Monache grinds out win vs Chavez
November 1, 2019 was the last time the Monache Marauder football team laced up their cleats to play another opponent. You can only imagine how disappointed they were when their opening week game was cancelled last Friday against Golden West due to poor air quality.
Monache was finally able to hit somebody other than themselves Saturday night when they took on Caesar Chavez from Jacob Rankin Stadium. The Marauders would score on their first possession of the night and their last possession of the night to come away with a hard fought 13-6 victory.
On the Marauders opening possession QB Brysn Hornsby would find Jace Gastelum for a 23 yard strike on 3rd and 11 to keep the drive alive. It was Hornsby who finished off the drive with a 33 yard QB keeper on an option play. The 2 point conversion failed and the Marauders led 6-0.
After the teams exchanged punts, Chavez would put together a 10 play scoring drive in which they were able to convert on a 4th and 12 to keep the drive alive. On the first play of the 2nd quarter Joseph Garcia was able to punch it in for the Titans from two yards out. Monache blocked the PAT to keep the score tied at 6.
The Marauders would get a 34-yard Hornsby run to get into the red zone on their next possession but they weren’t able to convert on a 4th-down play from the 20 and turned it over on downs.
The Marauders had another scoring chance late in the first half after a bad snap on a punt attempt gave MHS the ball at the Chavez 32 with 37 seconds left. But Honrsby had a pass intercepted on the next play and the half ended with the teams tied at 6.
After forcing a Titan punt Monache received great field position on their opening drive of the 2nd half but 25 yards of penalties helped put that drive to a halt.
Chavez would then put together a 16-play drive that would get them deep into Marauder territory but the MHS defense, who played great all night got an interception from Josiah Perez to end the Titan threat.
After forcing Chavez to a three and out, a Marauder player was knocked into a punted ball before it was downed which gave Chavez the ball at the Marauder 32. But once again the Monache defense came up with a big stop, forcing a Chavez punt.
Monache would take over at their own 24 with 4:51 left and were in desperate need of some offense. Hornsby would answer that call, rushing three times for 21 yards and then finding Jacob Vasquez on a 43-yard pass down the middle of the field to the 1-yard line with 1:14 left in the game. Tyler Ishida would punch it across on the next play with just 43 seconds remaining. Marc Culwell booted the PAT through the uprights to give Monache a 13-6 lead.
Josiah Perez would get his 2nd interception of the night for the Marauders to seal the victory.
Hornsby led the Marauder rushing attack, rushing for 107 yards on 10 carries. Marauder head coach Shane Focke offered his thoughts on Hornsby. “Brysn’s toughness was contagious. I was very happy to see him cut that last throw loose and just trust Jacob Vasquez to make a play. Brysns QB play was just clutch”
The Marauder defense only allowed 206 yard on the night. “Our defense played as tough as I’ve seen in a varsity game in a long time. LB Josiah Perez played like a beast We played a classic bend but not break D and it paid off at the end” Focke would praise Ashton Tilton, Joshua Corona and Mark Culwell for their defensive play. Focke summed up the Marauder win in two words, “True grit. It was our first game in 2 years. We had lots of physical and mental mistakes but we found a way to pull out a close one”
The Marauders were scheduled to have a bye next week but instead will get a chance to make up that game at Golden West this Friday from Gropetti Stadium in Visalia.