MONTGOMERY CITY - The Montgomery County Wildcats had the zing, and the South Callaway Bulldogs couldn't match it.
Protecting a one-point lead at halftime, Montgomery County replied with 20 unanswered points in the second half to pull away for a 41-20 Eastern Missouri Conference win Friday night against South Callaway.
The Bulldogs - who rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit to close within 21-20 at the break - had their two-game winning streak halted in slipping to 2-2 on the season and 2-1 in the EMO. South Callaway was unable to avenge a 53-21 loss at Montgomery County in 2019.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, are also 2-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play after Friday night's win.
"Montgomery County thrives off momentum and energy, and we handed plenty of it to them," Bulldogs head coach Zack Hess said. "A lot of that was our fault."
Junior running back Logan Hutcheson supplied four touchdowns for the Wildcats, scoring on runs of 6, 6, 8 and 5 yards. Senior quarterback Drake Deuser accounted for Montgomery County's other two touchdowns on runs of 18 and 26 yards.
"They spread us out - they have great athletes and they've got some guys that are really quick," Hess said. "That made it difficult for us with the (defensive) scheme we were running."
South Callaway's first score came on a 19-yard touchdown run by senior running back Hunter Martin-Hay in the first quarter. The Bulldogs' other two scores came in the second quarter - on a 3-yard touchdown run by junior running back Trace Helsel and a 57-yard touchdown pass from sophomore backup quarterback Jacob Martin to senior running back Hayden Vaught.
South Callaway was playing without junior starting quarterback Sam Buckner, who has been suspended for two games for violating team policy.
Martin-Hay topped the Bulldogs with 72 yards rushing on 10 carries Friday night. Helsel was next with 46 yards in 13 attempts, while Vaught managed just 30 yards on 10 carries.
"Montgomery County's defense is physical - they're pretty athletic and pretty quick - and they loaded the box," Hess said. "We like to start inside (with our running game) and then work our way out to the perimeter, but they shut that down."
South Callaway will look to regroup this week when it hosts Clopton/Elsberry in an EMO contest. The IndianHawks improved to both 2-1 overall and in the EMO with a 27-6 triumph at home Friday against Louisiana.
"We need to learn what our breakdowns were (against Montgomery County), look at ourselves in the mirror and be accountable," Hess said. "Then we need to let it go, move on and work to get better.
"When we look down the road, maybe this (loss) will be good for us and a little humbling."
Ryan Boland can be reached
at (573) 826-2422, or on Twitter @FultonSunSports.