By Natalie Dillon
ndillon@
themonroetimes.com
MONTICELLO — In its inaugural 8-player football game, Monticello fell to Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah (ELG) 42-6 on Thursday, Aug. 29. Despite the loss, head coach Tyler Smith was able to take away some positive aspects from the game.
“It was just seeing another team and how fast the game flows in 8-player football,” Smith said. “We have four players that played last season. Just having those other guys come in and play against another team, that’s what we wanted to see. Of course the numbers on the scoreboard didn’t come out in our favor, but we will make the adjustments this week and go out and try again next week.”
Monticello started an 8-player football team after the dissolution of their 40-plus-year co-op with New Glarus. Both schools had declining enrollment numbers, and with so few Monticello players joining the NGM football program, the decision was made to split.
Only four current Monticello players were on the NGM co-op last season — Hunter Grossen, Jesse Wettach, Milo Smith and Tristan Pittman. The remaining roster has little to no football experience, and it showed early on.
The Ponies went 3-and-out on their opening drive, fumbling a handoff and losing five yards. On the first play of its second possession, Monticello quarterback Alex Roe threw an interception.
Defensively, Monticello gave up two scores and 73 yards on five plays. The Ponies found themselves in a 16-0 hole three minutes into the game.
Roe picked up the team’s first first down on Monticello’s third possession with a 15-yard keeper. Rushes from Grossen and Levi Truttmann put the Ponies near midfield, but they were unable to cross into enemy territory. They turned the ball over on downs at their own 46-yard line.
It took ELG just one play to score, as Resorter quarterback Cole Wagner lofted a pass over safety Roe to Feldmann for 43-yard gain. Wagner’s 2-point pass to Jacob Guerrero was called back for holding, and Roe stopped the Resorters short of the goal line on their second attempt, making it 22-0 with 3:40 left in the first quarter.
The Ponies reached midfield thanks to a rush from Grossen, just as the clock switched to the second quarter. His efforts were for naught, though, as Grossen was tackled for a loss, resulting in a fourth-and-9.
Just as the offense was settling in, so was the defense. On first-and-10 from ELG’s 45-yard line, Wettach blitzed Wagner, resulting in an incomplete pass. Wagner threw another incomplete pass intended for Guerrero, setting up third-and-long. This time, Atreyu Blades blitzed, but Wagner read the play and completed a screen pass to Sal Viglietti for a 15-yard gain.
Although the Resorters ended up scoring on an 11-yard rush from Brennen Goble, the drive lasted 12 plays and nearly five minutes — a vast difference from the six plays and nearly three minutes it took to score their previous 22 points.
“We figured out how to play defense. Really, that’s what it came down to,” Smith said. “We figured out their speed. We figured out that if we stay in our own head and don’t worry about the crowd and just play football, we can do some good things. Once we figured that out, we did just fine.”
ELG scored once more in the second quarter — extending its lead to 36-0 — handing the ball to Monticello with 3:06 left in the half. Lakota Lisowe sacked Roe for a 4-yard loss, but a defensive pass interference gave Monticello a fresh set of downs at midfield. That’s when Grossen broke free for a touchdown run — the first in Monticello 8-player football history.
“It felt good,” Grossen said. “When I was running down the field, I knew it was going to be a touchdown. I was really excited. It made us play better. Before half, we really weren’t doing much.”
On the opening play of the third quarter, Grossen stripped the ball from Wagner. Even though the Resorters recovered the ball, it was the start of another drawn-out drive that lasted 12 plays and seven and half minutes of a running clock.
After turning the ball over on downs at its own 40-yard line, Monticello had its first defensive stop. Roe tackled Goble short of the first-down marker, and on the next play, Wettach tackled Viglietti for a 4-yard loss. The Resorters didn’t gain a yard on third down and punted away.
Monticello kept EGL out of the end zone once again, thanks to a sack from Corey Keyes and Tanner Hilliard.
“It’s huge,” Smith said of not allowing a point in the fourth quarter. “It’s a big mental thing going into next week. There’s some good things. We’ll make some adjustments and get ready for the next team.”
Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah 42,
Monticello 6
(Thursday, Aug. 29 at Monticello)
Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah … 22 14 6 0 – 42
Monticello ………………… 0 6 0 0 – 6
First Quarter
ELG: Brody Feldmann 41-yd pass from Cole Wagner (Wagner 2-pt pass to Brennen Goble good), 8-0, 10:37
EGL: Zander Lulloff 6-yd pass from Wagner (Goble 2-pt run good), 16-0, 8:53
EGL: Feldmann 43-yd pass from Wagner (2-pt run no good), 22-0, 3:40
Second Quarter
EGL: Goble 11-yd rush (Wagner 2-pt pass to Goble good), 30-0, 6:50
EGL: Feldmann 55-yd pass from Wagner (PAT failed), 36-0, 3:06
M: Hunter Grossen 49-yd rush (Alex Roe 2-pt pass failed), 36-6, 0:04
Third Quarter
EGL: Feldmann 7-yd rush (PAT failed), 42-6, 4:33
Fourth Quarter
No score
Team Statistics
First downs – M:4. Rushing – M: 32-113 (1 TD). Passing (comp-att-INT, yds-TD) – M: 2-3-1, 8-0
Individual Leaders
Rushing – M: Grossen 14-93 (1 TD), Levi Truttmann 6-16, Roe 12-4. Passing – M: Roe 1-2-1, 2-0; Tanner Hunter 1-1-0, 6-0. Receiving – M: Bryce Aquino 2-8.
