Montrose beats Dakota Ridge in 4A football playoffs

No. 6 Montrose beat No. 11 Dakota Ridge in the first round of the Class 4A football playoffs on Friday.

Montrose won, 26-14.

“Winning in the playoffs is never easy and I’m very proud of our kids for their effort tonight,” Montrose coach Brett Mertens said. “It’s a team game and we definitely played as a team tonight. It’s a great night to be a Montrose Indian and we are excited to have another week to play football.”

A big first half, during which Montrose built a 20-7 lead, was key. Keenan Goodwin, Chris Eckerman and Emmert Kastendieck all scored touchdowns.

In the third quarter, Riley Barnhill added to the Montrose lead with a five-yard run.

Dakota Ridge’s Kyle Cannon hauled in a nine-yard touchdown from Ben Biffinger to cut into the lead, but Montrose was able to put the game away in the fourth quarter.

“It was a great team win,” said Montrose’s Cole Simmons. “Everyone on the O-line did awesome and our running backs are super tough. Defensively our DBs played the best game of the year and our front seven played lights out. Hats off to Dakota Ridge and looking forward to what happens next.”

Said Dakota Ridge coach Ron Woitalwicz: “There offensive line controlled the game in the first half. We made too many mistakes to beat a good football team.”