying to tough through that.”

The Wildcats improved to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in Eastern Missouri Conference play with four regular season games remaining. MCHS will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Oct. 1, when it plays Greenville (Ill.) in a non-conference game at Jim Blacklock Field.

“It’s going to be a great Homecoming game,” Hutcheson said. “I think we’re going to give it our all. It’s one of our last games on our home field as seniors, so hopefully we’ll go out there and kick some butt.”

The 42 points against Wright City marked a season-high for MCHS. Coach John Klekamp said his team improved tremendously from its 41-28 loss to South Callaway on Sept. 17.

“Last week was a really tough one for us,” Klekamp said. “We felt like that game should have been more competitive. We should have had a better shot of winning that football game last week against South Callaway. I told the coaches that we need to play better football. We need to learn how to be physical again.”

The Wildcats trailed 19-15 before Hutcheson scored a six-yard touchdown run with 7:08 left in the second quarter to give his team a 22-19 lead. MCHS never trailed the rest of the way.

Hutcheson scored his first touchdown – a two-yard run – with 5:40 left in the first quarter to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead. He scored his third and final touchdown – a 10-yard run – with 4:22 to go in the game. Hutcheson now has four touchdowns this season.

“Logan is not 100 percent,” Klekamp said. “That’s the thing people don’t understand. Logan is a special running back. When he gets to be 100 percent, we’re that much better. Even at 80 to 85 percent, Logan is better than a lot of the backs around this area.”

With junior Adam Czerniewski out with a concussion, junior Dominic Luttrell took over quarterback duties against Wright City. He scored an 11-yard touchdown run with 2:32 left in the third quarter.

“He had to step up with Adam’s down,” Klekamp said. “He hadn’t really taken any snaps at quarterback in the last three weeks leading up to this week. We were in communication over the weekend. I said, ‘Buddy, are you ready to step up?’ He said, ‘Yes sir.’”

MCHS held Wright City to just seven points in the second half. The Wildcats got a sack from senior Evan Abercrombie, two interceptions from junior Travis Hill and an interception from James.
“A big part of it was staying on our keys, staying on our assignments and doing our jobs,”

Abercrombie said. “It’s something we struggled with the last couple of weeks. (Defense) was really a big turning point for us.”

Seniors Ty Leu and Keenan James each scored a touchdown for the Wildcats, who beat Wright City for the fifth straight year.

Wright City dropped to 1-3. Jeremiah Davis scored a pair of touchdowns and Jake Smith and Duan McRoberts each scored a touchdown for the Warren County school.

“They’re talented athletes over there,” Klekamp said. “I won’t take anything away from them. But when we had to play football and line up and play, we were the better team for sure tonight.”