Last fall, Mason Montez played quarterback for the first time and eight short months later, the West Platte senior signed with Cornell College to continue his football career on April 13.
Cornell College is a Division-III school in the Midwest Conference in Mount Vernon, Iowa. The West Platte football coaching staff had some Ram staff members come down last fall to talk to the Blue Jays, and after a slight hiccup, Cornell contacted Montez.
West Platte senior Mason Montez signs his letter of intent to play football at Cornell College, while being seated next to his family at the West Platte library on April 13.
“Our coaches had them in to talk with us and I was interested, but then they lost my number,” Montez said. “Then somehow, they found it and started reaching out to me and the rest is history.”
Montez was in communication with other colleges, such as the University of St. Mary (Kansas), Doane University (Iowa), Sterling College (Kansas) and Clarke University (Iowa). The future Ram went on a visit to Cornell College and could instantly tell that was the place for him.
“We went on a visit a month or two ago, and as soon as I got there, I loved everything about it. The football, the athletics and the academics are pretty nice, so I was always pretty interested. It felt like they really cared about me and my development, and with playing time and stuff like that, it was a better situation than the other colleges,” Montez said.
Due to an injury with another West Platte quarterback, Jim Newsted – the Blue Jays’ head football coach – asked Montez if he wanted to try out the position, and the senior accepted the challenge. He kept practicing, stuck it out and eventually won the starting job, but knows he still can improve.
“This was the only year that I played quarterback in my life, so I feel like I have a lot of room to get better. Quarterback just felt like a new challenge to me, when I started to play the position, I fell in love with football all over again. It brought a new challenge, and it was so fun to lead the team out there every game; I really enjoyed that aspect of it,” Montez said.
Before holding the reins of the West Platte offense, Montez played wide receiver and tight end – along with multiple positions on defense, such as linebacker, defensive end and cornerback.
After leading the Blue Jays to their first 4-0 start in more than a decade, Montez went down with an injury and missed three games but returned for the back end of the season. The quarterback returned against Penney and led the Blue Jays to their first win over the Hornets in seven years.
West Platte held a 6-2 record when Montez was under center and ended in third place in the KCI Conference, making him the first quarterback to win that many games for the Blue Jays since 2014. The fully recovered Montez told the Platte County Citizen that the hardship of being sidelined for a few weeks in his senior campaign helped him grow mentally and he will be better prepared for college football because of it.
“I feel like the injury has helped me handle facing adversity. I remember not knowing what to do when it happened and I was so worried, but I feel like I dealt with it pretty well and there’s a lot I can do with it now,” Montez said.
Montez hopes to major in history or sports management. He is unsure which of the two fields he will choose to pursue at this time.