By Scott VanSickle
LocalSportsJournal.com
 
MONTAGUE – Friday’s West Michigan Conference Lakes Division matchup with Orchard View had the potential to be a trap game for Montague.
 
The Wildcats came into the game off an emotional 14-7 win over Oakridge and know a matchup against archival Whitehall is looming in Week 4 and Montague coach Justin Dennett knew the Cardinals weren’t a team to be taken lightly.
 
His team held off a pesky OV squad by overpowering the Cardinals at the point of attack and amassing more than 400 yards on the ground in a 55-14 WMC Lakes Division victory Friday. Fletcher Thommen and Devlin Dean each scored three touchdowns on the ground, and the Wildcats’ defense forced four turnovers as Montague stays perfect in conference play.

Photo/Amanda VanSickle

 
“I was worried about (Orchard View) because they’ve got some skill kids that can beat you on big plays, which they had two in the first half. What I was really happy with was, what we got beat on in the first half, those guys came back and made plays in the second half,” Dennett said. “We have a great offensive line this year, and then you add in a tight end, and our receivers block well and our running backs block well. They know that we’re going to run the ball and we have to be physical up front.”
 
Playing with a 28-14 lead, Montague (2-1, 2-0 Lakes) got behind its offensive line and went 69 yards in just over 2 minutes in the third quarter. Senior Ryver Jarka started the drive with runs of 23 and 11 yards, and a dump-off pass in the flat that Dylan Bailey took 15 yards. Thommen notched his third score of the game as he went 9 yards into the end zone untouched with 5:27 remaining in the period. After Cooper Bradley picked off a Peyton Babbitt pass, it was Dean’s turn to find the end zone. The sophomore running back, who scored four TDs in one quarter of Thursday’s JV game, scored from 19, 10 and 12 yards out on the following 3 drives.
 
“(The offensive line) was making huge holes and playing the game like we practiced,” Dean said. “(The running game) was a huge factor in us getting the score to 55-14. The way we practiced this week was the way we played in the game.”
 
The first third of the season has been a tough stretch for OV coach Aaron James, who is trying to change the culture of the program after coming over from Mona Shores. The Cardinals (0-3, 0-3 Lakes) faced 3 conference heavy hitters in rival Oakridge, Whitehall and Montague to start the season. Despite the struggles early in the year, James saw his team keep fighting for improvement and knows that’s a good sign.
 
“That’s a tough three to face when you’re trying to rebrand,” James said of his team’s first three opponents. “We tell the kids to fight hard, fight to the finish, don’t look at the scoreboard and play our brand of football and we’ll let the chips fall where they fall. If anything, right now, we need to rally more and be with each other. It was 28-14 and we got the ball after half, so we had a chance.

Photo/Amanda VanSickle

 
“We’ve taken three lumps, three big Ls in a row, but the kids keep coming back, showing up, keep working hard, that’s a good thing. Now they see the level and the brand we’ve got to get to,” James said.
 
A sloppy opening quarter saw Montague take control of the game 14-0 as Jarka, who started the game at quarterback, rushed and threw for a touchdown. Jarka capped an 8-play drive by dragging three OV tacklers into the end zone on an 8-yard run, and then hit Kellan Francis on a 19-yard TD strike on the following drive.
 
A 36-yard return from Daniel Cooper on the ensuing kick gave OV a spark as the junior slot receiver cut the ball to the outside and raced down the visitors’ sideline to set his team up on their own 49 with 2:51 to go in the quarter. Seven plays later, Cooper made another big play for his team as he got behind the Montague secondary and Babbitt hit him for a 43-yard score on the opening play of the second quarter. Babbitt connected with Kobe Spann on the 2-point pass to cut the lead to 14-8.
 
“I always want to run the ball and go up the middle, but I think we’ve got athletes that we can get the ball to in space,” James said. 
 
But Montague answered back with Thommen running up the gut to score from 8 yards out. The ‘Cats got runs of 40 and 17 yards from Jarka in the drive to set up the TD run and regain a two-score lead.
 
Thommen was the workhorse on the following drive, toting the ball five times for 33 yards, including a 2-yard plunge with 2:43 left in the half to balloon the Montague lead to 28-8 after Jonah Henderson’s PAT.
 
Again, Cooper got a nice return out to the 33 and Babbitt ran the 2-minute drill to perfection as the Cardinals found the end zone to close out the half. Chris Theile’s 33-yard run down the home sideline flipped the field position, and Babbitt connected with Spann from 17 yards out to cut the lead to 28-14.
 
Jarka rushed for 161 yards on the ground to lead Montague, which rushed 48 times for 418 yards on the night. Dean added 149 yards on 16 carries, while Thommen gained 63 yards on the ground.
 
Defensively, Jack Degen and Bradley both recovered fumbled and intercepted a pass, while Thommen had a team-high eight tackles. Bailey made seven stops and four of Jarka’s six tackles were behind the line of scrimmage.
 
Babbitt had 54 rushing yards on 17 carries, and threw for 75 yards and two scores. Cooper caught two passes for 47 yards, with Damari Wright leading the Cardinals’ defense with five tackles and a fumble recovery.
 
OV hits the road again next week with the aim of picking up its first win of the year at Manistee.