"It was about as close as you can get," Suttons Bay coach Joe Trudeau said. "Unfortunately, they had the ball last."

SUTTONS BAY quarterback Matt Pasch (12)
is dragged down by a Montague tackler in
Saturday's playoff game.

Ben Wood's 20-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining gave Montague a 23-20 win over Suttons Bay, earning the Wildcats the Division 6 District title and ending the Norsemen season.
It was their first field goal attempt of the season.

The kick came three plays after Suttons Bay senior Matt Pasch had stripped A. J. LaRue of the ball at the end of a 43-yard gain. Though the Norsemen recovered the fumble, the Wildcats maintained possession with officials ruling LaRue down by contact.

“They are a great crew that did everything we asked of them on the football field,” Trudeau said of his team after the loss. “It’s too bad.”

The Norse jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Gabe Gallagher caught a 9-yard pass from Pasch in the end zone. Jeff Lott’s point-after was good, giving the Norse the lead.

In the second quarter, Montague’s Cody Kater converted a 28-yard pass to Ben Wood for a Wildcat touchdown. The PAT was good to knot the score at 7-7 at halftime.

Pasch went to the air again with a 44-yard scoring strike to Kody Herman. Lott’s point-after kick was good again, giving the Norse a 14-7 lead. The lead was short-lived, however, as 56 seconds later the Wildcats evened things up with a 67-yard touchdown pass from Kater to Wood. The PAT made it 14-14.

Then, with eight minutes left in the contest, Dustin DeHoff responded with a 3-yard TD run for the Wildcats. Wood’s point-after kick failed, but Montague still led 20-14.

A dejected Kevin O’Neill of
Suttons Bay reacts moments after
Montague eliminated the Norsemen,
23-20.

Suttons Bay traveled 60 yards in 11 plays to tie the game 20-20 on a 2-yard touchdown run by Anthony Stewart. Lott’s point-after attempt was blocked.

“We converted on fourth down twice. They just did a good job making plays,” Trudeau said.

Despite the loss, Trudeau said the Norse seniors have much of which to be proud. Accomplishments include a third consecutive conference title, which has never before been accomplished by a Suttons Bay team, and a 9-2 record.

Playing their last game for the Red and White were Stewart, Herman, Pasch, Anthony Hang. Kevin O’Neill, Jason Steimel, Nick Loberg and Isaiah Nelson. Eric Hernandez and Nalen Brockman, senior standouts, have missed the past few games with injuries.

Also competing in his last game for the Norse was senior Andrew Bumgardner. He and Hang each recorded 13 tackles Saturday. The tackle tally put Bumgardner over the 100-mark for the second consecutive season, making him just the fifth Norse player in school history to do so.

Stewart completed his senior year with 23 touchdowns, a Norsemen record. He also had 34 career touchdowns, and his varsity yardage total of 1,431 broke a 2002 record set by Jason Stewart (no relation).