The Montgomery County football team has a strong senior class this fall.

The Louisiana Bulldogs found out why on Oct. 6 in a Week 7 game at Jim Blacklock Field.

The seniors helped the Wildcats cruise past the Bulldogs 47-22 after getting outstanding efforts from Jace Ellis, Dayton Simmons, Ben Rajchart, Bryson Hoffman, Christian Naylor and Mason Leu. Ellis scored three touchdowns, Simmons added two touchdowns, Rajchart made a blocked punt that set up a touchdown for Hoffman, Naylor kicked three points after touchdowns and Leu made an interception.

The win helped MCHS move one step closer to its fourth winning season in five years. The Wildcats improve to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in Eastern Missouri Conference play with two regular season games to go.

“It’s a blessing to be out here with the players, the team and the family I made with these guys,” Rajchart said. “It’s awesome to be able to come out here and have the capability of being able to play. I can’t ask for anymore.”

Now, the seniors are hoping to get a nice sendoff on Oct. 13, when they play their final home game of their high school football careers against the North Callaway Thunderbirds.

“I don’t want it to end because I’m a senior,” Hoffman said. “It’s a weird thought that it will be my last home game on that field. It’s crazy, but I’m excited for it.”

The other seniors on the team are Jacer Brower, Landon Massey, Wes Cobb, Weston Marshall, Chase DeJesus, Kadyn Emily, James Pollard and Connor Finke. Out of the 14 seniors on the team, seven of them were on the varsity roster when they were freshmen. They were Brower, Pollard, Finke, Rajchart, Hoffman, Leu and Massey.

Rajchart, who has been with the Montgomery County football program since seventh grade, said he’s looking forward to senior night.

“The emotions are definitely going to be high, but I will say it is an honor to be able to play for the Montgomery County Wildcats, to be a student and a player for coach (John) Klekamp,” Rajchart said.

Ellis, a quarterback, now has a team-high seven touchdowns. Against Louisiana, he scored a four-yard touchdown run with 3:13 left in the second quarter that gave the Wildcats a 21-14 halftime lead they would not relinquish.

“Jace is battling an injury that is really a significant injury,” Klekamp said. “Jace has been doing what he needs to do to take care of himself physically. He still practices every day and works hard.”

Klekamp said Naylor has been a valuable player on special teams and defense.

“He’s a great kid,” he said. “He sacrificed a lot in his life to be part of this football team. He sacrificed the game of football. He has great hands. If we were running an offense at tight end, he’d be playing tight end for us. But he sold out to the position we asked him to play.”

Hoffman celebrated his first touchdown of his high school football career after recovering a loose ball after a block punt from Rajchart and scoring a 15-yard touchdown run with 7:03 left in the second quarter that gave MCHS a 14-8 lead.

“It changed the momentum of the game,” Hoffman said.

Rajchart plays on both sides of the ball. He is a center on offense and is a defensive lineman. Rajchart prepared for this season by going to an Army boot camp in Fort Leonard Wood this summer.

“It was definitely tough,” Rajchart said. “There was a lot of physical conditioning I had to put my body through to get trained properly. Other than that, it really did awesome things for me to be able to perform properly this year for the football season.”

The seniors helped the Wildcats improve tremendously from last year, when they won just two games.

“Coach always says believe in greatness,” Hoffman said. “Obviously, we were all mad from last year when we were 2-8. We just wanted to be better. We just want to win games. That’s all that matters to us.”

North Callaway will take a 2-5 record into the contest with the Wildcats. Last year, the Thunderbirds beat MCHS 42-38.

“North Callaway coach (Kevin) O’Neal is a good dude,” Klekamp said. “He’ll have his guys ready to play. It doesn’t matter what their record is. They’re going to come here to beat us. We need to continue to focus on us and what we need to do to get better defensively and offensively.”