Monroeville runs by McComb

MONROEVILLE — The opening to a renovated Marsh Field wasn't ideal. But once the Monroeville football team went to the Jason Alexander Fieldhouse for halftime, it was straight forward from there. After some minor adjustments during the break, the Eagles came out in the second half and ran all over McComb in a 46-20 win Friday night to open the 2025 season with a win. Monroeville (1-0) ran for 103 yards in the first half, then shed the Panthers for 307 yards in the second half for a total of 410 yards in the game. "It was probably a little bit of wearing them down and making some little adjustments," Monroeville head coach Tylor Nester said. "Our word of the week was faith, and the guys had to keep that faith. "Sometimes things will happen that are out of our control, but they continued to have that faith and perseverance.' Senior Connor Bores scored on a 44-yard touchdown run on the fifth play of the second half to break a 13-13 tie after Isaac Krueger's PAT. The Panthers scored on a fourth-and-17 pass for a touchdown at the other end to again tie the game with 6:39 left in the third. McComb used up 3:25 to cover 60 yards in 10 plays. A pass interference penalty set up the touchdown on a third-and-long prior to the Panther scoring on the fourth-and-long. But from there, the Eagles scored four straight times. Bores added a 68-yard TD run just three plays into the ensuing drive for a 27-20 lead. Then Colt Clark bolted 76 yards on the next Monroeville possession on the second play. It appeared he had scored on an 80-yard run, but he was ruled out of bounds at the McComb 4-yard line. The quarterback then punched it in on the next play to make it 35-20 with 1:05 left in the third quarter. McComb then came up a yard short on a fourth down pass at the Monroeville 12-yard line with 8:02 left in the game. Six plays later, Clark added a 52-yard TD run for a 40-20 lead with 5:01 left in the game. On the second play of McComb's ensuing drive, Colton Koch intercepted a pass at the 30 and returned it 29 yards to the 1-yard line, where Cooper Cleary punched it in the very next play to close out the scoring with 4:36 left in the game. "The big thing we talked about was staying focused on our technique across the board," Nester said. "If we did that, we felt good things would happen." "At halftime, we were asking ourselves where were they attacking us? It was just minor adjustments that we made. The kids stayed focused on the minor adjustments. But for us to continue to build off previous years was awesome tonight, especially to see the way the kids buy in." The season started ominously for the Eagles. McComb junior Carter Frater fielded the opening kickoff to the 2025 season and cut to his left from the right hash. When Frater turned up the McComb sidelines, it was nothing but green for an 80-yard kickoff return touchdown just 12 seconds into the season. Luke Kern added the extra point for the 7-0 lead. The Eagles then forced a turnover as Ethan Pomerich intercepted a pass on McComb's first possession. He returned it about 20 yards to the McComb 15-yard line. The Eagles needed just four plays to cover that distance. Cleary bulled in up the middle on a 4-yard TD run at the 6:32 mark of the opening quarter. After the Panthers were flagged for being offsides on the extra point, the Eagles opted to go for two points. However, a fumbled snap snuffed that out for a 7-6 deficit. McComb then got a turnover of its own, as Kern intercepted a pass thrown by Clark on the second play of a Monroeville possession late in the first quarter. The Panthers then moved 73 yards over eight plays, which included a fourth-and-3 conversion from the Monroeville 6-yard line. Quarterback Grady Schroeder went 3 yards on a keeper for the TD with 10 minutes left in the first half, but Kern's PAT was wide right for a 13-6 lead. The Eagles quickly scored on the ensuing possession for their best drive of the first half. Monroeville went 65 yards in just five plays, with Bores carrying the first four plays for 52 yards. That included a 25-yard run that saw him break free from two McComb defenders. Clark capped the drive with a 13-yard TD run with 8:14 left in the half, and Isaac Krueger's extra point tied the game at 13-13. The Panthers had one more chance to score in the first half after a 35-yard pass put them deep in Monroeville territory. However, Maverick Myers came up with a big sack for the Eagles, and a Kern field goal attempt from 36 yards was wide right and short with 1:03 left in the half. Bores ran for 192 yards on just 13 attempts for the Eagles. Clark totaled 201 yards on 16 attempts. McComb 7 6 7 0 — 20Monroeville 6 7 21 12 — 46 ScoringMCC — Carter Frater 80 kickoff return (Luke Kern kick)MON — Cooper Cleary 4 run (run failed)MCC — Grady Schroeder 3 run (kick failed)MON — Clark 13 run (Isaac Krueger kick)MON — Bores 44 run (Krueger kick)MCC — Cameron Smith 17 pass from Schroeder (Kern kick)MON — Bores 68 run (Krueger kick)MON — Clark 4 run (Krueger kick)MON — Clark 52 run (kick failed)MON — Cleary 1 run (run failed)