Before the Montgomery County football team was preparing for its home season finale against Wright City on Oct. 18, it got some encouragement from a non-player.

It was Pamela Klekamp, the wife of MCHS head coach John Klekamp.

“My wife came in and did a character lesson,” John Klekamp said. “It was the first one we had in a year. She kind of talked about The Three Musketeers, the all for one and one for all and united we stand, divided we fall. We had a lot of things to talk about with the boys. She kind of asked the boys who is giving their all and who’s bad mouthing teammates, the coach and the football team. A lot of kids raised their hands.”

What Pamela Klekamp did to inspire the Wildcats really helped in their game against Wright City. MCHS improved to 2-6 after coming back from a 21-0 deficit to beat Wright City 33-28 on senior night at Jim Blacklock Field. It’s the second year in a row MCHS beat Wright City in come from behind fashion. Last year, MCHS came back from a 19-0 hole to win 34-33, spoiling Wright City’s homecoming.

“I don’t know that I’ve been around two games like what we played Wright City the last two years,” John Klekamp said. “It’s been exciting. Coach (Sam) Turner is my volunteer coach and he’s been a friend of mine for a long time. He’s been a mentor for me. He tells me after this, ‘We have to quit that. That’s too much for my heart.’”

MCHS ended its regular season on Oct. 25 with a 32-14 win over Louisiana. The Wildcats will take a 3-6 record into their district quarterfinal game with Bowling Green on Nov. 1.

The Wildcats’ win over Wright City was a huge birthday present for senior Bryson Nichols, who turned 18 that night. Before the game, he was among five seniors who were honored with their parents.

“It was amazing,” said Nichols, who is playing football for the first time since middle school. “All of those guys are great people. I think the energy they brought from the get-go really helped us win. I was really thankful for all of the birthday wishes they gave me when I was walking down on senior night.”

Jacob Hogue, Trenton Birkner, Tatum Wessel and Jordan Hicks were the other seniors who played in their final home game.

“It felt weird,” Birkner said. “I didn’t realize until I got into the locker room that it was my last game. I was more worried about the game like my team was.”

Hogue scored the game-winning touchdown with 20 seconds left. His 1-yard TD run ended a 12-play, 65-yard drive.

“We were down on ourselves for quite a bit,” Birkner said. “One play after another, we picked it up. It felt great when we got that final touchdown (from Combs).”

Junior Adrian Combs finished with two touchdowns. He also scored a two-yard run in the second quarter that cut Wright City’s lead to 21-13 and a five-yard run with 6:49 to go in the game that got MCHS to within 28-27.

“I’m super proud of our quarterback,” Klekamp said. “I told our boys after the game that if there’s anybody who is taking a lot of heat as a player, it’s Adrian. I felt like Adrian was down on himself early. We talked and he was great tonight. He made so many good reads in the second half and made a ton of plays. He was special tonight.”

MCHS junior linebacker Rylan Redditt helped set up that long drive for the Wildcats by making a huge defensive play, blocking a throw from Wright City quarterback Duan McRoberts on fourth down and five.

“He’s been really good in the kicking game for us,” Klekamp said. “We’re still trying to figure out where he can play for us. We felt like we figured out some stuff this week. He gave us a great effort at practice. He likes to go hard.”

Sophomore Attis Bartlett caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Hogue with 1:25 remaining in the first to cut Wright City’s lead to 21-7.
MCHS also got a touchdown from Mac Farrar with just four seconds into the fourth quarter. His 15-yard TD catch trimmed Wright City’s lead to 28-19.

Wright City, which dropped to 4-4, had an attempt to win the game in the closing seconds, but McRoberts’ throw was intercepted by Hogue at the Wildcats’ 27-yard line.