DEFOREST — Monroe ended its nonconference slate on Friday at DeForest in a game the Cheesemakers would like to forget. The Norskies saw little resistance en route to a 47-0 win.

“We said coming in that if we wanted to keep it close we were going to have to do everything perfect, and it turns out we did probably less stuff perfect than we did last week,” Monroe head coach Toby Golembiewski said.

Monroe (0-2) appeared to catch DeForest (1-1) off guard on the opening kick, as sophomore Tyler Matley went 48 yards on the return to set the Cheesemakers up with a first down at the Norskies’ 39-yard-line. But the DeForest “D” was ready, and after smothering the first two plays for just two yards, defensive end Trey Warne crashed downhill on third-and-8 and sacked Monroe sophomore QB Alex Witt for a 13-yard loss.

DeForest took over at its own 25 after a punt, and junior running back Evan Armstrong took off 75-yards for a touchdown on the first play. The Norskies never looked back.

“That O-line was massive,” Monroe senior fullback Ethan Kleckler said. “And that D-line was a force to be reckoned with.”

Armstrong added a 1-yard score on DeForest’s next drive, and sophomore running back Gabe Finley scored from 30 yards out on his first touch to make it 19-0 with 3:03 left in the first quarter.

The opening frame could not have been much worse for the Cheesemakers. Monroe finished the period with just five yards of offense on four drives to DeForest’s 166 on three. A blocked punt on the final play of the frame set DeForest up with a first down at the Monroe 12.

“They watched film, obviously, and were calling our plays as soon as we lined up,” Kleckler said.

DeForest quarterback Trey Schroeder scored the first of his two touchdowns two plays later to make it 26-0. Less than three-and-a-half minutes later, Finley scored again — this time from 47 yards out. On Monroe’s third play of the following possession, Witt was strip-sacked on another rollout and Cade Ludeman picked up the pigskin and dashed home for another score, making it 40-0 with 4:20 left in the first half.

Monroe’s best possession of the night right after, as the Cheesemakers gained 39 yards on seven plays before a fourth down pass in the final seconds fell incomplete.

Armstrong nearly had another touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, but a holding penalty brought the ball back. DeForest pulled its starters, and three plays later Schroeder went to his left on a bootleg 45-yards for the game’s final score.

Kleckler led Monroe with 63 yards on 17 carries. Running back Jordan Montgomery had 25 yards on eight attempts. The Cheesemakers finished the game with 57 yards of offense. Quarterbacks Witt and Preston Ambrose were sacked five times for negative-40 yards. Ambrose fumbled, but recovered. Matley muffed a late punt that was recovered by DeForest during the running clock, and Kleckler fumbled the ball back to the Norskies two plays later.

“Again, in many of the situations in the last two weeks it had nothing to do with the other team, it was what we were doing,” Golembiewski said of play call execution. “We need to do things correctly. There’s the message and receiving the message, and somewhere there is a gap.”

DeForest had 307 yards of offense on 28 plays — all runs. Armstrong had 137 yards rushing on 10 attempts, Finley finished with 83 yards on four tries and Schroeder had 68 yards on three option carries.

“We’re out here to play football,” Golembiewski said. “Sometimes people really get caught up in the wins and losses, and this is what you say when you get beat bad like this, but they (DeForest) is going to be a contender in a very strong (Badger) North division.”

Monroe now looks to open its Badger South slate with a home game against Milton (1-1), which defeated Sauk Prairie in the season opener 26-12 before losing to Reedsburg in Week Two 6-0. Monroe lost to Reedsburg 28-7 in Week One.

“We just have to get back to work Monday and learn how to block people who are just better than us. Like Coach G says, ‘put our hard hat on and going back to work.’ There’s not much more we can do — we’re watching film, we’re going to try our best. I know the coaches are going to do what they can to help us win,” Kleckler said.