MONROE - Senior running back Cole Murray recalls Monroe High School football coach Toby Golembiewski challenging the Cheesemakers to see how they would handle adversity if they trailed to start the second half of a game.
The teaching point came to fruition Friday as Monroe, ranked eighth in the WisSports.net Division 3 Coaches poll, overcame a one-point halftime deficit and rolled to a 34-7 win over Baraboo in a nonconference game. The Cheesemakers (6-0, 3-0 Badger South) scored 34 unanswered points, including 21 in the third quarter, to surge to the victory and stay unbeaten. The Cheesemakers scored 21 points off three turnovers by the Thunderbirds.
"Coach Golembiewski has been wondering how are we going to handle it if we are down at halftime," said Murray, who rushed for 111 yards on 11 carries and scored one touchdown. "The scoreboard shows how we handled it. We overcame some adversity and it shows."
Monroe got off to an inauspicious start with a fake punt that came up a yard short of a first down on its first possession. It didn't take the Thunderbirds long to cash in on the golden field position, marching 44 yards in nine plays and culminating in Baraboo quarterback Tom Ginther's 3-yard TD pass to Paddy O'Rourke that gave Baraboo a 7-0 lead. A turnover on downs and a punt on Monroe's next two series of the first quarter stymied the Cheesemakers.
Baraboo senior Noah Larson, the state's sixth-leading rusher entering the game, was bottled up by the Cheesemakers' defense. Larson, who entered the game averaging 197 rushing yards per game, was limited to 69 yards on 24 carries. He had just four yards in the second half.
Monroe senior Hayden Arneson had two of the rarest types of touchdown in the second half. He scored on a botched snap that he recovered after the Thunderbirds' punter tried to kick it out of the end zone for a safety. Arneson also recovered a fumble for a touchdown when the ball got knocked loose after senior Carter Sawdey's second interception in the fourth quarter.
"I think it was amazing," Arneson said of his two touchdowns. "I have never scored a touchdown as a lineman. Now, I get to rub it in Kyle (Walter's) face. I have dreamed about this since fourth grade. I couldn't ask for anything more."
The tide started to turn late in the second quarter with the Cheesemakers cashing in on a 13-play, 78-yard drive, capped by senior quarterback Tyler Elmer's 9-yard TD pass to senior Alex Tordoff on third-and-goal to cut the Thunderbirds' lead to 7-6 at the half. That ignited the Cheesemakers' surge. The Cheesemakers didn't panic despite trailing at the half.
"It's good to come out on top after coming into halftime down," Golembiewski said. "There were some decisions I probably would have made differently. The wind had an impact. It was windy on the field. Some of the decisions we made Baraboo capitalized on. The good thing about it is we didn't come unglued that we were not up by 28 points at halftime. I kind of knew this was going to happen. We had talked about it all week that if not everything was going the way you liked how would you handle it. Would you fingerpoint, shut down or yell at your buddies? At halftime, we talked about what went wrong and how to do it right."
Monroe junior Dempzy Foley pinned the Thunderbirds at their own 20-yard line to start the third quarter with a kickoff for a touchback. After forcing the Thunderbirds to punt, the Cheesemakers' offense started to roll. Four plays later, senior fullback Isaac Allen rammed in for a 5-yard TD run to give the Cheesemakers a 13-7 lead.
"What I was happy with in the second half is it started out with Dempzy kicking it in the end zone," Golembiewski said. "The defense put the hammer down and we scored. I told them we were not going for two because Dempzy was going to kick it in the end zone again and we would score again. That definitely put some pressure on them and they threw a couple of interceptions. Having a kid who can kick it out of the end zone is so important."
Monroe's defense came up with another big play. Sawdey intercepted a Ginther pass to set up the Cheesemakers' next scoring drive. The second half was a reverse of the first half with the Cheesemakers capitalizing on their prime field position. Murray bolted around the end for a 26-yard TD run to give the Cheesemakers a 20-7 lead midway through the third quarter. About 2 minutes later, Arneson recovered a botched snap in the end zone for a touchdown to extend the Cheesemakers' lead to 27-7.
Murray had four runs of 13 yards or more in the second half.
"My coaches told me to start following my linemen and cut it up," Murray said of the second half. "They started keying on Isaac and I followed Joe Hughes and Dylan Beaver and they protected me."
Allen rushed for 95 yards on 20 carries and had one touchdown. Elmer was 2 of 4 passing for 17 yards with one TD. He added 32 rushing yards.
The Cheesemakers had three offensive touchdowns, one defensive touchdown and one special teams touchdown.
"That is team football," Golembiewski said. "It's all three phases working together (offense, defense and special teams). If we have one of our phases struggle, all three phases can pick us up."
The teaching point came to fruition Friday as Monroe, ranked eighth in the WisSports.net Division 3 Coaches poll, overcame a one-point halftime deficit and rolled to a 34-7 win over Baraboo in a nonconference game. The Cheesemakers (6-0, 3-0 Badger South) scored 34 unanswered points, including 21 in the third quarter, to surge to the victory and stay unbeaten. The Cheesemakers scored 21 points off three turnovers by the Thunderbirds.
"Coach Golembiewski has been wondering how are we going to handle it if we are down at halftime," said Murray, who rushed for 111 yards on 11 carries and scored one touchdown. "The scoreboard shows how we handled it. We overcame some adversity and it shows."
Monroe got off to an inauspicious start with a fake punt that came up a yard short of a first down on its first possession. It didn't take the Thunderbirds long to cash in on the golden field position, marching 44 yards in nine plays and culminating in Baraboo quarterback Tom Ginther's 3-yard TD pass to Paddy O'Rourke that gave Baraboo a 7-0 lead. A turnover on downs and a punt on Monroe's next two series of the first quarter stymied the Cheesemakers.
Baraboo senior Noah Larson, the state's sixth-leading rusher entering the game, was bottled up by the Cheesemakers' defense. Larson, who entered the game averaging 197 rushing yards per game, was limited to 69 yards on 24 carries. He had just four yards in the second half.
Monroe senior Hayden Arneson had two of the rarest types of touchdown in the second half. He scored on a botched snap that he recovered after the Thunderbirds' punter tried to kick it out of the end zone for a safety. Arneson also recovered a fumble for a touchdown when the ball got knocked loose after senior Carter Sawdey's second interception in the fourth quarter.
"I think it was amazing," Arneson said of his two touchdowns. "I have never scored a touchdown as a lineman. Now, I get to rub it in Kyle (Walter's) face. I have dreamed about this since fourth grade. I couldn't ask for anything more."
The tide started to turn late in the second quarter with the Cheesemakers cashing in on a 13-play, 78-yard drive, capped by senior quarterback Tyler Elmer's 9-yard TD pass to senior Alex Tordoff on third-and-goal to cut the Thunderbirds' lead to 7-6 at the half. That ignited the Cheesemakers' surge. The Cheesemakers didn't panic despite trailing at the half.
"It's good to come out on top after coming into halftime down," Golembiewski said. "There were some decisions I probably would have made differently. The wind had an impact. It was windy on the field. Some of the decisions we made Baraboo capitalized on. The good thing about it is we didn't come unglued that we were not up by 28 points at halftime. I kind of knew this was going to happen. We had talked about it all week that if not everything was going the way you liked how would you handle it. Would you fingerpoint, shut down or yell at your buddies? At halftime, we talked about what went wrong and how to do it right."
Monroe junior Dempzy Foley pinned the Thunderbirds at their own 20-yard line to start the third quarter with a kickoff for a touchback. After forcing the Thunderbirds to punt, the Cheesemakers' offense started to roll. Four plays later, senior fullback Isaac Allen rammed in for a 5-yard TD run to give the Cheesemakers a 13-7 lead.
"What I was happy with in the second half is it started out with Dempzy kicking it in the end zone," Golembiewski said. "The defense put the hammer down and we scored. I told them we were not going for two because Dempzy was going to kick it in the end zone again and we would score again. That definitely put some pressure on them and they threw a couple of interceptions. Having a kid who can kick it out of the end zone is so important."
Monroe's defense came up with another big play. Sawdey intercepted a Ginther pass to set up the Cheesemakers' next scoring drive. The second half was a reverse of the first half with the Cheesemakers capitalizing on their prime field position. Murray bolted around the end for a 26-yard TD run to give the Cheesemakers a 20-7 lead midway through the third quarter. About 2 minutes later, Arneson recovered a botched snap in the end zone for a touchdown to extend the Cheesemakers' lead to 27-7.
Murray had four runs of 13 yards or more in the second half.
"My coaches told me to start following my linemen and cut it up," Murray said of the second half. "They started keying on Isaac and I followed Joe Hughes and Dylan Beaver and they protected me."
Allen rushed for 95 yards on 20 carries and had one touchdown. Elmer was 2 of 4 passing for 17 yards with one TD. He added 32 rushing yards.
The Cheesemakers had three offensive touchdowns, one defensive touchdown and one special teams touchdown.
"That is team football," Golembiewski said. "It's all three phases working together (offense, defense and special teams). If we have one of our phases struggle, all three phases can pick us up."
