Photo courtesy of Mike Huston, story by Kadin Rogers.
(Sterling, IL) One final regular season high school football contest saw the Monmouth-Roseville Titans travel up north to Sterling to take on the Newman Central Catholic Comets in a battle of 7-1 Three Rivers Conference juggernauts.
Sterling-Newman would open the game with the ball after Monmouth-Roseville differed to the second half. Newman’s opening drive stalled out, which would be a theme of the game in an impressive showing for the Titans defense. Monmouth-Roseville took advantage of their first drive, moving the ball down the field on the ground in typical Titans fashion, ultimately punching it in on Landon Montroy’s two yard score. A Newman three and out, gave the Titans the ball right back, and Payton Thompson’s big fourth down conversion on the ensuing drive lead to his score from inside the ten to extend the Titans lead to 14-0 in the early second quarter. Newman’s next possession would drain most of the second quarter clock but the Comets were unable to turn it into any points. The Comets defense was able to hold the Titans from scoring anymore points on their final drive, intercepting Myers pass to end the half as an impressive defensive effort from Monmouth-Roseville sent the game to 14-0 at the break.
Monmouth-Roseville would open the second half with the ball, and came out of the break hot, moving the ball down to the goal line and scoring on a 4th down touchdown run from Landon Montroy to push the Titans lead to 21-0. This score would hold for the rest of the game as Sterling Newman’s drive with a couple minutes in the fourth ended in a turnover on downs, and the Titans offense would convert several first downs to drain the clock and secure a dominant win to wrap up the regular season. In the stat book for Monmouth-Roseville, Payton Thompson filled the sheet on the ground with 179 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries while Landon Montroy added 93 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. The win for the Titans clinches a program best 8-1 record for the regular season, as the Titans now await Saturday’s news of where and who they are playing in the first round of the class 3A IHSA playoffs next weekend.
