Moniteau overwhelmed by Punxsutawney in 49-6 loss
CHERRY TWP — As the high school football season inches closer to its regular season end, senior nights begin to roll in bringing lots of emotion to those who might be setting foot on their home field for the last time.
Moniteau (1-7, 0-6) said goodbye to its seniors Friday night as the Warriors fell to Punxsutawney (6-2, 5-1) at Luciano Plesakov Stadium 49-6.
“I love all of them,” said Moniteau coach Rob Rottman. “They’re a great group of kids. These seniors are a small group and we are going to miss them. We do still got two games with them.”
Of those Moniteau seniors is running back Logan Campbell, who carried the ball most for the Warriors, rushing for 45 yards on 16 carries.
The Chucks however were all business Friday night, wasting no time as Logan Moore took the game’s opening kickoff 65 yards to the end zone to go up 7-0 just 10 seconds into the game.
Running back Landon Martz was arguably up for player of the game, who scored one of his three rushing touchdowns on Punxsutawney’s next drive to go up 15-0 after a successful two point try.
“Landon (Martz) is tough,” Punxsutawney coach Alan Nichol said. “They (Moniteau) have to worry about him. We got a mix of running backs that really can give other teams problems.”
Those other runners were Mason Nesbitt and Beau Thomas.
Nesbitt showed explosiveness, but never found the end zone. Thomas however rushed the ball three times for 28 yards, while catching three passes for 42 yards and a touchdown.
“It’s good to be able to run one then run the other,” Nichol said.
The Chucks’ defense was giving Moniteau quarterback Brendin Sankey trouble, intercepting him three times during the game, while sacking him five times.
“Overall it’s a good, experienced, veteran defense,” Nichol said. “Injuries have kind of banged us up a little bit, but we are starting to play like we finished up last year.”
A running clock started once the second half got underway, leaving little room for a Warriors comeback, being down 36-0 at the half.
The Chucks would score on their first drive of the third quarter, and another in the early stages of the fourth.
Moniteau got its only score of the game with 3:36 left in the fourth quarter off a 30-yard run by Sankey.
The Warriors will finish its final two games of the regular season on the road, with DuBois next.
“Our goal is to finish strong,” Rottman said. “We want to win the last two and send the seniors out on a good note and give the younger guys something to build on for next year.”
Punxsutawney 22 14 6 7 – 49
Moniteau 0 0 0 6 – 6
First quarter
P – Logan Moore 65 kickoff return (Griffin White kick) 11:50
P – Landon Martz 22 run (2-pt good) 8:19
P – Martz 26 run (White kick) 4:19
Second quarter
P – Beau Thomas 1 run (White kick) 8:16
P – Martz 3 run (White kick) 4:19
Third quarter
P – Beau Thomas 14 pass from Maddox Hetrick (White kick miss) 7:56
Fourth quarter
P – Jaden Greenblatt 13 pass from Kolton Koppenhaver (White kick) 8:19
M – Brendin Sankey 30 run (2-pt fail) 3:36
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Punxsutawney, Maddox Hetrick 2-9, Mason Nesbitt 4-20, Landon Martz 8-109, Beau Thomas 3-28, Griffin White 2-18. Moniteau, Brendin Sankey 11-19, Logan Campbell 16-45, Mathew Baptiste 2-9.
Passing: Punxsutawney, Mattox Hetrick 11-16-174-1, Kolton Koppenhaver 3-3-41-0. Moniteau, Brendin Sankey 8-23-86-3.
Receiving: Punxsutawney, Noah Weaver 5-98, Zach Presloid 1-8, Logan Moore 4-54, Beau Thomas 3-42, Jaden Greenblatt 1-13. Moniteau, Ashton Grossman 3-63, Logan Campbell 2-9, Kole Scott 2-7, Mathew Baptiste 1-7.
