OREGON — Two yards to go. Monroe’s Ethan Kleckler had barreled through the Oregon defense to the 2-yard-line on a third-and-seven from the 10. The score was 34-31 in favor of Oregon with just over five minutes to play.

But a yellow flag sat on the far side of the field. Holding. Before the next snap another yellow flag fell — unsportsmanlike conduct on Monroe. Facing third-and-31, quarterback Max Golembiewski’s pass was intercepted at the seven and the Panthers ran out the clock to hold off the Cheesemakers in Week Nine.

“I can’t put it into words,” said Kleckler, a senior. “One second we are down by the goal line — I had a good run to set us up and we got charged with two fouls. Not much you can do from there.”

The sequence defined Monroe’s season — so close to victory only to shoot itself in the foot. A win would have positioned the Cheesemakers for a healthy shot to reach the postseason based on tiebreakers, instead Monroe would go 0-7 against Division 2 schools and finish the year 2-7 overall.

“They did everything we asked of them. We just fell short. That’s a very good Oregon team,” Monroe head coach Toby Golembiewski said. “I’m proud of all of them. I’m proud of the seniors. It’s going to hurt for a while. We were in it, probably should have won the game, but we all had a stake in the ups and the downs of it.”

The loss to Oregon had many moments where the game seemed to tip in the direction of the home school — a bounce on a fumble, a phantom pass-interference, a non-call on another pass interference. But there sat Monroe, just yards from erasing a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and taking a late lead.

“They (Oregon) gave us some opportunities and we created some opportunities,” coach Golembiewski said. “When we went through that run of six straight losses and you told me that we were 25 yards away from scoring a touchdown that was going to put us in the playoffs I don’t know if I would have believed it.”

For the 14 Monroe seniors, the heartbreak was similar to previous weeks, when halftime leads against Milton, Watertown and Stoughton ended in losses. Except this time, it meant that their days of prep football were over.

“I can’t really put it into words. To fall short by three points really hurts a lot,” Monroe senior defensive back Anthany Hernandez said. “When they told me before I first started playing three years ago that it would come fast I didn’t believe them. But it’s here.”

Monroe (2-7, 2-5 Badger South) built an early lead against Oregon (7-2, 5-1) by taking advantage of opportunities. A muffed punt gave the Cheesemakers prime position at the Oregon 38 and Kleckler punched it in five plays later. After Oregon hit back-to-back field goals to trim the deficit to 8-6, senior running back Jordan Montgomery broke free on the right side for 25 yards. Three plays later junior back Nick Bansley sliced through the middle of the field for a 19-yard TD and Monroe went ahead 16-6.

“We were practicing really well all week doing what we had to do to get ready. Coach just told us that we were going to have to come into the game, make plays and not put our heads down; stay alive and just keep running,” Hernandez said.

Oregon would score two more times before the end of the second quarter and hold a 20-16 lead at intermission. 

“There were a few games (this year) where we led at half and we just let it go, and today was no exception. We had our heads in the game. I wish that we could re-play the season from where we are now because I feel like we’d be a completely different team,” Kleckler said. “It’s been a ride. And I wouldn’t want to spend it anywhere else.”

Monroe opened the third quarter with a 9-play drive that ended in a turnover on downs at the Oregon 15, but on the Panthers second play the Cheesemakers recovered a fumble. Montgomery dashed 14 yards on the first play, but a holding penalty on third down made it third-and-24 from the Oregon 31. Max Golembiewski then hit freshman JT Seagreaves on a post pattern for a 29-yard gain. Montgomery punched it in on the next play to give Monroe the lead again.

Oregon would score the next two touchdowns to make it 34-24 thanks in part to the phantom defensive pass interference call and a fumbled snap by Monroe. But with their season on the line, the Cheesemakers didn’t quit.

A 12-play, 84-yard drive ended with Max Golembiewski hitting former QB Alex Witt alone in the end zone with 7:13 left in regulation. On the ensuing kickoff, Kleckler forced the fumble that preceded the tough-luck INT. Monroe did have one final shot before the end of regulation with the ball at the Monroe 11 with six seconds to play. A broken play and botched string of laterals ended the game and the Cheesemakers’ season.

“We turned the ball over a couple of times and gave up a big play — and that’s all it takes when you’re playing teams of this caliber, you don’t get a second chance and we did, we just didn’t pull it off,” coach Golembiewski said.

Montgomery finished the night with 113 yards on 15 carries, Kleckler had 109 yards on 20 carries and Max Golembiewski was 4 for 10 for 75 yards. Seagreaves had two athletic catch-and-runs for 58 yards.

Hernandez was proud to see how the team rallied together in the final weeks after starting the season 0-6.

“I loved how much we improved as a team and individually,” Hernandez said.

The coaching staff now faces a long offseason, but has a baseline plan to help the program get back to the postseason for the third time in four seasons.

“We move on now. We have to take care of some seniors who are heading out and develop some more young kids to be ready to go next year,” coach Golembiewski said. “We’re going to have a new crossover schedule, but we’re still going to have to play all these guys (Badger South) again — Week 3 to Week 9 the schedule is the same just reversed. We start with winning every week, but we have to get our non-Division 2 wins and then steal a couple to get ourselves back into the playoffs. That’s just the plan.”

Kleckler said he wishes his younger teammates well.

“I’m proud of where I come from and I look forward to seeing how far these guys go next year,” Kleckler said.