MONROE — Facing WIAA Division 3’s eighth-ranked Mount Horeb-Barneveld Vikings in the home opener Aug. 26, the third-ranked Cheesemakers walked onto TR Holyoke Field fully focused. Four quarters later, they walked off victorious, 40-19.

“In the past I would say that this (emphatic result) wasn’t what I was expecting, but I can’t say that’s the case this time. Over the summer we put in a lot of work,” said senior fullback Alex Hernandez. He added that the seniors have trained hard since the end of last year, all squat over 300 pounds, and collectively are a fast group. He himself shredded his 40-yard dash time from 5.4 seconds to a 4.8. “I knew we could handle this kind of competition, and that’s what we came to do.”

Monroe dominated the line of scrimmage all night on both sides of the ball, tallying 395 rushing yards. Hernandez led Monroe in rushing with 212 yards on 21 carries, while Kaden Kuester had 71 yards on 10 totes and Keatin Sweeney 63 on 14 rushing attempts. 

“Mount Horeb had some ‘dudes’ that could do some big things,” said Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski. “We had an idea of what was going on and put it in play. We had to make sure we were on top of it. It was a good competitive game, like a playoff game.”

The only downside to the victory was speedy sophomore running back Ben Gatdula suffered an upper body injury on his third carry of the game, and will likely be out at least a few weeks.

“We’re happy to come away with a win, but we’re sad about Ben,” Golembiewski said.

The Cheesemakers opened the night with a surprise score — quarterback George Brukwicki hit Keatin Sweeney on a deep post route for a 42-yard TD at the 9:03 mark in the first quarter. Monroe averages less than five throws a game over the past few years, and the first quarter toss caught the Vikings off-guard as well.

“Keatin can run some good routes and I find him open deep a lot,” Brukwicki said.

The Vikings scored the next two touchdowns, taking a brief 13-7 lead. The Cheesemakers refocused and scored back-to-back scores themselves in the final five minutes of the half. First Sweeney barreled in from a yard out at the 4:40 mark, with Ethan Rosenstiel’s PAT putting Monroe up 14-13. After the defense got the ball back, Hernandez burst through the middle for a 45-yard TD run.

The Vikings tried to keep pace, and had a first-and-goal from the Monroe 4-yard-line with 1:03 to play. A quarterback keeper went nowhere, and the Vikings let the clock run down to the 17-second mark before burning another timeout. As the teams lined up to resume play, senior linebacker noticed something from the scouting report and turned his head to Brukwicki, who also plays defensive back. 

Vikings quarterback Kasey Helgeson, in a three-wide pistol formation with a man in motion, took the snap and swung a pass into the flat. Brukwicki jumped the pass with perfect timing and went running down the sideline 55 yards before running out of gas and getting pushed out of bounds.

“Shout out to Tucker — he pretty much read it for me. When he saw the motion he yelled, ‘Jump it! Jump it, George!’ I knew they would run a little arrow, so I just got in front of him and picked it off,” said Brukwicki, before joking that the 55 yards he sprinted was the longest distance he’s ever run before. “I’m not a track guy. I got pretty tired.”

Monroe went to the passing game well with another deep ball to Sweeney, but the ball was intercepted — only for defensive holding to be called. On an untimed down, Brukwicki found junior tight end James Seagreaves across the middle, but the Vikings brought him down at the 20.

“The interception allowed us to have the last score in the half, then get the ball and score to start the third. If he had gotten that one in (for a touchdown), it would have been over way earlier,” Golembiewski said. 

Monroe opened the second half with a 13-play, 75-yard drive that took 7:26 off the game clock and resulted in a 1-yard TD run by Kuester, who replaced Gatdula. 

The Vikings responded with TD drive of their own, but Chris Kiel trying running it in on a gadget play, only for Kuester and Markham there to snuff it out. Markham’s hit on the sideline even jarred the ball loose. That preserved an 8-point lead at 27-19. 

Hernandez scored on the ensuing drive, which took the game clock to 7:50 left in the fourth quarter. Monroe’s defense didn’t allow another point the rest of the way. Sean Rufenacht recovered a fumble four snaps into Monroe’s next defensive possession. Markham capped off the following drive with an 11-yard TD run of his own at the 3:15 mark. 

“It’s awesome — I never get in on offense. I’m usually scout team in practice and don’t sub in at all,” Markham said. “We knew with Mount Horeb, though, they were going to be tough and we were going to get tired. I played a lot more on offense in practice, and that translated to some touches.”

The Cheesemakers forced a turnover on downs with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter and ran out the clock from there.

“As the game kept going you could tell they were getting tired, because they kept pulling out their starters and switching in new guys,” said senior lineman Isaac Bunker, a Navy commit. Bunker is also playing defense this year after exclusively living on the offensive line his first three years in high school. “I’ve never been in the defensive huddle before. I recorded a sack, which is cool. It’s a position I’ve never played before, so it’s cool to learn it and get better at it.”

In Week 3, Monroe will travel to McFarland to open Rock Valley Conference play. McFarland (0-1) lost a one-score game to Mount Horeb in Week 1, then were out-gunned at Lodi 45-38 in Week 2.

“We’ve taken on the nonconference games, and now we’re on to conference play and to play for that conference championship,” Bunker said. “Next week we have McFarland, and they were neck-and-neck with Mount Horeb. They are on-par with these guys. Next week will be a grind.”