Call it a sign of maturity for a group of mostly seniors that have taken their licks — when things looked like they would finally break Spotswood’s way, and possibly for good, William Monroe came up with an answer. Hosting the Blazers, the Dragons had their fair share of problems to overcome, special teams issues, a turnover that resulted in a defensive touchdown. But what Jon Rocha, a long time assistant and now Monroe’s first year head coach saw was something new over the last three years.
It was a team reacting to solving the problem as the Dragons held off the Blazers 19-14.
“Adveristy,” Rocha said succinctly. “We’ve said it that ‘Guys, things are going well, there’s going to be a time, be ready for it.’ Boy did this team step up.”
The first half could not have been more calm. Monroe’s defense, the true story behind this game, kept Spotswood from getting anything going offensively, particularly in the passing game as it doubled down on the Blazers top playmaker in Khalill Davis. After a scoreless first quarter, the Dragons were able to take a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Greg Sizemore after Tylek Burley set up first and goal on a big play off a reverse screen pass.
But Monroe got its first dose of adversity early on in the second half. After the Blazers pinned the Dragons deep on a punt, Monroe turned over the ball on a fumble in its own endzone that wound up quickly in Adam Dofflemeyer’s hands to make it 7-7 with 9:59 left in the third. How the Dragons responded after that defined the game.
“Before with this group, they would have hung their heads but they have a different mentality,” Rocha said. “They accept the challenge and it’s great.”
It started with the offense answering the bell. With the Blazers playing well against the run, Monroe turned to quarterback Dustin Knight to make some plays and he did just that. After he converted two big plays to keep the drive alive, once with his legs, once with his arm, Knight then came through for a third straight time on a 10-yard pass to Eddie Inzana to reclaim the lead for his team, 13-7 with 6:26 remaining in the third.
“When you’ve got Dustin back there, he’s wiry, he’s going to make some moves,” Rocha said of the drive. “Alex DeLeon then makes a shoestring catch on fourth down. We practice it, and those kids tonight, I couldn’t be prouder of them putting it into effect.”
It was there that Roacha’s defense made its mark. With Spotswood looking to get things going into the air, Monroe’s John King pressured and came up with a hit on the Blazers quarterback, Zach Polgase that forced an errant throw. Nick Losciuto stepped up and made the play.
“I didn’t even see it coming, I just saw the ball in the air, took advantage of it and the next thing I know, I’m off running,” Losciuto said of his 47-yard interception return for a touchdown. “We came together tonight as one defense. Our pass coverage was on point. We did it as a team and got done what we needed to get done.”
The pick six gave Monroe a 19-7 lead and the defense stood strong for much of the rest of the way through. Spotswood finally got its first offensive touchdown of the game with 3:15 left to play on a drive capped by Brayden Dodson.
After a failed onsides kick, Monroe worked the clock down behind running back Cody Perkins, but had to punt with a minute left. The final nail in the coffin came quickly there after though, albeit in confusion as a failed screen pass that was thrown laterally to Davis for Spotswood was scooped up by Monroe. It led to the Dragons’ victory formation and a season opening win for both this 25-man senior class and it’s first year coach.
“Being with coach Roacha for so long from JV on up, then him leading us to this point and then this senior class stepping up — it was just an awesome moment, to be on top.” Losciuto said.
On the night, Perkins put together a solid night, particularly with his second half running, finishing with 129 yards on 17 carries. Monroe had 312 yards on offense with 254 of it coming on the ground between Perkins, Knight, Burley and Malick Mallory.
The Drgaons (1-0) travel to Broadway on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
