Air attack leads Montague to state championship win over Clinton

The Montague football team relied on their air attack in the 40-14 victory over Clinton on Friday night in the Division 6 state championship.

Wildcats quarterback Drew Collins connected with Sam Smith five times for 96 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

"A couple guys made a video and it shows our losses the past couple of years," Drew Collins said. "It just reminds us of that feeling, the bus ride home and we finally get to celebrate on the bus ride home because not a lot of teams finish their season with a win so we are excited."

The duo got the scoring started with a nine-yard touchdown pass just over four minutes into the game.

After Clinton responded to tie the game at seven, Collins found Smith once again but from 44 yards out to make it 13-7 after a missed extra point.

However, Clinton would take the lead on a two-yard touchdown run in the second quarter before the Wildcats pulled away.

Just over one minute later, Montague would regain the lead with a with a two-yard touchdown run by Dylan Everett to lead 19-14 at the half.
And the second half was owned by the Wildcats as Smith caught touchdown pass number three from Collins midway through the third quarter to make it 26-14.

Drew Collins would then add two more touchdown runs of nine and 23 yards to pull away with a 40-14 victory and a state title.

Collins would finish the game 15-of-19 passing for 244 yards and three touchdowns while also adding 51 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns on the ground.

"Failures make you stronger if you are willing to go back and work hard for it again," Montague head coach Pat Collins said about last season's one point loss in the state semifinals. "A lot of times people fail and then they give up, these guys didn't do that. They failed and that made them more determined to work hard for this and so those moments they just refused. I can't say enough about their maturity and just their drive to win and their passion to win."

It's the third state championship in program history for the Wildcats.