Story by Kadin Rogers.
(MENDOTA, ILL). After a 1-3 start to the season, the Monmouth-Roseville Titans football squad found themselves with a chance to bring their record back to .500 on Friday night, taking another long road trip up north to Mendota, to take on the 2-3 Trojans. The Titans got a victory last Friday night over Spring Valley Hall, and M-R would carry that momentum into this game, getting up early and never looking back in a 32-7 victory.
Receiving the opening kickoff, the Titans got to play their brand of football right off the bat, using a steady dose of Landon Montroy on the first drive to get deep into Mendota territory. Montroy would eventually do the scoring honors on the drive, punching the ball in from three yards out while Zane Mason would run in the two point conversion to put M-R up 8-0 early. The Trojans first offensive drive would end quickly in a three and out, giving way from Lars Bergren to rip off a couple big runs to set the Titans up at the one yard line. Facing a fourth and goal from the one, Landon Montroy would fight his way in for his second touchdown, and QB Kane Johnson connected with Andrew Snyder on the two pointer to put Monmouth-Roseville up 16-0 after one quarter of play.
Bergren’s 50 yard return after another Mendota punt would set up a third Titans scoring opportunity. Facing a fourth and 3, Bergren found a way to the sticks on a pitch, then Kane Johnson scored from 14 yards out on a quarterback keeper to put M-R up 24-0 after their third successful two point try. Mendota pieced together their longest drive of the half right before the break, but that drive would end in a turnover on downs at the Monmouth-Roseville 10 yard line, sending the game to the break at 24-0 in favor of the Titans. M-R’s defense continued to be a big storyline in the third quarter, as while the offense was unable to reach the end zone again, the Titans defense kept Mendota off the board to take the 24-0 M-R lead into the final quarter of play.
A crucial fourth down for Mendota would open up the 4th quarter, and the Titans defense came up with another big stop, sacking quarterback Javier Hernandez to force another Trojans turnover on downs. Kane Johnson was able to tack on another touchdown pass to his total, finding Zane Mason for a 28 yard score, then a busted extra point try would still end up working out for M-R, as Keegan Smith picked up the bad snap and found Andrew Snyder for another two point conversion giving the Titans the 32-0 advantage. The Trojans were able to avoid the shutout however, as Hernandez connected with Dillon Welch from 28 yards out with just a minute to play to bring the game to its final score of 32-7.
Titans Statbook: Landon Montroy managed his usual workhorse role, taking 23 carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Lars Bergren also added 10 carries and 49 yards, while Kane Johnson completed 2 of his 4 passes for 43 yards and a touchdown to Zane Mason. The now 3-3 Titans will look to keep their newfound winning streak going next Friday night on Senior Night, when they welcome the Chicago Little Village Phoenix to Coach Dobry Field in Monmouth. Chicago Little Village was added to the schedule in place of the Sherrard Tigers, who had to cancel their varsity football season due to low numbers in the program.
