By Mitch Ashcraft
LocalSportsJournal.com
KENT CITY – The Kent City football team had not experienced a playoff game since 2001, and had never won a postseason game at all. 
Montague, on the other hand, has reached the postseason 15 of the last 16 years and won two state titles in that span.
On paper, Montague looked like the easy favorite on Friday’s Division 6 pre-district game.
But Kent City pulled off an incredible upset, defeating Montague 20-19 to advance to next weekend’s district finals against Ravenna.
“These kids are great – I can’t tell you how many times we have battled back,” said Kent City Coach Bill Crane. “This crowd, this community, they deserve this, it’s just phenomenal. I just couldn’t be more proud of my boys.”
The first quarter was scoreless, and the teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter.
Kent City’s Gio Weeks gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead, but Eddie Caviedes answered on Montague’s next possession with a one-yard touchdown blast.
Kent City took the lead on its first possession of the second half. Quarterback John Meek found Jace Dailey for a seven-yard touchdown pass to put the Eagles up 14-7.
Two Montague possessions later, Caviedes capped a 70-yard scoring drive with a 15-yard touchdown run to get Montague within one point 14-13.
But the extra point kick went wide to the right and Kent City entered the fourth quarter clinging to a one-point lead.
Caviedes forced his way in for a three-yard touchdown to put Montague up 19-14 with 7:22 on the clock. He led his team with 137 rushing yards in the loss.
Kent City then drove to the Montague 35-yard line, looking to retake the lead, but Meek was intercepted by Kenyan Johnston with 2:38 to play. and it appeared the ‘Cats were on their way to victory.
But the Eagles defense stood tall, forcing the visitors to punt with 1:43 remaining. The kick was blocked and recovered by Kent City at the Montague one-yard line.
One play later, Colton Atwood plunged into the end zone to put the Eagles up 20-19.
With all three timeouts at their disposal, the Wildcats still had a chance to win, but their final drive stalled at midfield and KC gained possession with 40 seconds remaining and ran out the clock.
