DETROIT – At the beginning of state high school football championship weekend at Ford Field, it was Inkster quarterback Devin Gardner, a University of Michigan commit, who was promising to show the rest of the field how the position should be played.

U of M coach Rich Rodriquez better check his recruit sheet.

Montague senior Cody Kater certainly showed the state that perhaps he should be the more highly touted signal caller, as his 371 yards of total offense propelled his Wildcats to a 24-21 victory versus a game Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central squad Friday evening, giving the school back-to-back state championships.

“We just had to go out there and make plays,” said Kater, regarding the game-winning drive. “Anyone can make a play (on his team) at any given time.”

Kater and the Wildcat offense shined its brightest when the pressure was on, completing an eight-play, 80-yard drive in its last real offensive series of the day. Down 21-17, Kater went 3-for-3 in the air, while also picking up 21 yards on the ground, including the go-ahead touchdown from 10 yards out.

“Wow, what a game,” said Montague head coach Pat Collins following the win. “Hat’s off to Monroe St. Mary. I thought they played a heck of a game. I thought our kids just gutted it out.”

Montague found itself down for the first time in the 2009 playoffs following a 60-yard drive on the first possession of the day. The Wildcats haven’t trailed in a game since the final week of the regular season, versus Fremont. The Falcons poked and prodded its way down the field in nine plays, capping the drive with a three-yard blast by Falcon Jack Cusumano to put his team up 7-0.

Montague hoped to answer on their ensuing possession, driving the length of the field in seven plays to give the offense first-and-goal on the Monroe 10. But the Wildcats had trouble punching it in, failing to convert a fourth-and-goal on the Falcon one, and turning it over on downs. No matter, the Wildcats would tie things on their next drive, capping a six-play display with a one-yard run by junior Kevin Blackmer.

Montague took the lead on its next possession, piecing together a 12-play drive that was aided by a roughing the kicker call on a Montague punt. Kater floated a pass to junior wide out Anthony Root from seven yards away to give the Wildcats the 14-0 lead.

The Falcons tied the game on its first drive of the second half. Montague drove into the Falcons end zone only to see Kater cough up the ball inside the 5, which the Falcons recovered in the end zone. Starting from the 20, Monroe needed six plays to go the distance, as Falcon QB Mike Howey raced around the left end to hit pay dirt from five yards away.

Montague again took the lead, on its first drive of the fourth quarter, as senior do-it-all Matt DeJong, who also finished as the game’s leading receiver, belted a 24-yard field goal to give the Wildcats the 17-14 lead.

But Monroe would not go away.

Needing just eight plays to cover 80 yards, Howey again broke loose, racing down the right sideline for 42 yards and the score, putting his team up 21-17.

Then came showtime for the Wildcat offense, when Kater rumbled in for the winning score.

“As a senior, they can’t take this away from us,” said Kater, when asked if the pressure was higher this year than last year’s state title run. “We were just out there playing football.”

“This could not happen to a nicer group of kids,” said Collins, reminding the gaggle of reporters that this team has lost just one game in two years. “It’s great to be a part of that.”

The Wildcats finished this record-setting year with a perfect 14-0 including a West Michigan Conference title, and district, regional and state championships. Montague has been one of the top Division 6 teams in the state in recent years, reaching the state semifinals the past five years, and winning the last two state championships.

Kater finished with 18-for-26 passing for 251 yards and a score, while also running for a game-high 120 yards on 17 carries. Senior Drew Pineda added 28 yards on six carries.

DeJong was the game’s leading receiver, hauling in eight catches for 124 yards, while junior teammate Anthony Root had four catches for 39 yards.

Howey completed just one pass for nine yards, while Howey, Chris LaBeau and Cusumano combined for 264 yards, over three-quarters of the Falcons’ total yardage. 

Defensively, the Wildcats were led by Drew Pineda’s 15 stops, with teammate Jesus Aguilar added 11 tackles and RC Twining, Jordan Degan and Jake Snowdin each had five tackles. Jake Schmitt added 1.5 tackles for a loss, including a sack or Howey on the Falcons’ final play of the game.