Calvert surges past Monroeville

MONROEVILLE — It was like last week never happened. Calvert came in ready to play and came out victorious against host Monroeville, 35-21, at Marsh Field Friday night. The Senecas were coming off a 39-6 loss against Mohawk on Aug. 21, while the Eagles had cruised past McComb, 46-20, on Aug. 22 in their respective season openers. "We gave up that first quarter score," Monroeville head coach Tylor Nestor said. "It was mental and discipline mistakes that got us." The first half seemed plagued with problems for the Eagles (1-1). As soon as Calvert (1-1) received the ball, Charlie Palm connected with AJ Shoemaker for a 62-yard touchdown as Shoemaker ran it up the middle. That was within the first minute of the game, but the point after was no good. Monroeville got the ball and turned it over on fourth down-and-four from the 46. Connor Bores was stopped for a 1-yard gain, which put the Senecas at great field position. From there, their first-and-10 turned into a big play for Monroeville. As Palm threw the ball to Max Griffin, it bounced off his chest and defender Thomas Platte took the ball and ran it to the 17-yard line. After a pass from Colt Clark to Blake Ackerman got it within the range for Bores to score on a 3-yard run two plays later. With 3:54 left in the first quarter, the Senecas made one last run at it. They started on their own 40 yard line, then Palm threw a 26-yard pass to Tucker Coleman to the Monroeville 14-yard line. The second quarter was all Calvert. Palm carried the ball up and in two more times before he got a 4-yard TD run. This time, Cameron Lucius's point after was good. Monroeville then turned the ball over on its first possession of the quarter, and Calvert capitalized on it. This time, the Senecas were on a fourth-and-18 at the 36 after penalties and failed passes. Lucius made a 46-yard field goal attempt to extend the lead to 16-7. The Eagles then punted, but it fell into the hands of Logan DeMoss. DeMoss ran the ball all the way up the field and into the end zone for a 77-yard TD run. The point after was good as well, and it seemed like Monroeville was put into a hole of 22-7. The Eagles turned it over again on downs, and with 1:49 remaining, Clark tried for a big play, but instead, the ball was intercepted by Shoemaker. "You know, it's on me," Nestor said. "That's on me to prepare the team. We have to look at the film, evaluate, and see where we need to make some adjustments." "Hats off to Coach Lento and their program," he added. "It's all about consistency. We knew coming into this game that they were a tough opponent. We knew they were tough and physical up front. We just didn't get the job done tonight." In the third quarter, the Eagles were able to move the ball quickly as Clark moved them 27 yards on a pass from Colton Koch. Bores then scored on another 3-yard run on first-and-goal to make it a 23-13 deficit. Koch and Clark then connected on the 2-point conversion to make it a one-score game at 23-15. Calvert answered back on the next possession. After a face mask penalty from Monroeville, it moved the ball from the 44 to the 24. On third-and-14, Palm found DeMoss for a 28-yard pass for a TD. The point after was blocked. Lee then ran up the middle uncontested for a 26-yard score with 10:15 left in the game. The kick was blocked, but the Senecas had the 35-15 lead. Monroeville scored once again, but it was too late. Bores had 25 rushes for 114 yards and all three touchdowns. Clark was 4 of 7 passes for 42 yards with seven rushes for 46 yards. Koch was 2 for 9 passes for 12 yards and caught a pair of passes for 15 yards. Next week, Monroeville is on the road to Attica to take on Seneca East. "The word of the week this week was trust," Nestor said. "We have to trust the process. We have to look deep in ourselves, and trust the film too. We are going into another playoff type atmosphere and next week is no different. "We just have to get better in a couple of areas."