After helping his Montgomery County football team cruise to a 36-14 win over Wright City on Sept. 30, Adam Czerniewski was thrilled that he got to sing the victory song, “County Roll,” with his teammates in the locker room.

“That song is special,” the MCHS senior quarterback said. “We’re about winning. That’s what this program is about.”

The Wildcats celebrated their first win of the 2022 season after knocking off Wright City in a homecoming game at Jim Blacklock Field. MCHS improved to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in Eastern Missouri Conference play and extended its winning streak against Wright City to six games.

“It was so relieving,” Czerniewski said. “I felt like this will spark something. The whole team was so excited about it.”

The Wildcats handed Wright City its first loss of the season. Wright City, which is also nicknamed the Wildcats, dropped to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in EMO play.

“They have some really good athletes,” MCHS coach John Klekamp said. “(Wright City) Coach (Tyler) Rickard did a really good job over there. A coach who used to be on my staff here is an offensive coach for them. They’re doing a really good job with them offensively.”

MCHS lost games to Hermann, Monroe City, Van-Far, Mark Twain and Bowling Green before coming out on top against Wright City. The Wildcats gave up an average of 42 points in their first five games.

“From the boys’ standpoint, we’re 0-5 and we come into a game that if we compete, we have an opportunity to win,” Klekamp said. “We know it could be a big confidence booster for the team, but it could also go the other way. There was a lot of pressure and a lot of stress.”

MCHS got another strong performance from Czerniewski, who didn’t play in last year’s meeting with Wright City due to a concussion. He scored three touchdowns and three TD passes to help the Wildcats come back from a 14-8 second-quarter deficit to win the contest.

“Adam Czerniewski is a coach’s dream,” Klekamp said. “Sometimes you have kids who work hard and can’t always do exactly what you need them to do on the field. Then you have kids who give everything they’ve got and lay it on the line for their team every night, injured or not injured. Adam was banged up, but he was a great leader for us.”

Czerniewski has a team-high seven touchdowns this season. He credits the offensive linemen for his outstanding senior season.

“They’re so important to me,” Czerniewski said. “Without them, we wouldn’t have a team. They’re the core of this team.”

A three-yard touchdown run by Czerniewski and a two-point conversion by senior Brenden Luttrell with 9:30 left in the second quarter gave MCHS an 8-0 lead. The Wildcats tied the game at 14-14 on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Czerniewski to senior Dominic Luttrell with 16.6 seconds to go in the quarter.

Czerniewski scored a four-yard TD run with 4:30 left in the third quarter to give the Wildcats a 22-14 lead. He threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to junior Jacer Brower with 58.8 seconds remaining in the third and scored a 25-yard touchdown run with just nine seconds into the fourth quarter.

MCHS outscored Wright City 22-0 in the second half. The Wildcats’ 36 points marked a season high.

“We had a great pep talk by (assistant) coach (Kyle) Schroer,” Czerniewski said. “He just sparked something. The defense came out and made a great stop and didn’t stop from there.”

Duan McRoberts scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to lead Wright City.