MONROE — The Cheesemakers took care of business in Week 8, beating McFarland 42-7 on Oct. 8, and are set up for a winner-takes-all conference championship in Week 9.
“Some of these guys may not even have realized what they have done and what a big deal this is going to be when they get up there,” Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. “We’re going to try to get them ready for when it happens.”
The battle for the Rock Valley will be won by a former Badger Conference school, one way or another. Monroe (7-1, 6-0 RVC) will face rival Madison Edgewood (8-0, 6-0) at 7 p.m. at Breese Stevens Field Oct. 15. The two schools played each other 19 times over the past 20 years as members of the Badger South, but with the state-wide football-only realignment, the pair were moved to the Rock Valley before the 2020 season.
Last year, Edgewood played in the traditional fall season during the middle of the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic, finishing a patchwork season 5-3. Monroe opted to play in the Alternative Fall season with much of the rest of the Rock Valley this past spring, going 5-0.
“It’s a big game. We’ve seen them before and we just have to focus in,” said Monroe senior JT Seagreaves, a Wisconsin Badgers recruit.
This season could also be the last time the two schools play for meaning for a while — Edgewood (No. 3 in Division 4) is moving to the Capitol next fall, while Monroe (No. 7 in D3) will be joined in the league by Delavan-Darien.
Edgewood is coming off a 41-0 win over Evansville. The Crusaders have a prolific offense, accounting for 2,999 yards in eight games, with 2,007 of those coming through the air. Edgewood has 42 offensive touchdowns on the season, with a 2:1 split between passing and rushing. Most impressive, in eight games this year, Edgewood has five shutouts. River Valley scored twice in a 42-14 loss in Week 1, and Jefferson and Edgerton each scored a TD while losing by four touchdowns. Lake Mills, McFarland, Whitewater, East Troy and Evansville failed to put the ball across the goal line.
Quarterback Joe Hartlieb makes the Crusaders’ offense go. He completes passes at a 63.2% clip and has 1,437 yards to his name this year. He’s also thrown 22 TDs to just two INTs. His top targets on the outside are Jackson Trudgeon and Cam Fane. Trudgeon has 32 catches for 795 yards and 12 TDs this year — an average of four catches for 99 yards and 1.5 TDs a game. Fane has 30 grabs for 544 yards and eight scores. Mark Haering (14) is the only other Crusader with more than seven catches.
With 278 yards rushing, Fane leads the Crusaders — a rate of 34.8 yards per game. Mason Folkers has 217 yards on the season (27.1 ypg), while Trudgeon has 18 carries for 170 yards. Seven players have carried the ball for an average of two or more carries each game, but none average more than 35 yards each week.
“I think we are two very different teams in styles,” Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. “Sometimes that leads to a mismatch one way or the other. Sometimes that leads to a shootout. We’ll see how that works. We have some nice athletes, they have some pretty nice athletes, too.”
Monroe, meanwhile, is one of the state’s top rushing teams, with 2,918 yards and 39 TDs gained on the ground this fall. Throw in the occasional passing play, and Monroe has more than 3,100 yards of offense and 42 scores on offense — an average of 37.1 per game.
Alex Hernandez leads the Cheesemakers with 866 yards rushing on 152 carries (5.7 ypc), with eight touchdowns, while Keatin Sweeney has 863 yards and 12 scores on just 84 attempts (10.3 ypc). Seagreaves has nine TDs and 611 yards on 74 rushes (8.3 ypc).
“We play off of the defense, and we try to play smart and hard every time,” Seagreaves said. “A lot more to the fullback tonight.”
No team is perfect from the start of the season, and the Cheesemakers are no different. While the rushing attack has found continued success, struggles in the kicking game and in the secondary have left the team vulnerable. Monroe lone loss this year came by a singular point in overtime in Week 2 to Mount Horeb-Barneveld (No. 10, D3) — a game decided by missed PATs and misplays in the secondary.
Over the last three weeks, the kicking game has appeared to be patched up, as senior Lucas Flom has solidified his spot by hitting 16 of 18 kicks in the past three games.
That just leaves the secondary.
“Every week I think we are getting better. We see our flaws in film and keep working on improving,” said senior cornerback Chase Stoerp.
With games against spread offenses in Week 7 (Evansville) and Week 8 (McFarland), Monroe’s secondary had a chance to get on the right track, knowing that Edgewood — as well as the entire D3 playoff field — will look to hit it big on home run routes.
The Cheesemakers kept McFarland QB Cooper Kennedy contained all game — allowing just 11 passing yards. In fact, outside of Kennedy’s 81-yard TD run in the first quarter, Monroe allowed just 19 yards off offense by the Spartans.
“We’re improving a lot each week,” Monroe junior safety Aaron Roidt said. “we’re reading our keys and really focusing on getting back to stop the pass rather than just stopping the run.”
Leading 21-7 at halftime, the Cheesemakers wanted to enforce their sheer power over the Spartans in the third quarter — and they did just that. After marching down the field 62 yards on 10 plays, Seagreaves scored on a 10-yard TD run less than five minutes into the half. Two snaps later, Kennedy rushed a pass across the middle, and Monroe Roidt hauled in the interception — his first of the season after multiple drops.
“It was a confidence booster. Things were really not going well the last couple of games, but I was able to bounce back. It gives me confidence going into this next week, too,” Roidt said.
The Cheesemakers marched down the field on offense again, and Keatin Sweeney scored on a 17-yard run with 4:17 left in the third to put Monroe ahead 35-7, all but sealing the game.
Fullback Alex Hernandez had a massive game on the ground for Monroe, collecting 196 yards on 28 carries with three first half touchdowns.
“I would do that too on defense — I would not let JT run for 200 yards; I would not let Sweeney run for 200 yards. But then you run out of people, and there is someone that is missing, and that’s the guy that needs to seize that opportunity,” Golembiewski said of Hernandez. “The people blocking ahead of him. did enough to keep us moving forward.”
Seagreaves had nine carries for 55 yards, while Sweeney finished with 51 yards on seven attempts. Ethan Schmidt scored in the fourth quarter, igniting the running clock that sped up the final 5:46 of the game.
Monroe’s senior class kept the team focused in the win over McFarland. Despite winning seven games already, without a conference championship next week at Edgewood, the possibility lies that the Week 8 win might be the last time the Class of 2022 plays at T.R. Holyoke Field.
“Coach G kind of drove that into our heads and it kind of got to us. We wanted to come out and play hard because it definitely could be the last time we play on our home field,” said Chase Stoerp, senior cornerback.
Seagreaves, who has verbally committed to play tight end at Wisconsin next fall, has been on varsity since he was a freshman. While always speedy with great jump-ball catching ability as a wide receiver on the outside, he grew into his own as a defensive end, muscling up and overpowering linemen with his speed and strength, and sending opposing quarterbacks into a tizzy to escape the pocket. This year, he has moved inside and has become primarily a runner — and run blocker.
“I feel like every year I’ve been a little bit more involved in the offense and defense,” Seagreaves said. “This year, me and Chase both kind of stepped into a leadership role and kind of help guide the team, which is great. It helps us get to know the coaches a little bit more every year; the office; and everything. I hope we can get it all to click and keep it going from here.”
The Cheesemakers are 21-13 in Seagreaves’ four years on varsity. In his freshman season, Monroe won just two games. The next year, the team upset Onalaska and Stoughton in the playoffs before losing to eventual state champion DeForest in Level 3. There were no playoffs in the spring, but over the last 13 games, the Cheesemakers are 11-2.
“We’re pretty hyped. We’re really going to make sure we focus this week, work hard and prepare so we can have a good game on Friday,” Roidt said.
