LocalSportsJournal.com

The Montague football team bounced back in its 35-0 win over host North Muskegon in both teams’ West Michigan Conference openers.

The Wildcats (1-1, 1-0) were looking to respond after their lopsided Week-1 loss to Edwardsburg.

Senior running back Dylan Everett gave Montague the lift it was looking for, rushing for 175 yards and a pair of big touchdown runs. 

After playing to a stale 0-0 tie through the first quarter, Everette broke the game open with a 44-yard scoring run. 

The Wildcats woke up from their lackluster first half and took a 28-0 lead through the third and added two more scores in the fourth quarter. 

Quarterback Andrew Kooi directed Montague’s offense, making 9 of 12 passes for 55 yards, including a 1-yard scoring run. Chase Gowell also scored for the Wildcats on a 24-yard play.  

Defensively, Montague was led by Colton Blackstrom with seven tackles and Tugg Nichols’ six. As a team, the Wildcats combined for four sacks. 

North Muskegon struggled on offense, finding lots of dead ends on its rushing attempts. 

Quarterback James Young was the go-to for the Norse, and he managed 75 yards passing on 17 of 28 attempts. Denny Belmont led the ground attack with 51 yards on 16 rushes. 

Bo Bedeau and Ben Meyers each had seven tackles and Kyle Hugh had six for North Muskegon (0-2, 0-1).