The Monmouth-Roseville Titan football squad climbed off the bus after a long 3+ hour ride into Chicago rush-hour traffic on Friday night in the IHSA’s Class 3A Opening Round. A bit road-weary, combined with the lightning quickness of the Hope Academy Eagles, the Titans found themselves trailing 22-6 at the end of the first quarter and 35-6 at the half. Monmouth-Roseville would come out of the halftime break rejuvenated, holding the Eagles scoreless through the final two quarters.
It didn’t take long to get the scoring started. Following the opening kickoff, Hope Academy scored on their first play from scrimmage. A 60 yard touchdown pass gave the Eagles an early 8-0 lead. Monmouth-Roseville would respond immediately, as Lars Bergren returned the ensuing kickoff for a 94 yards touchdown return. The 2-point run would fail and less than a minute into the game, Hope Academy led 8-6. The Eagles would score 27 unanswered points on three more touchdown passes and a short rushing score. Big plays were the name of the game in the first 24 minutes, with four of the six total touchdowns scored from at least 50 yards.
The scoring would slow in the second half, as the Titan defense would hold Hope Academy to zero points and forcing three punts. The only touchdown of the second half was an 8 yard rushing touchdown by Landon Montroy, his eleventh of the season, in the fourth quarter. Montroy would go over the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the season in the second half. Lars Bergren was the workhorse for Monmouth-Roseville, rushing for 129 yards on a whopping 29 carries.
Monmouth-Roseville ends their year at (4-6) overall. Hope Academy improves to (6-4) and will move on to the Class 3A First Round to take on fellow Chicagoland Christian Conference foe Kankakee Bishop McNamara. The Eagles beat B-Mac 42-10 in Kankakee in week 8.
