MONROE — The Badger South should take notice: Monroe’s football team proved it can battle with anyone.

After holding a late lead on perennial conference champion Monona Grove only to lose at the end in Week 3, the Cheesemakers were a team on a mission in Week 4. Watertown entered the game 3-0 and were widely considered by coaches and the media to finish at or near the top in the conference standings this fall. But Monroe would have none of it, and promptly thumped the Goslings 35-13 Sept. 13 at T.R. Holyoke Field.

“They did a really good job. It wasn’t perfect — we faltered at times — but we came through with a win against a pretty good team,” Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said. “A very big school, and maybe they still will (finish at the top). Who knows?”

The Cheesemakers played better than Watertown in all three facets of the game: Offense, defense and special teams. A year ago, Monroe had a tendency to have a strong first half of football, only for stamina to fade in the second half. This season has been the opposite, with Monroe’s second half guiding the way to memorable finishes.

“It feels really good. We were getting prepared for it, worked hard all week and knew it would be a hard game. We showed up, did what we did best and got down and kicked their (butt),” said Monroe senior running back Nick Bansley.

Against Watertown, Monroe played superior football in both halves, which could be argued as being the best game in coach Toby Golembiewski’s four-year tenure.

“Time consuming drives and solid defense — we had a couple of breakdowns, but not more than what we had of our own. You run the ball against a team like that, you have success, you use the clock, you score points, and you shut them down as best of you can. That’s how you beat a team like that,” Golembiewski said.

The upset bid began right out the gates as Watertown’s opening kick return was stopped at its own 13. Monroe then forced the Goslings to a 3-and-out.

The Cheesemakers marched 50-yards on eight plays and capped its opening drive with a touchdown pass — an 8-yard strike from Max Golembiewski to Tyler Matley on fourth down. 

“We knew it always helps to get a stop and then score first,” Bansley said.

Coach Golembiewski’s squad isn’t known for its passing attack, but given the strength of the running game doesn’t need to rely on the arm of his son. Monroe passed just five times in the game, yet went on to gain 342 rushing yards and held possession of the ball for over 74% of the game.

Watertown’s second possession saw a first down, but the two sides traded punts over the next three possessions to close out the first quarter. Monroe’s first drive of the second quarter began at its own 15. Runs of 30 yards (Matley) and 25 yards (Bansley) pushed the Cheesemakers into enemy territory. Later in the drive Bansley scored from five yards again on another fourth down play.

The Goslings found life in the second quarter and put points on the board on a 33-yard fly route on a pass from Ethan Pauly to Kory Stas. 

Monroe’s next drive took a full 5 minutes off the clock with nine running plays accounting for 52 yards and a 10-yard pass play thrown into the mix to keep the defense honest. Bansley, who brought the crowd to its feet with a bulldozing 33-yard kick return, capped the drive with a 4-yard run in which he cut back up the middle on a sweep. The score gave the Cheesemakers a 21-7 lead with just 49 seconds left in the half.

Watertown, which passes 60-80% of the time on offense in the shotgun, wasted no time raising the blood levels of the home crowd. On the third play of the drive, Stas caught another pass from Pauly and took it 52 yards down the field to the Monroe 8. The Cheesemakers forced a pair of incomplete passes, and on third-and-goal with 18 seconds left, Bansley, moved off of all-conference wideout Cade Oiler on defense and onto Stas, read the quick fly route to Stas and picked off the pass. The Cheesemakers knelt down to end the half and preserve the two-score lead.

“I was reading the backfield and seeing if anyone was coming out, and making sure no one was getting over top of me. They threw it under,” Bansley said. “It felt really good. We knew if we got the first half down, we’ve got the second half glued. Just keep grinding.”

The Goslings lost their starting center to a broken ankle in Week 3, and his backup struggled much of the game — overshooting Pauly with high snaps a handful of times, which helped Monroe’s defense on several possessions in the first half. 

In the second half, Monroe took the opening possession 85 yards down the field on 11 plays, highlighted with a 23-yard run on second-and-20 in which Matley lowered his shoulder and left Watertown’s Ian Row on his back five yards up the field. Bansley punched it in from three yards out a play later to make it 28-7.

Watertown followed with a 15-play drive that covered 69 yards and ended with a fourth-down touchdown pass from Pauly to Stas on a slant. Monroe’s JT Seagreaves blocked the extra point. It was not Seagreaves’ last shining moment of the night.

Monroe’s next possession took eight minutes off the clock and ended with a turnover on downs at the Watertown 31. Knowing the Goslings wouldn’t run the ball with less than 7 minutes to play, Monroe’s defense stepped up, with Bansley deflecting a deep pass and Seagreaves, Caleb Bunker and the defensive line putting pressure on Pauly. Twice Seagreaves pressured Pauly into uncomfortable throws, and Bunker grappled down the QB for a 14-yard loss on a sack on third down. 

Watertown called its second timeout with 6:15 left, facing a fourth-and-24. Bunker and Aidan Sweeney again brought pressure on Pauly, who escaped only to find Julian Gruber and Logan Clark barreling down on him. Pauly’s desperation heave floated into no-man’s land went to Seagreaves, who had dropped into coverage. At 6-6 with the ability to jump out of gyms, Seagreaves picked off the pass on a leap and returned it nearly 50 yards for a dagger of a touchdown.

“JT, he came up big. Not that I don’t think we could have finished the job, but that definitely made it easier. That was, as they would say, the dagger,” coach Golembiewski said.

“I was beyond happy. I was so excited. The sideline was going nuts,” Monroe junior running back Trevor Rodebaugh said.

Monroe’s ensuing squib kick bounced off the backside of a Watertown front linesman and the Cheesemakers recovered. A disgruntled Gosling defender was flagged on the ensuing drive for a late hit and Monroe was in position to score again as time expired.

“They wanted it so bad. They don’t particularly care for Watertown too much either. There’s been a lot of chippy stuff that’s happened the last few years, and our guys just wanted to go-go-go-go-go,” coach Golembiewski said.

Max Golembiewski finished the game 3 for 5 passing for 50 yards. Trevor Rodebaugh had 140 rushing yards on 26 carries, while Bansley had 113 yards on 20 attempts and Matley 90 yards on 14 carries. Matley also had two catches for 40 yards.

Pauly was 11 for 34 passing for 200 yards. Watertown had -10 yards rushing on 14 attempts. The Cheesemakers held possession for 35 minutes, 34 seconds and out-gained the Goslings by more than 200 yards — 392-190.

Monroe senior Alex Witt, an all-conference linebacker and tight end, was celebrating his birthday, which was also Friday the 13th. He said the win was probably the best present he could receive.

“It’s a great 18th birthday — I couldn’t ask for a better one,” Witt said. “Coaches have been telling us all week that we are 2-3 plays from being 3-0. Watertown is 3-0, and they probably came in here thinking they are so much better than us, although we are probably equal. We just came in here and brought the hammer and they didn’t.

“We knew if we got pressure, we could make the QB make bad throws. JT, with the interception, that was the biggest play of the game and sealed it.”

Monroe (2-2, 1-1 Badger South) travels to Fort Atkinson (0-4, 0-2) in Week 5. The Cheesemakers will need four conference wins in order to gain a guaranteed spot in the postseason.