MONROE — The Cheesemakers would rather not blame a heavy downpour and mud for their sloppy play in Week 6. Oregon’s 28-7 victory over Monroe was decided by more than just nature.

“I really don’t think this game was much different from how our periods of practice have been in the last two weeks. I don’t feel that we’ve practiced at times with the drive and desire that we could have — the concentration level,” Monroe coach Toby Golembiewski said after the game played Sept. 27 at T.R. Holyoke Field in Monroe. “It’s not that people were messing around and not taking it seriously, but it’s just their complacency at times allows them to not be in a concentrated situation.”

A heavy 3-minute downpour in the first quarter preceded a lightning delay that lasted more than an hour. Neither team had scored prior to that point, though the Cheesemakers squandered an opportunity to put points on the board by fumbling away the ball inside the Oregon red zone as the heavens dumped an ocean of water onto the turf.

After coming out of the locker rooms with 3:07 left in the opening period, the first play from scrimmage was a punt by the Panthers. Three plays later, a Max Golembiewski pass was tipped and landed in the arms of Oregon’s Logan Woodson. 

“They were loose in the locker room, and sometimes that makes me nervous,” Oregon coach Dan Kissling said. “We’ve had these (weather delays) before where our guys have been loose like that and the opposite happens in the game. I was happy with how we played.”

On the very next play, Panthers running back Mason Grender took a handoff to the left side of the line, made one move upfield and went untouched for a 65-yard score.

“One guy not doing what he’s supposed to do leads to three other guys not being able to do what they are supposed to do, and then the result is a big play,” Toby Golembiewski said. “It’s the same offense, but it’s playing disciplined defense; and if you don’t do your assignment there is a domino effect that effects everybody else — and we had that happen multiple times.”

Grender wasn’t done. The 5-foot-8, 150-pound senior finished the game with 150 yards rushing on seven carries, with another 56-yard TD catch. In all, Grender collected 206 yards of offense and three touchdowns — more than in any game of his career.

“(Grender) kind of took over. With his speed and the field conditions, I was a little surprised,” Kissling said. “It definitely helped. Monroe’s linebackers are good, and we were just trying to get that little bit of misdirection to get them off-balance. We thought that was one thing we had to do. If we kept running our powers and our bellies, I thought they were going to stop that.”

Grender’s second score came with 9:03 left in the second quarter on a 59-yard run. With just over five minutes to go in the first half and a 14-0 lead, Oregon went to the air, with Ethan Victorson rolling out to his right and finding Grender open on a corner route. Grender made the catch in stride and went untouched to the end zone, making it 21-0 with 5:17 remaining in the half.

“Regardless of the rain delay, they were going to hit some home runs on us. They were even bigger up front than I thought,” Toby Golembiewski said.

Monroe, which turned the ball over on downs the possession before the touchdown pass, struggled to find any rhythm on offense. The Cheesemakers’ first two drives of the game combined for 55 yards but ended with a punt and the fumble. The next four drives of the half went for a total of 56 yards combined and ended with two punts, an interception and a turnover on downs.

“It’s obviously hard to come out after a long break. You’d like to think that you can come out rolling, but we didn’t. It was hard to adjust. We made some mistakes,” Monroe quarterback Max Golembiewski said. “A lot of guys took plays off and we weren’t all on the same page at all times, and that’s always tough.”

In the second half, the Cheesemakers still weren’t able to muscle their way back into the game. Oregon fumbled the ball on a handoff at its own 38 to give Monroe prime field position. On first-and-goal at the 6, senior running back Nick Bansley fumbled away the possession — the second time in the game the Cheesemakers left points on the board with a red zone turnover.

Oregon’s final score came after a 5-minute, 28-second drive that marched 67 yards on 10 plays. Victorson rolled to his left and under pressure heaved a jump ball into the back of the end zone where Donovan Johnson used all 6-foot-3 of his frame to get over the top of 5-10 Bansley to make the TD catch and put his team up 28-0.

“We’ve had a little bit of an injury bug with kids that are hurt, and our younger kids came out and played well,” Kissling said. “It was just a great win for us. (Monroe) is a good team and is going to do some damage yet this year, too.”

The Cheesemakers scored on the next drive, going 80 yards on eight rushing plays that took just 2:40 off the clock. Trevor Rodebaugh capped the drive with a 23-yard scamper with 6:21 remaining in the fourth. Rodebaugh finished with 130 yards on 23 carries to lead the Cheesemakers. No other Monroe player finished with more than 35 yards rushing.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Cheesemakers recovered the onside kick but subsequently turned the ball over on downs four plays later. A 3-plus minute drive by Oregon effectively sealed the game.

Victorson was 5 of 7 passing for 94 yards and two TDs, while Max Golembiewski was just 2 of 14 for 49 yards and a pick. 

“I should have thrown more during the break, but I didn’t and I was not loose. That’s my fault,” Max Golembiewski said, adding that a potential turning point was missed in the second quarter on a poor pass. “JT (Seagreaves), on one of our comeback routes ran the best route he’s done all year — he had separation and I threw it low. I’m going to put that all on me.”

Oregon outgained Monroe in yardage 329-261 and held possession at nearly 50% despite running just 41 plays to Monroe’s 61.

Both Monroe and Oregon sit at 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the Badger South race, tied with Monona Grove. Watertown and Stoughton are each 3-1 in conference play, with Milton leading the pack at 4-0.

The Cheesemakers travel to Milton to play the unbeaten Red Hawks in Week 7, while Oregon hosts Monona Grove.

“One game at a time — before we even worry about postseason, we have to worry about having a good practice on Monday. We have to win the day on Monday. Then we’ll worry about Tuesday,” Toby Golembiewski said.