The Montgomery County football team finished with its largest offensive output of the season on Sept. 15 in an Eastern Missouri Conference road game against Mark Twain.

That helped the Wildcats enjoy their best start in four years.

MCHS improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in EMO play with a 47-14 win over the Tigers, setting up a big contest against Bowling Green on Sept. 22 at Jim Blacklock Field. Bowling Green, which reached the Class 2 semifinals last year, improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play with a 72-22 win over Van-Far, which was also played on Sept. 15. The Bobcats also had wins over Louisiana, Palmyra and Lutheran St. Charles.

The 47 points against Mark Twain marked a season-high for the Wildcats. After four games, they have scored 132 points. Last year, MCHS scored just 56 points in its first four contests.

With the win over Mark Twain, the Wildcats surpassed last year’s total of two. They also snapped a two-game losing streak to the Center school. The Tigers, who dropped to 0-4, outscored the Wildcats 88-26 in the last two meetings in 2021 and 2022.

This year, MCHS made sure it was not going to lose to Mark Twain again as it raced to a 26-6 lead at halftime and never looked back. The 26 first-half points marked a season-high for the Wildcats.

Jacer Brower scored a 55-yard touchdown catch with 9:51 left in the first quarter to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead. He scored two touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 24-22 win over Van-Far in a Week 3 contest and a touchdown in MCHS’ 44-34 loss to Monroe City.

The Wildcats broke the 40-point mark for the first time since 2021 after getting touchdowns from Jacob Hogue and Mason Leu in the fourth quarter. Hogue scored an eight-yard touchdown run with 11:53 left in the quarter for his first touchdown of the season. Leu caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 4:33 to go for his fourth touchdown of 2023.

MCHS celebrated its second road victory over the season. Three weeks ago, the Wildcats began their season with a 27-21 win at Hermann. Their next road game is scheduled for Sept. 29 at Wright City.

The Wildcats will look to snap a three-game losing streak to Bowling Green in Week 5. Last year, the Bobcats cruised to a 74-0 win.
MCHS is 3-1 for the first time since 2019. In that season, the Wildcats went on to finish 7-3 for its first winning season in six years.

This fall, MCHS is looking to finish with its fourth winning season in five years.

The Wildcats have three home games remaining. Besides the contest against Bowling Green, MCHS also has games against Louisiana (Oct. 6) and North Callaway (Oct. 13) at Jim Blacklock Field.

In their home opener against Van-Far on Sept. 8, the Wildcats came back from a 14-12, third-quarter deficit to beat the Indians, who knocked off MCHS 14-12 in last year’s contest at Van-Far. Senior quarterback Jace Ellis threw for 267 yards with four touchdowns.

Against Mark Twain, Ellis threw for 258 yards with three touchdowns and scored a pair of touchdowns, one in the second and another in the third. He has four touchdowns this season.

Also, senior Dayton Simmons caught a pair of touchdowns, a 14-yard catch in the first quarter and a 68-yard catch in the second. He also has four touchdowns this season.

On defense, junior Trenton Birkner finished with eight tackles and junior Tatum Wessell and sophomore Chase Queathem each had seven. Senior Bryson Hoffmann had two sacks.