POYNETTE - The Monroe Blaze football fourth-graders ended their three-game road stretch with an 18-12 win at Poynette, improving their record to 3-0.
C.J. Leuzinger started off the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown run on a first-quarter quarterback keeper. Brayden Zettle added a second touchdown, and the Blaze led at halftime, 12-6.
Once again, the Monroe defense, lead by Jamaar Manor, was stellar. Manor had four consecutive tackles for loss of yards in the third quarter. That led to a Monroe drive of just four plays, all were runs of more than 10 yards, and another touchdown by Zettle. Also in on the defensive plays were Brett Dorsey, Collyn Wilde, Travis Wolf and Kieran Bazley.
The fourth-graders play their first game at home at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Green County YMCA.
Fifth Grade
Blaze 34, Belleville 0
BELLEVILLE - The fifth-graders improved to 3-0 with a big win over the Belleville Bobcats.
The game started slow on both sides of the ball for the Blaze. Both the offensive and defensive lines ran into a bit of trouble with the Bobcats' line.
On the fourth play of the second series of the game, running back Carter Sawdey punched the ball into the end zone on a 36-yard run. The two-point kick gave the Blaze a 8-0 lead.
Sawdey added two more scores on runs of 50 and 40 yards. He finished with 139 rushing yards.
The other Blaze scores came from running back Alex Tordoff and Brandon Klein, both on 40-yard runs.
Defensively, the Blaze allowed the Bobcats to gain only 80 offensive yards, ten of those coming on a penalty.
Defensive standouts were linebackers Isaac Allen and Jacob Kind, who left the game in the second quarter due to injury. Up front, Hayden Arneson and Dylan Beaver created havoc, each recording 10 tackles.
The fifth-graders travel Saturday to Madison to face the undefeated Southside Raiders.
Sixth Grade
Middleton Black 31, Blaze 0
MONROE - Monroe struggled both on offense and defense Saturday. The Blaze was unable to sustain drives, while allowing Middleton to score on plays of 85, 66 and 56 yards.
The Blaze's best drive ended at Middleton's 5-yard-line with an interception that was returned 95 yards for Middleton's final score.
Brent Edmunds rushed eight times for 43 yards and caught a pass for seven yards. The sixth-graders hope to rebound Saturday when they host Mount Horeb/Barneveld White at the YMCA. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
Seventh Grade
Blaze 6, McFarland Blue 0
MCFARLAND - The seventh-grade Blaze defeated McFarland Blue in a hard-hitting, defensive struggle on the road.
The defense led the way by recovering a fumble, intercepting two passes, and making seven tackles behind for losses.
The Blaze scored late in the third quarter on an 18-yard run by Matt Siegel. The Blaze gained 132 yards on 37 rushing plays, with one fumble, and completed 2 of 4 passes for 22 yards.
The defense held McFarland to 38 yards on 31 rushes and 50 yards on 3-of-11 passing with three turnovers.
Joe Dahmen recovered a fumble and had six tackles. Carter Adkins tipped a pass into the arms of Rhett Katzenberger and broke up two other pass attempts. Jacob Flannery intercepted a pass. Jake Eggers had two tackles for loss. Matt Coplien, Cody Wolf and Katzenberger each had six tackles. Matt Siegel broke up two pass attempts and also had two tackles for a loss.
The coaching staff said the game was truly a team effort, as several injuries required other team members to step into the game and maintain the high level of play on both sides of the ball.
The Blaze next hosts New Glarus/Monticello at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the YMCA.
Eighth Grade
Blaze 24,
Mount Horeb/Barneveld 22
Blaze 8, Lodi 0
MOUNT HOREB/MONROE - The eighth-grade team improved its record to 4-0 by defeating Mount Horeb-Barneveld last Saturday on the road, then topping Lodi on Tuesday night at Monroe High School, 8-0.
In the Mount Horeb/Barneveld contest, the Blaze struck first on its opening possession when Jake Hirsbrunner punched one in on a quarterback keeper from the 1-yard line. The score was set up by a nice catch and run by Blake Duffy.
The game was a back-and-forth battle. Mount Horeb answered Monroe's score with a nice drive of its own, taking an 8-6 lead.
But the Blaze answered again in the second quarter when Duffy scored on a halfback pass from Charlie Kind, giving the Blaze a 12-8 lead.
Mount Horeb regained the lead, 14-12, when the Blaze secondary folded. But the Blaze came right back as Alec Treuthardt scored on a 40-yard scamper to paydirt, which gave the Blaze the lead at halftime, 18-14.
The third quarter was a defensive battle, with neither team scoring. Mount Horeb took its final lead, 22-18, after driving the ball 65 yards.
But the Blaze had the last laugh, capping an impressive drive with a Treuthardt score.
With just less than three minutes to go, Mount Horeb was threatening to score again, but the Blaze defense stepped up and caused a Viking turnover to end the drive.
The Blaze defense was lead by Brett Zimmerman, Landon Baumgartner, Justin Blum, Parker Ditzenberger, Troy Gorr, Michael Graham, Ryan Hughes, Grant Keith, Forrest Klug-Hanson, Austin Minder, Ethan Moehn, Noah Thompson, Noah Tostrud, Jake Trickel, Conner White, Kyle Olson, Hirsbrunner, Duffy, Kind and Treuthardt.
The Blaze play Saturday at Madison, as they take on Southside at 9 a.m.
C.J. Leuzinger started off the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown run on a first-quarter quarterback keeper. Brayden Zettle added a second touchdown, and the Blaze led at halftime, 12-6.
Once again, the Monroe defense, lead by Jamaar Manor, was stellar. Manor had four consecutive tackles for loss of yards in the third quarter. That led to a Monroe drive of just four plays, all were runs of more than 10 yards, and another touchdown by Zettle. Also in on the defensive plays were Brett Dorsey, Collyn Wilde, Travis Wolf and Kieran Bazley.
The fourth-graders play their first game at home at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Green County YMCA.
Fifth Grade
Blaze 34, Belleville 0
BELLEVILLE - The fifth-graders improved to 3-0 with a big win over the Belleville Bobcats.
The game started slow on both sides of the ball for the Blaze. Both the offensive and defensive lines ran into a bit of trouble with the Bobcats' line.
On the fourth play of the second series of the game, running back Carter Sawdey punched the ball into the end zone on a 36-yard run. The two-point kick gave the Blaze a 8-0 lead.
Sawdey added two more scores on runs of 50 and 40 yards. He finished with 139 rushing yards.
The other Blaze scores came from running back Alex Tordoff and Brandon Klein, both on 40-yard runs.
Defensively, the Blaze allowed the Bobcats to gain only 80 offensive yards, ten of those coming on a penalty.
Defensive standouts were linebackers Isaac Allen and Jacob Kind, who left the game in the second quarter due to injury. Up front, Hayden Arneson and Dylan Beaver created havoc, each recording 10 tackles.
The fifth-graders travel Saturday to Madison to face the undefeated Southside Raiders.
Sixth Grade
Middleton Black 31, Blaze 0
MONROE - Monroe struggled both on offense and defense Saturday. The Blaze was unable to sustain drives, while allowing Middleton to score on plays of 85, 66 and 56 yards.
The Blaze's best drive ended at Middleton's 5-yard-line with an interception that was returned 95 yards for Middleton's final score.
Brent Edmunds rushed eight times for 43 yards and caught a pass for seven yards. The sixth-graders hope to rebound Saturday when they host Mount Horeb/Barneveld White at the YMCA. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
Seventh Grade
Blaze 6, McFarland Blue 0
MCFARLAND - The seventh-grade Blaze defeated McFarland Blue in a hard-hitting, defensive struggle on the road.
The defense led the way by recovering a fumble, intercepting two passes, and making seven tackles behind for losses.
The Blaze scored late in the third quarter on an 18-yard run by Matt Siegel. The Blaze gained 132 yards on 37 rushing plays, with one fumble, and completed 2 of 4 passes for 22 yards.
The defense held McFarland to 38 yards on 31 rushes and 50 yards on 3-of-11 passing with three turnovers.
Joe Dahmen recovered a fumble and had six tackles. Carter Adkins tipped a pass into the arms of Rhett Katzenberger and broke up two other pass attempts. Jacob Flannery intercepted a pass. Jake Eggers had two tackles for loss. Matt Coplien, Cody Wolf and Katzenberger each had six tackles. Matt Siegel broke up two pass attempts and also had two tackles for a loss.
The coaching staff said the game was truly a team effort, as several injuries required other team members to step into the game and maintain the high level of play on both sides of the ball.
The Blaze next hosts New Glarus/Monticello at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the YMCA.
Eighth Grade
Blaze 24,
Mount Horeb/Barneveld 22
Blaze 8, Lodi 0
MOUNT HOREB/MONROE - The eighth-grade team improved its record to 4-0 by defeating Mount Horeb-Barneveld last Saturday on the road, then topping Lodi on Tuesday night at Monroe High School, 8-0.
In the Mount Horeb/Barneveld contest, the Blaze struck first on its opening possession when Jake Hirsbrunner punched one in on a quarterback keeper from the 1-yard line. The score was set up by a nice catch and run by Blake Duffy.
The game was a back-and-forth battle. Mount Horeb answered Monroe's score with a nice drive of its own, taking an 8-6 lead.
But the Blaze answered again in the second quarter when Duffy scored on a halfback pass from Charlie Kind, giving the Blaze a 12-8 lead.
Mount Horeb regained the lead, 14-12, when the Blaze secondary folded. But the Blaze came right back as Alec Treuthardt scored on a 40-yard scamper to paydirt, which gave the Blaze the lead at halftime, 18-14.
The third quarter was a defensive battle, with neither team scoring. Mount Horeb took its final lead, 22-18, after driving the ball 65 yards.
But the Blaze had the last laugh, capping an impressive drive with a Treuthardt score.
With just less than three minutes to go, Mount Horeb was threatening to score again, but the Blaze defense stepped up and caused a Viking turnover to end the drive.
The Blaze defense was lead by Brett Zimmerman, Landon Baumgartner, Justin Blum, Parker Ditzenberger, Troy Gorr, Michael Graham, Ryan Hughes, Grant Keith, Forrest Klug-Hanson, Austin Minder, Ethan Moehn, Noah Thompson, Noah Tostrud, Jake Trickel, Conner White, Kyle Olson, Hirsbrunner, Duffy, Kind and Treuthardt.
The Blaze play Saturday at Madison, as they take on Southside at 9 a.m.
