MONROE — With its 56-0 win over East Troy in Week 9, Monroe extended its Rock Valley Conference winning streak to 21 games. The Cheesemakers have not lost a league game since switching from the Badger to the Rock.
“It’s insane to think about, coming in freshman year not knowing how good we’d be,” four-year starter Tony Wolf said. “We’ve brought it to the table with all the guys we’ve put together the last four years. It’s pretty cool to be a part of the four teams that have won conference.”
The Trojans did not field a varsity team in 2023, and their woes have continued in 2024. East Troy (1-8, 1-6) gave up 367 rushing yards to Monroe (7-2, 7-0) with only 71 total offensive yards of its own.
“Their weakness to me was their O-line and D-line,” Monroe head coach Tom Witt said. “They couldn’t stop anybody and it was hard for them to move the ball.”
That much was apparent in the first quarter alone, as the Trojans turned the ball over on downs at midfield. With half the distance to go, it took Monroe just seven plays to score. Cam Newcomer and Nathan Fuchs had back-to-back first-down runs before the Trojans stopped the next two rushes at the line of scrimmage. On fourth-and-8 Bryce Roelli lofted a ball to Ben Gatdula, who caught the ball over his shoulder, sliding to his knees in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Seth Schmidt, who was 1-for-3 on extra points the week prior against Evansville, put it through the uprights for a 7-0 lead.
The Cheesemakers forced a 3-and-out on defense thanks to back-to-back tackles for loss by Aaron Benzschawel.
Starting at the East Troy 46-yard line, Wolf broke outside, and with blocks from Peyton Herbst and Owen Douglas, raced down to the 16-yard line for a 30-yard gain. Newcomer finished off the 2-play, 46-yard drive with a TD run. Schmidt sank the PAT — as he did for all eight touchdowns — for a 14-0 lead.
Schmidt’s work wasn’t done. On the ensuing defensive possession, he batted down a pass intended for Connor Sickler. The very next play, Trojan quarterback Brayden Golabowski targeted Sickler again, but this time Schmidt came away with the INT. Five carries from Jacob Flom later, Monroe took a 21-0 lead with just over a minute left in the first quarter.
With no one back to receive the next punt, Monroe started at its own 5-yard line. The Cheesemakers shared the ball between five rushers to work their way down the field. During the possession, Joe Rufenacht, Fuchs and Roelli had three straight first-down rushes. Schmidt capped the six-minute scoring drive with an 8-yard TD run.
“In our backfield, I’ve been hurt, and Joe Rufenacht stepped in and had a big game,” Wolf said. “We know our backups can go in and step up.”
East Troy finally crossed into Monroe territory in the second quarter, but the possession ended in yet another punt with tackles for loss from Rufenacht, Fuchs and Benzschawel.
On its next drive, Monroe overcame two penalties to maintain momentum. Each time, Roelli connected with Benzschawel in the air. With 35 ticks left on the clock, Schmidt scored again. With his successful PAT, Monroe led 35-0 — meaning the entire second half would be a running clock.
Every time the Cheesemakers touched the ball in the third quarter, they scored. Douglas cleared a lane for Rufenacht to score, and Gatdula intercepted Golabowski’s pass for a 34-yard pick-6.
Up 49-0 with 4:33 left in the third quarter, Witt put in his reserves. Up to that point, the defense had held the conference’s leading rusher, Seth Lingford, to negative yards. With the JV in, Lingford ended the game with 14 yards.
“Had we kept our starters in for one more series, he would have had negative yards. That was my goal,” Witt said.
Even with Lingford gaining yards, the second defense held East Troy scoreless. On the flip side, Kingston McNett got three carries in a possession that ended with a TD for Tristan Anderson. With a Trojan fumble recovered by Bradley Holst, the game was all but over.
As the regular season concludes, Monroe prepares for the playoffs, where the Cheesemakers have been promoted to Division 2 due to the new WIAA Competitive Balance rules. But that doesn’t phase Witt.
“We don’t care who we play,” he said. “We will practice the whole week and prepare for whoever we have just like we normally would. I’m confident in the ability we have on our team — both offensively and defensively — that we can play with anybody.”
Monroe received a 2-seed and will host 7-seed Elkhorn. (See WIAA, A8).
Monroe 56, East Troy 0
(Friday, Oct. 18 at Monroe)
Monroe ….. 21 14 14 7 56
East Troy … 0 0 0 0 0
First Quarter
M: Ben Gatdula 15-yd pass from Bryce Roelli (Seth Schmidt PAT good), 7-0, 6:40
M: Cam Newcomer 16-yd rush (Schmidt PAT good), 14-0, 4:15
M: Jacob Flom 2-yd rush (Schmidt PAT good), 21-0, 1:35
Second Quarter
M: Schmidt 8-yd rush (Schmidt PAT good), 28-0, 6:02
M: Schmidt 16-yd rush (Schmidt PAT good), 35-0, 0:35
Third Quarter
M: Joe Rufenacht 5-yd rush (Schmidt PAT good), 42-0, 9:15
M: Ben Gatdula 34-yd interception (Schmidt PAT good), 49-0, 4:33
Fourth Quarter
M: Tristan Anderson 5-yd rush (Schmidt PAT good), 56-0
Team Statistics
Rushing — M: 43-367 (6 TD); ET: 18-11. Passing (comp-att-INT, yds-TD) — M: 3-4-0, 57-1; ET: 12-20-2, 60-0.
Individual Leaders
Rushing — M: Cam Newcomer 9-65 (1 TD), Joe Rufenacht 7-25 (1 TD), Jacob Flom 6-36 (1 TD), Nathan Fuchs 5-54, Seth Schmidt 4-62 (2 TD), Tristan Anderson 1-5 (1 TD); ET: Seth Lingford 10-14. Passing — M: Bryce Roelli 3-4-0, 57-1; ET: Brayden Golabowski 12-20-2, 60-0. Receiving — M: Ben Gatdula 1-15 (1 TD), Aaron Benzschawel 2-42; ET: Lucas Hendrickson 4-26, Ethan Callahan 3-11.
