MONROE — After two nonconference losses to begin the season, Monroe opened its Rock Valley schedule with a convincing 59-7 victory over McFarland on Friday, Sept. 1.

“I knew we had the upper hand — that’s the approach we took to our managing of the game,” Monroe head coach Toby Golembiewski said. “I didn’t realize it was going to be that much. It was a steam roll after a while.”

The Cheesemakers, coming off an undefeated state-championship season, dropped their first two games in 2023, as they navigated the holes last year’s senior class left. In Week 1, Beaver Dam’s running back Gabe Klatt exposed weaknesses in Monroe’s defense and blocking. The following week, Mount Horeb-Barneveld’s speed on defense proved challenging. 

Despite the losses, Golembiewski saw them as learning experiences that prepared his team for the conference campaign.

“We came back and adjusted some schemes,” he said. “We created more tools in the toolbox. It was successful tonight. We are just going to keep growing.”

McFarland (0-3, 0-1 Rock Valley) caught Monroe (1-2, 1-0) off guard, though, as the Spartans scored just over a minute into the game. After a tackle for loss by Lane Meier, setting up a second-and-16, Braylan Roder connected with a wide-open Hayden Harrison for a 68-yard touchdown pass. The Cheesemaker secondary was nowhere in sight.

“We took the bait. They scored,” Golembiewski said. “That’s the best time to have it happen because there’s a lot of game left. We knew we were going to make the correction.”

Monroe wasted no time in responding, as Ben Gatdula took the kick return 36 yards to the Cheesemakers’ 42-yard line. Two plays later, Kaden Kuester received the handoff and ran 39 yards to the end zone. Wes Saunders, who made all eight of his extra point attempts, tied the game 38 seconds after the Spartans’ score.

“That was big,” senior running back Brady Wyss said of the quick response. “It brought our energy back and got our defense ready to pound their offense — to drop the hammer as they say.”

The defense answered the call, forcing a three-and-out. Kuester’s tackle on second down set up a third-and-10 play that slipped through the hands of Harrison. 

The Cheesemakers started their next drive on their own 30-yard line and quickly moved upfield with a 31-yard rush from Gatdula. Kuester took it the rest of the way — 39 yards — giving Monroe the lead with 4:48 left in the quarter.

With the first quarter winding down, Monroe again  moved quickly to score. Wyss, Kuester and Meier each ran for first downs, and Gatdula finished the drive with a 20-yard TD rush. Following the extra point from Saunders, Monroe took a 21-7 lead with one second left on the clock.

Seth Schmidt kicked away to McFarland’s returner Remi Burns, who fumbled around with the ball. That gave enough time for Owen Gilberston to break through the line and deliver a blow to Burns, dropping him at the 22-yard line. After two first-down plays to get the Spartans to Monroe’s 34-yard line, Schmidt and Gatdula broke up a touchdown pass to intended receiver Andrew Kelley. On fourth-and-4, Gatdula stopped Kelley once again to give the Cheesemakers the ball on a turnover on downs.

McFarland nearly had its first stop on the ensuing drive, as Monroe faced fourth-and-1 at its own 47-yard line. Quarterback Ethan Rosenstiel handed off to Kuester, who broke a tackle and ran 27-yards to pick up the first down. Meier finished the drive with an 11-yard rush to the end zone, giving Monroe a 28-7 lead with just under four minutes left in the half.

On the following drive, the Cheesemaker defense again came up big — with a tackle for loss by Joe Rufenacht and a sack from Aaron Benzschawel — giving their offense the ball back with just over two minutes before halftime. Kuester and Gatdula rattled off two large gains, followed by back-to-back completions to tight end Ryan Mathiason. With just two seconds left on the clock, Monroe brought in Saunders, who hit a 24-yard field goal attempt for a 31-7 lead.

Facing a 24-point deficit, McFarland attempted an onside kick to start the third quarter. The kick went out of bounds, giving Monroe the ball at McFarland’s 47-yard line.

“We knew that was their underdog philosophy that they would go to if they got behind,” Golembiewski said. “That’s their M.O. anyway. We were ready for that.”

The Cheesemakers’ offense picked up right where they left off, as Gatdula ran 36 yards to the end zone — just a minute and a half into the third quarter.

The Spartans had a chance to respond on their next drive, though, as a pass interference call on Monroe gave McFarland a spark. A first-down pass from Roder set the Spartans up just outside of the red zone, but the Spartans were unable to convert. Roder’s QB keeper was shy of the first-down marker, turning the ball over on downs once again.

Moments later, a facemask penalty on McFarland gave Monroe a fresh set of downs at the 48-yard line. In two plays, Wyss ran 46 yards, getting stopped just shy of the goal line. He finished the drive with his own 2-yard rushing TD with 4:39 left in the third quarter.

“That felt great, especially being out last season,” Wyss said, recalling his Week 5, season-ending leg injury a year ago. “It felt great to be back on the field and score some touchdowns.”

Wyss took his offensive momentum to defense, where he recovered a fumble at the 31-yard line. On second-and-3 at the 50, Wyss went the distance again for a 52-7 lead.

The 45-point lead — and running clock — gave Golembiewski the opportunity to see his younger guys in action. Freshman Sawyer Voegeli made the most of his moment, with a 10-yard touchdown run.

“It was a great feeling to get them [underclassmen] out there,” Wyss said. “It gives them some reps to see what it feels like at the varsity level. If they are nervous or feel pressure, they can get it out when we are ahead.”

McFarland turned the ball over on downs with 1:42 left on the clock. All that was left for Monroe to do was take the victory formation.

The Cheesemakers ran for 498 of their 523 total yards, using a rotation of six backs — Kuester (170 yards), Wyss (118 yards), Gatdula (108 yards), Meier (41 yards), Nathan Fuchs (25 yards) and Jacob Flom (22 yards). 

“We used six guys. We have enough confidence in our back-up three that we can get those starting three off the field to play rested,” Golembiewski said. “We should be able to provide a fresh look all the time.”

In the air, Rosenstiel connected with Mathiason twice for 25 yards. Aside from the final possession where Monroe kneeled out, the Cheesemakers scored every time they got the ball.

Although Week 3 was favorable, Golembiewski knows his team can’t celebrate too long if they want to beat Evansville (2-1, 1-0 Rock Valley) on Friday, Sept. 8. The Blue Devils defeated Edgerton 21-19 to open their conference schedule.

“We have to keep it going,” Golembiewski said. “We have to be ready to go. We can’t break our arms patting ourselves on the back. We will take the win, but we definitely have to be ready week to week to get the job done.”