Bryan Cook and David Montgomery are set to meet for the third time in their NFL careers Sunday when the Bengals play the Texans at 1 p.m. in Houston. The matchup turns a Texans schedule date into a reunion for two former Mount Healthy High School teammates who have already crossed paths twice on pro fields.
Cook is 27, and Montgomery is two years older. Cook said Montgomery was traded by the Lions to the Texans two weeks before Cook signed with the Bengals, which is part of why the timing feels almost made to order. When the two line up again, it will be the latest chapter in a connection that started a decade ago at Mount Healthy, long before either one reached the NFL.
Cook still talks about Montgomery like family. “He’s my big bro,” he said, calling Montgomery a blessing and the kind of older player he leaned on for answers. Cook said he asked a lot of questions then and still does now, and that Montgomery always found time to help. He also called him “the ultimate competitor.”
Their first NFL meeting came in the 2023 opener, when Cook had seven tackles and Montgomery ran for 74 yards on 21 carries before scoring the winning touchdown with seven minutes left in the Lions’ 21-20 win over the Chiefs. They met again last season, when Cook again had seven tackles and Montgomery was held to 24 yards on four carries in the Chiefs’ 30-17 win over Detroit. Sunday will be their third meeting, but it is still not clear how often they will be in direct matchup with each other once the game starts.
That uncertainty is part of what makes the game interesting for Arvie Crouch, who coached both players at Mount Healthy and is now the head coach at Hamilton High. He said he made Montgomery his quarterback and Cook a cornerback back then, and he still remembers how much he trusted both players. “I knew they were special guys,” he said, adding that he saw Division I talent in them and admired their character, consistency and care for others.
Crouch is also living the split loyalties of the weekend. He said he and his wife are still looking for a place to watch Sunday’s game, and he is clear about the conflict inside him. He is a Bengals fan at heart, but when Montgomery has the ball, he wants him to score. When Cook is out there, he wants him to make a play. That is the kind of pull only a coach of both players could feel.
He has watched their meetings before, including one at Eli's Sports Bar in Ross, and he expects this one to mean just as much because it carries the same thing the others did: two former teammates, now on opposite sides, still defining each other. Sunday’s game will not just add another line to the Texans schedule. It will give Mount Healthy another reason to watch what its two former stars do next.
