Wildcats finish with three-win season on the gridiron

By Theo Tate
Posted 1/17/25

The Montgomery County football team didn’t celebrate another winning season this fall.

The Wildcats finished with a 3-7 record after going 6-4 the year before. They lost their first five …

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Wildcats finish with three-win season on the gridiron

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The Montgomery County football team didn’t celebrate another winning season this fall.

The Wildcats finished with a 3-7 record after going 6-4 the year before. They lost their first five games en route to their second losing season in three years.

MCHS defeated Mark Twain on homecoming, came from behind to beat Wright City on senior night and knocked off Louisiana for the fifth year in a row. All of its victories came in October.

The Wildcats’ season ended on Nov. 1 with a 52-12 loss to Bowling Green in a Class 2, District 2 quarterfinal game. Two weeks before, they lost 70-14 to the Bobcats in a regular season game.

Despite the losing season, the Wildcats had outstanding efforts from many of their players, including seniors Jacob Hogue, Trenton Birkner and Tatum Wessel and juniors Colby Ellis, Adrian Combs, Mac Farrar, Wyatt March and Chase Queathem and sophomores Tyler Rodgers, Attis Bartlett and Owen See.

Hogue earned all-Eastern Missouri Conference honors on both sides of the ball and received an all-district award after turning in the best season of his high school football career. He caught for 784 yards with seven touchdowns as a receiver, rushed for 268 yards with four touchdowns and had 57 tackles with two interceptions on defense. Hogue was named first-team wide receiver and second-team defensive back on the all-EMO football team.
In the Wildcats’ 33-28 win over Wright City on Oct. 18, Hogue scored the game-winning touchdown with 20 seconds left in the contest.

Wessel was named all-EMO and all-district linebacker after leading the Wildcats in tackles for the second year in a row. He finished with 97 tackles after having 106 a year ago.

Birkner was named first-team all-EMO defensive end this year after finishing with 61 tackles and three sacks.

Queathem turned in a strong season at defensive back after recording a career-best 91 tackles. He was named on both the all-EMO and all-district teams.

Ellis was named second-team all-EMO and all-district defensive lineman.

Combs, a quarterback, threw for 1,932 yards with 15 touchdowns and rushed for 499 yards and six touchdowns.

Rodgers was voted second-team all-EMO offensive lineman and See received second-team notice at strong safety/outside linebacker.

Farrar and Bartlett each caught three touchdowns and March caught for 217 yards with a touchdown.

The Wildcats will lose Hogue, Wessel, Birkner, Bryson Nichols and Jordan Hicks to graduation.

MCHS began its season with losses to Hermann, Monroe City, North Callaway, South Callaway and Van-Far. It averaged 14 points in those five games.

The Wildcats defeated Mark Twain 40-16 on Oct. 4 to pick up their first win of the season and win on homecoming for the sixth straight year. The 40 points marked a season-high for MCHS.

Two weeks later, the Wildcats came back from a 21-0 deficit to beat Wright City at home. The following week, they ended their regular season with a 32-14 win over Louisiana on the road.
MCHS finished 3-3 in EMO play after getting five wins the year before.

John Klekamp wrapped up his 15th season as MCHS coach.

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