This past Friday night marked an official start to the 2024-2025 Monmouth-Roseville football season, as the Titans hosted their new Three Rivers conference rival Mercer County at Coach Dobry Field in Monmouth. Coming off back to back to back IHSA playoff appearances, the Titans were looking to continue their momentum and that is exactly what they did in, coming out with a statement 50-14 win over the Golden Eagles.
In a quick moving first quarter Monmouth-Roseville would end up drawing first blood in the game, as on a 4th down keeper senior quarterback Andy Myers scored from 24 yards out for the first touchdown of the Titans season. Mercer County’s only offensive drive of the quarter would end after an intentional grounding call forced a Golden Eagle punt, sending the game to the end of the first period with the Titans leading 6-0. After the Titans opened up the second quarter with a punt on their first drive, Mercer County put together a long sustaining drive, ending the drive with a goal line touchdown and two point conversion from senior Payton Sedam to take an 8-6 lead. In the last 2 minutes of the half, Monmouth-Roseville’s final drive ended with a 4th down turnover on downs as they would trail after a full 24 minutes of play.
Mercer County began an eventful second half with the ball after kicking off to begin the game, however their first drive would end in a punt, a punt that would be returned deep into Mercer County territory by senior running back Payton Thompson, setting up a goal line score from Landon Montroy to put the Titans back on top 14-6 after a two point conversion Thompson. Thompson would near immediately turn around and extend the Monmouth-Roseville, securing an interception and then scoring from 10 yards out on the offensive end to push the Titans lead to two scores. M-R’s defense would continue to make plays to set up their offense, as defensive end Landyn Angelo recovered his own forced fumble, leading to another long touchdown run from Thompson. Once again it wouldn’t take long for the Titans to find the endzone, as on the next ensuing kickoff, the Golden Eagle return team failed to get on the ball, leading to a recovery from Monmouth-Roseville on the goal line. The Titans would take advantage of the error from Mercer County, as Andy Myers knocked in his second touchdown of the game. Mercer County would find the endzone for the first time of the second half on a 54 yard long ball from John Baldwin to Daylin Blazer, however the Titans ensuing drive would end in a response in the form of a 32 yard touchdown run from junior back Nick Huston to send Monmouth-Roseville onto the fourth quarter with a commanding 44-14 lead.
To open the final quarter of play, the Titans would continue to expand their lead, opening the quarter with an interception from junior defensive back Elliott Rogers, leading to another score from Andy Myers to put Monmouth-Roseville over the 50 point mark. Even as the clock wound down, the Titans defense continued to force turnovers, as both Rogers and Thompson came down with their second interceptions of the game, allowing Monmouth-Roseville to run out the clock and secure a 50-14 win to open the season.
In the stat book for Monmouth-Roseville, the Titans did not pass the ball once, as the run game dominated a majority of the game. Payton Thompson was the game’s leading rusher, accruing 143 yards and 2 scores on 18 carries. Andy Myers added 3 touchdowns on 8 rush attempts, while Nick Huston and Landon Montroy also had their own scores. Monmouth-Roseville’s defense also had a stellar all around performance, forcing 5 total Golden Eagle turnovers. The Titans now turn their focus to week 2, as they travel to Orion to take on the Chargers next Friday.
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