MONROE — The Cheesemakers dropped a tough Week 2 game against Oregon amid pomp and circumstance regarding the festivities surrounding the new high school.
Oregon, which has about twice the enrollment as Monroe, defeated the host Cheesemakers 27-14 on Aug. 28 in the first varsity football game at Badger State Ethanol Stadium at the new high school campus on Monroe’s far east side.
“They’re 1,300 and growing. I think they had 70 kids on their sidelines warming up,” Monroe head coach Tom Witt said. “But iron sharpens iron, and I think playing these guys helps get us ready for conference. I think our schedule benefits us a little bit.”
The Panthers racked up 371 yards of offense against the Cheesemakers, who had 288 yards themselves.
Oregon scored the first touchdown of the game, just two plays into their first offensive possession thanks to a pass from QB Gavin Lehmann to wide open Easton Wilk for a 45 yard score.
“It wasn’t a surprise what they would run offensively as far as their scheme. It’s just a matter of us being able to duplicate that in practice, and that’s really hard to do,” Witt said. “We just didn’t adjust to that speed right away.”
Monroe evened it at 7-7 after a sustained second drive that amassed 80 yards over 15 plays that chewed up more than 7 1/2 minutes of clock. The Cheesemakers had another promising drive minutes later, but it stalled out in the Panthers red zone. Oregon would score a second TD before half and go into the locker room ahead 14-7.
The Panthers opened the second half with a third score to make it 20-7, and Monroe countered with another strong drive on the ground thanks to sophomore Jace Riese, who had 40 yards rushing on three carries and his first varsity touchdown. But the Cheesemakers couldn’t convert another scoring opportunity into points. QB Ryan Roelli threw an interception in the end zone during the fourth quarter, and Tristan Anderson fumbled at midfield with 2:02 remaining, allowing Oregon to run out the clock.
“The procedure penalties happen, or a hold. But when we spring off a big play, we can’t have that. We have to clean those up,” Witt said. “We’ll watch film, we’ll learn and we’ll get better. We’re seeing some good things, though, too. We’ll be fine.”
Anderson, a junior, led Monroe with 107 yards rushing on 19 carries and scored the first Monroe touchdown on the new field. However, he said he knows there are things he has to shore up in his own game yet.
“For me, I have to hold on to the ball more. I can’t have the ball outside. (On defense) I wasn’t doing my job right and shedding blocks,” Anderson said. “We have to know the snap counts. We have got to have our hands inside (when blocking). We just have to keep digging deep and try getting off those blocks.
“We just have got to keep working hard and pursue making ourselves better for the next game.”
Lehmann carved up Monroe’s defense for 163 yards on 10 of 15 passing. Jackson Lathrop had 114 yards rushing and two scores, and Jayce Oparie-Addoh added another 72 yards on the ground for Oregon.
Up next for Monroe (0-2) is the Badger Small opener at Stoughton (0-2) in Week 3. Monroe’s next home game comes in Week 4 (Sept. 11) against Fort Atkinson (1-1).
“These kids are a lot better (in the Badger Conference). As we already know going into this season, all these players, all these teams are completely different,” Anderson said, comparing the Badger to the Rock Valley, which Monroe won conference titles in four of the past five seasons.
Celebrating a tradition of champions
Prior to the game, Monroe welcomed players and coaches from its nine state qualifying teams — the first eight under Hall of Fame head coach Pat Martin (1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996) and the last under late coach Toby Golembiewski (2022). Of the nine games at state, the Cheesemakers have won the gold ball six times.
The Championship Recognition Night also include a halftime ceremony honoring the boys state track team from this past spring, which finished second at state in Division 2.
