Three weeks ago, Matt Smith accomplished something that no other Montgomery County football coach did in 20 years – win a game in his head coaching debut.

The Wildcats knocked off Hermann 26-18 on the road in Smith’s first game as MCHS head coach. He became the first coach since Ben Blank in 2005 to pick up a victory in his first game as Wildcats’ coach.

Now, Smith is trying to accomplish the same feat Blank did 20 years ago – finish with a winning season in his first year as MCHS coach.

But first, his team has to get back on the winning track after losing its last two games to Monroe City and North Callaway. The Wildcats will take a 1-2 record into their home game against South Callaway in a Week 4 game at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Smith said in order to be successful for the next six weeks, his team must improve on both sides of the ball. The Wildcats scored just 24 points in the last two games after scoring 26 against Hermann and have allowed an average of 31 points this season.

“We have to clean up all of our penalties and assignments and just play a complete football game,” Smith said. “Against Monroe, we played a really good first half. We played a good first half (against North Callaway). But at times, we kind of lulled and fell asleep and gave up the big play.”

MCHS lost 44-16 to North Callaway in its home opener on Sept. 13 at Jim Blacklock Field. The Thunderbirds broke an 8-8 tie in the second quarter by scoring 36 unanswered points that carried into the third quarter and improved to 3-0. They also had wins over South Callaway and Macon.

“They’re big and they’re strong,” Smith said. “Last year, they finished 8-2, so I knew it was going to be a tough game for us. They got a good shot at winning the (Eastern Missouri) conference this year. They have been in those situations. They run the football hard. They basically maul you. But we just got to do a better job. I got to do a better job and get ready for the next one.”

The Wildcats will look to snap a four-game losing streak to South Callaway, which is 2-1 and has won its last two games. The Bulldogs finished 7-4 in each of the last two years.

“It’s going to be another tough one,” Smith said. “They’re going to run the football at us and do a bunch of different things. We’ve got to be disciplined. That’s really what it comes down to. We have to figure out our running game. We have a lot of work to do.”

In Week 1, the Wildcats stormed to a 26-6 lead in the third quarter against Hermann en route to a victory against their Highway 19 rivals.

The following week, MCHS lost to Monroe City for the fourth straight year.
Against North Callaway, the Wildcats got a nine-yard touchdown catch by Wyatt March with 9:42 left in the second quarter and a five-yard touchdown run by Adrian Combs with 7:33 to go in the fourth. Mac Farrar and Jackson Benney each scored two-point conversions.

The 44 points allowed marked a season-high for the Wildcats. They trailed 22-8 at halftime.

“Our communication is not good enough on defense,” Smith said. “We got to communicate a little bit better.”

On defense, the Wildcats had a pair of freshmen on their defensive unit – freshman McCullie Schluss and Drake Monsen.

“We have some big boys getting tired,” Smith said. “Those guys earn that right to get out there and play a little bit. We’re excited to get them in there and give them an understanding of how tough it is.”

Smith was hired as the Wildcats’ head coach this year after working just a year as assistant. He said he always strives for success in every game.

“I always want to do better,” Smith said. “I don’t want to let the kids down. That’s the No. 1 thing. I just enjoy being around kids and coaching.”