Moniteau’s stirring comeback derailed
CHERRY TWP — Cameron County quarterback Maddox Baughman got the jump on Moniteau by completing critical passes late in the first half and early in the third quarter.
He put the Warriors away by catching two of their passes.
Baughman returned interceptions 32 and 55 yards for touchdowns, just 39 seconds apart, the latter with 32 seconds to play in helping the Red Raiders compete a 40-26 road football win at Moniteau on Friday night.
“We were in a desperate way at the end there,” Moniteau coach Bob Rottman said. “But you gotta love the fight in our team. We showed a lot of heart tonight.”
The Warriors (1-2) took a 13-6 lead when Trent Beachem — who had four TD tosses on the night — flipped a 12-yard scoring pass to Kole Scott with 7:16 left in the first half. Moniteau had that same lead when it was punting from its own 14 with 2:10 left in the half. The punt was shanked under pressure, hit a Warrior lineman and was recovered by Cameron County at the Moniteau 13. Malakai Zucal scored on a 10-yard run two plays later and a conversion pass gave the visitors the lead.
Cameron County (3-0) got the ball back on a punt, setting up shop at its own 20 with 56 seconds left. Instead of taking a knee, Baughman dropped back and hit Zucal on a 79-yard bomb to the Moniteau 1. Zucal scored from there and the Red Raiders took a 20-13 lead into halftime.
“Baughman had a heckuva game,” Cameron County coach Ryan Neyman said. “Moniteau got the jump on us early, but we settled in and played our brand of football at the point of attack.”
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Zucal caught a 36-yard deep pass from Baughman on a third-and-27 play, the highlight of a 10-play, 64-yard march that ended with a Lathan Reed 1-yard plunge with 11:56 to play.
The touchdown was the first varsity score in two years for Reed, who was coming off two ACL surgeries.
The Warriors trailed 28-13 when they took possession at their own 17 with 7:26 to play.
“We’ve been working on some things with our passing game,” Rottman said. “We didn’t feel like we were out of it.”
They weren’t.
After a 47-yard touchdown pass to Scott was called back by a holding penalty, Beachem struck again on the very next play, hitting Ashton Grossman for a touchdown on a 62-yard bomb with 6:44 to play.
Cameron County tried punting after a three-and-out, but the Warriors’ Brendin Sankey tackled the punter at the Red Raiders 35. Grossman got behind the defense again on the next play, caught a 35-yard scoring pass and the Warriors were within 28-26 with 4:19 left.
Beachem’s two-point conversion pass failed.
“They found where we’re vulnerable,” Neyman admitted. “Our corners get caught looking back at the quarterback and you can get burned deep, especially in man coverage.”
Moniteau got the ball back again with 1:50 left, but Baughman’s two interceptions sealed the deal.
“Like I said, we had no timeouts and we had to throw on every play,” Rottman said. “A lot of little things make up a football game. There were three or four plays in this one that kept the score from being 28-12 in our favor.”
Cameron County is 3-0 for the first time since 2007.
Beachem threw for 284 yards for the Warriors, but Cameron County had four interceptions. The last was on a reverse pass attempt by Sankey that Jake Narby picked off in the waning seconds.
Moniteau sold tickets for a drawing on a prize in the first half with all funds going to injured Karns City quarterback Mason Martin’s family.
Consider purchasing photos from the gallery below at photos.butlereagle.com.
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Moniteau’s Brendin Sankey (9) slips pass Cameron County defender Kyle Earle left (23) on his way to scoring a touchdown in the first quarter of Friday night’s game. Brandon Croney/Special to the Eagle 9/8/23
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Moniteau students watch their team Friday night as they play Cameron County. Brandon Croney/Special to the Eagle. 9/8/23
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Moniteau Running Back Kole Scott left (28) dives over Cameron County Jake Narby right (17) while scoring a touchdown. Brandon Croney/Special to the Eagle. 9/8/23
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Moniteau quarterback Trent Beachem gets brought down by Cameron County defensive end Kamden Fragale (55) during the second quarter. Brandon Croney/Special to the Eagle 9/8/23
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Moniteau’s Ashton Grossman (6) stiff arms Cameron County’s Kyle Earle (23) for a big gain on third down during a game Friday, Sept. 8. Brandon Croney/Special to the Eagle 9/8/23
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Moniteau Cheerleaders cheering for their Warriors Friday night with the Mini Cheerleaders to get the crowd ready for the game. Brandon Croney/Special to the Eagle. 9/8/23
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Moniteau band performs their half time show under the lights Friday night. Brandon Croney/Special to the Eagle. 9/8/23
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Moniteau band performs their half time show under the lights Friday night. Brandon Croney/Special to the Eagle. 9/8/23
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Moniteau band performs their half time show under the lights Friday night. Brandon Croney/Special to the Eagle. 9/8/23
Cameron County 0 20 0 20 — 40
Moniteau 7 6 0 13 — 26
First Quarter
M — Brendin Sankey 27 pass from Trent Beachem (Ashton Grossman kick), 8:59
Second Quarter
CC — Malakai Zucal 3 run (run failed), 11:18
M — Kole Scott 12 pass from Beachem (kick failed), 7:16
CC — Zucal 1 run (pass failed), :38
Fourth Quarter
CC — Lathem Reed 1 run (Koby Shepard pass from Maddox Baughman), 11:56
M — Grossman 62 pass from Beachem (Grossman kick), 6:44
CC — Baughman 32 interception return (pass failed), 1:01
CC — Baughman 55 interception return (kick blocked), :32
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Cameron County, Malakai Zucal 19-68, Lathem Reed 15-71, Maddox Baughman 6-32, TEAM 3-(-12). Moniteau, Logan Campbell 8-28, Kole Scott 6-18, Isaiah Thompson 1-12, Trent Beachem 3-39, Ashton Grossman 1-2, Brendin Sankey 1-(-9), TEAM 1-(-3).
Passing: Cameron County, Maddox Baughman 4-13-131-0. Moniteau, Trent Beachem 13-29-284-3, Brendin Sankey 0-0-0-1.
Receiving: Cameron County, MalakaI Zucal 2-115, Koby Shepard 1-10, Jake Narby 1-6. Moniteau, Brendin Sankey 4-61, Ashton Grossman 4-132, Kole Scott 2-25, Logan Campbell 3-66.
