By John Bombatch, Staff Writer 1:40 AM Saturday, September 26, 2009
MADISON TWP. — Trailing behind the Wolfpack, Monroe High School running back Devin King rushed for 174 yards on 29 carries to lead the visiting Hornets to a 28-12 win over Madison on Friday, Sept. 25, at Brandenburg Field.
King scored a pair of touchdowns and gained 110 of his yardage total in the second half.
“Our O-line was the difference tonight,” King said. “Those guys — or the Wolfpack, as we call them — they opened up the holes to let me get the extra yards. They were definitely the difference in this game for us tonight.”
In slippery, sloppy, mud-filled field conditions, both teams had some difficulty hanging onto the ball. The two teams fumbled the ball a total of 13 times with both squads losing the ball once. Once Monroe got its running game established, the Hornets just kept with it for most of the second half. Monroe attempted two passes the entire game.
“Our offensive line played extremely well in these conditions,” Monroe coach Ken Meibers said. “In this slop, we knew it would be difficult for Madison to spread the field, and we knew it would be tough for either of us to pass. So we just went with our line and gave the ball to David Routson and Devin King.”
The two combined for 202 of the team’s 278 yards on offense.
“Their line on both sides of the ball was the difference tonight, I thought,” Madison coach Joe Snively said. “But I’m proud of how my players held their own tonight. We had our regular center (Jordan Schenck) injure his hand, but John Agnew stepped in and did a great job for us. And after last week’s loss (to Northridge), this team could’ve folded tonight. But they wouldn’t do that, and I’m proud of them for that more than anything else.”
Madison grabbed the first score of the game on a 13-play, 84-yard drive that ended with Tyler Dietz tossing a rare pass to Bill McGuire for a 46-yard score.
The Mohawk lead was short-lived, however. On the ensuing kickoff, Monroe’s Ben Leahy raced back 89 yards for his third kickoff return touchdown of the season.
Zach Eckert hit the first of his four extra-point conversions and Monroe had the lead for good.
King scored on rushing jaunts of 2 and 4 yards to lead Monroe (4-1, 2-0 SWBL Buckeye).
Madison’s mud-soaked Mark Maloney, who spent most of the game at quarterback for the Mohawks, scored on a 13-yard run in the fourth quarter. The team’s two-point attempt failed, but Madison (2-3, 0-2) was within 21-12 of the Hornets with just under 10 minutes left to play.
Routson raced in from 22 yards out for the game’s final score.
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