MONTAGUE — Energy and intensity aren’t qualities you’ll find on a stat sheet after a high school football game. But they definitely play a key role in determining wins and losses.

The Montague football team brought the energy from the opening kick against Oakridge Friday night on their way to a commanding 33-7 win in a West Michigan Conference showdown.

“We had a lot of emotion going into the game tonight,” Montague coach Justin Dennett said postgame. “This was going to be our toughest test in the conference so far. We knew we had to come out from the kickoff and play a great game.

“People were doubting our guys. They took it personally. Tonight was the one we needed to make a statement and we did. We still have some tough tests left, we’re not going to let up, but I’m just proud of our guys.”

On the other side, Oakridge coach Cary Harger thought his team looked a little too relaxed after last week’s bye week.

“Montague showed up to play and it didn’t look like we did,” he said. “In hindsight now, I definitely think that (bye week) hurt us a little more than I thought it would. Maybe we took it as a little too much of a vacation, unfortunately.”

Dennett said his defense did a great job holding a normally potent Oakridge offense in check with just one score.

“Our defensive line played really well tonight and kept them off our linebackers,” he said. “Our linebackers Colton Blankstrom and John Greiner were flying around making plays. It was just a total 11 guy defensive effort, just a great team effort defensively.”

The passing game was a key for Montague offense, with senior quarterback Andrew Kooi completing 13-of-20 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns.

“We have so many good receivers,” Kooi said. “It’s really nice to have those options out in the field, it makes my job as a quarterback really easy.”

Both teams are now 3-1 on the season after Friday’s game. Montague improves to 3-0 in the conference while Oakridge falls to 2-1 in the WMC.

Montague scored first on a 16-yard pass from Kooi to Owen Petersen to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The Wildcats added another touchdown, a 19-yard toss from Kooi to Tugg Nichols, early in the second to make it 14-0.

Oakridge responded on its next drive with its lone touchdown of the night, a 1-yard run by Corey Vanderputte, to make it 14-7. Montague then tacked on a score before halftime with a 16-yard run from Dylan Everett to make it 20-7 heading into halftime.

Montague added a 2-yard score by Everett in the third and a 16-yard pass from Kooi to Colton Blankstrom in the fourth to close out the scoring.

Nichols was Kooi’s top receiver on the day with five catches for 93 yards and a score. Everett rushed for 115 yards to lead Montague. Aaron Rolf had a team-high seven tackles, followed by Silas Jancek with six. Michael Moore had an interception for Montague.

Vanderputte led Oakridge with 66 rushing yards, followed by Trever Jones with 51. Jones and Riley Bean each recorded seven tackles for the Eagles.