MONTAGUE – Some people thought it was a stretch to expect Montague to contend for another state football championship this fall.

After all, three-time state champion Coach Pat Collins moved on after last season, and his son, All-State quarterback Drew Collins, graduated in June.

On top of that, the Wildcats were good, but not great, during the regular season this year. They won part of a three-way share of the West Michigan Conference championship, but finished with a 6-3 record, including two straight losses at the end of the regular season.

Simply put, a lot of playoff watchers figured you could stick a fork in Montague.

But the Wildcats never stopped believing in themselves. They pulled their act together when the playoffs began and have been playing their best football of the season since then.

They opened the playoffs with an impressive 41-7 win over Central Montcalm, then stunned a lot of people by beating a very good Reed City team 35-22 on Friday in a Division 6 district championship game.

Now they are preparing for next Saturday’s regional title game at Lansing Catholic (10-1), with the winner advancing to the state semifinals.

Leading the late season charge for Montague has been running back Dylan Everett, who has made a huge difference with his performance over the past two weeks.

Against Central Montcalm, he rushed for 118 yards, including two touchdowns, and caught a 74-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andrew Kooi. That game put Everett over the 1,00-yard rushing mark for the season.

In the district title game against Reed City, Everett rushed for 197 yards with two touchdowns.

“He’s been pretty great lately,” first-year Montague coach Justin Dennett said about Everett. “He’s probably been running the ball better than any other time this year. Our offense has really started to click, and he’s been a big part of it.”

Everett says he’s been playing in overdrive to prove all the doubters wrong.

“Ever since the beginning of the season when we lost to Edwardsburg, everybody has kind of looked down on us,” Everett said. “It’s kind of motivated us, and it’s inspired me to play as hard as I can.”

Coach Dennett knew his team would have a special running back when he accepted the job last summer and watched film of the Wildcats during their state championship 2020 season.

Everett turned out to be everything that Dennett expected, rushing for 919 yards and 12 touchdowns on 132 carries in the regular season. His total yards ranked seventh among area running backs.

“When I first got hired, he was one of the first names that everyone brought up,” Dennett said. “I watched game film and he definitely stood out. He is very talented and has the total package – he has that straightaway speed and he’s quick and shifty. He can also catch passes out of the backfield and he blocks for us.”

Everett was happy to get the chance to play a full season this year, after experiencing a torn MCL (a knee injury) early in the 2020 season and missing several games.

“I was supposed to be out five or six weeks, but I came back a little early,” Everett said about his return in 2020. “I came back for the Whitehall game and got a few carries, then I was fully healthy against North Muskegon and scored four touchdowns.”

Everett has been more rested than usual in the past few games this season, and the results have shown up on the field. The coaches decided to dramatically cut the time he spends playing safety so he could conserve his energy for running the ball.

“We found ways to keep him a little more fresh and it’s helped out a lot,” Dennett said. “He’s great on defense, and we wanted him out there, but we had some other guys step up and take some of the load off him. He definitely wants to play defense, he’s a competitor, but we’ve got to remind him about what’s best for the team.”

Everett said he’s happy to make any adjustment necessary to keep the winning going.

“I always want to be in the game, making plays and making a difference, but whatever is best for the team,” he said. “I think it has helped me a little bit. In the first half of the season I had some cramping problems, probably from constantly being out there.”

Everett and the Wildcats opened this season with a loss to a powerful Edwardsburg team, then ripped off six wins in a row before hitting a major roadblock at the end of the regular season.

They were tied with archrival Whitehall 14-14 headed into the fourth quarter, but then lost 34-14. A victory would have given them the outright West Michigan Conference championship, but they had to settle for a three-way tie with Whitehall and Oakridge.

The next week Montague was still down and closed the regular season with a 31-7 loss to Portland on the road.   .

Going into the playoffs with a two-game losing streak is generally not a recipe for success, but the Wildcats somehow managed to get their swag back.

Some people might have been amazed by the way Montague pulled itself together, but Dennett said the players never seemed overly concerned.

“They weren’t too down (after the two losses),” the coach said. “After the Whitehall game everyone was pretty upset, but it didn’t take a whole lot of motivation to get them going again for the playoffs. This is a real confident group. They’ve been through it before and they know what they are capable of.”

Everett said the senior leaders on the team took it upon themselves to address the issues before the playoffs.

“After the Whitehall game we kind of lollygagged – I think it hurt more than we expected – then against Portland we just came out flat,” Everett said. “Then us seniors had some deep talks with the team. We told them that we knew we were better than this, and that we still had so much potential. The Central Montcalm game gave us our confidence back.”

Dennett said he and several assistant coaches traveled on Saturday to watch Lansing Catholic’s win over Millington. The Cougars are ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 6, and Dennett said the team’s skill is obvious.

“They are a really talented team,” he said. “They were a good Division 5 team the last few years. They have a couple really good receivers and a very good quarterback too. They have dangerous skill kids and are fairly big up front. But we feel like we match up pretty well with them. “

Montague will not be favored in the game, but that’s OK with Everett.

“We like being the underdog,” he said. “It gives us more motivation and grit and makes us work harder.”