JEFFERSON — Monroe ran for 403 yards and four touchdowns en route to a 32-14 road victory over Jefferson’s football team in the Rock Valley opener for both teams on Friday.
“Running the ball is their bread and butter and all they do,” Jefferson football coach Scott Slotten said. “That’s been a tradition there for a long time and their players buy into that mentality. Monroe gets off the ball hard and keeps the clock moving.
“They go for three yards, three yards, three yards and then catch you for 25. They did a good job of that versus us. Those guys are strong up front and their running backs run hard, which wore us down a little bit.”
The Cheesemakers are now 22-0 since joining the RVC in 2021, but the Eagles gave them a run for their money.
Monroe senior running back Jacob Flom opened the scoring on a 26-yard scamper in the first quarter.
With a minute left in the first, Jefferson junior quarterback Bentley Wagner went up top to connect with senior tight end Ryan Lohman for a 21-yard TD.
“We’ve seen in the past how their corners play trips formations,” Slotten said. “We wanted to try and put some confusion in front of them. We sent Ryan deep with crossing routes in front of the corner. We got the corner to bite on those crossing routes and Ryan got behind the defense, which was awesome.”
Monroe took a 13-7 lead to the halftime break after senior running back Benjamin Gatdula’s 1-yard scoring run, which was followed by a missed extra point.
Monroe (1-2) took over at its own 43 midway through the third quarter and two plays later found paydirt as senior running back Joseph Rufenacht skirted around the right edge and outflanked a defender, racing down the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown.
The Eagles’ answer was prompt and came in the form of a splash play as junior running back Connor Witucki bursted 71 yards through the middle on the first play of the ensuing drive to reach paydirt. Senior Sam Steies’ extra point cut the margin to 19-14 with 5:14 left in the third.
“We had good angles for power blocking on that long run and guys got a hat on a hat,” Slotten said. “Witucki snuck through not a huge hole and got going. He’s a really talented running back who does a good job reading and cutting at the line of scrimmage. When Connor gets to top speed, he’s pretty quick.”
Monroe senior quarterback Bryce Roelli fumbled on the second play of the ensuing drive and Lohman pounced on the loose ball at the Cheesemakers 30.
The Eagles’ quest for a go-ahead score overcame three separate penalties when Wagner scrambled and hit sophomore wide receiver Landen Schmitt on the sideline for a pickup of 14 on fourth-and-9. Three plays later, Wagner fired to a streaking Cale Schmidt in the back of the end zone, but the pass fell incomplete resulting in a turnover on downs.
Monroe went on to march 91 yards on eight plays to build a 25-14 on senior running back Tony Wolf’s 8-yard run with 9:14 left in the game.
Later in the fourth, Jefferson freshman backup quarterback Parker Murphy was intercepted in the flat by Rufenacht, who raced 33 yards the other way for the pick 6.
“We did a lot of good things offensively, but did not capitalize when we needed to,” Slotten said. “We need to have our studs make big plays when big plays are given to them and I think we left a few out there.”
Monroe averaged 9.4 yards per carry and had five players surpass 50 rushing yards, led by Flom who tallied 133 yards on 14 attempts.
Jefferson travels to face East Troy (0-3) next Friday.
MONROE 32, JEFFERSON 14
Monroe 7 6 6 13 — 32
Jefferson 7 0 7 0 — 14
First quarter
M — Flom 26 run (Schmidt kick)
J — Lohman 21 touchdown from Wagner (Steies kick)
Second quarter
M — Gatdula 1 run (kick failed)
Third quarter
M — Rufenacht 57 run (run failed)
J — Witucki 71 run (Steies kick)
Fourth quarter
M — Wolf 8 run (pass failed)
M — Rufenacht 33 interception return (Schmidt kick)
Team statistics — Total yards: M 403; Rushing attempts-yards: M 43-403.
Individual statistics — Passing (comp.-att.-yds-td-int): M Roelli 0-1-0-0-0; Rushing attempts-yards: M Flom 14-133, Rufenacht 2-68, Gatdula 12-59, Newcomer 2-58, Wolf 8-56.
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