Seneca East defense stifles Eagles

ATTICA — Through two home games this season, Seneca East has given up a total of two points, which came real late in the fourth quarter Friday against Monroeville. The Eagles were inside SE's 30-yard line multiple times, and got inside the Tigers' 10 twice to no avail. SE's defense was strong again in a 14-2 non-league win over Monroeville. "The kids … the word of the week was trust and boy did they trust each other tonight," SE coach Ed Phillips said. "They trusted the coaches. That first drive we made on that first drive was a replica of what we saw in practice this week and they came out ready to go. "When we got 14 points we trusted our offensive line to help us run the ball. It was complimentary football tonight and sometimes you have to do that while our young guys continue to grow and make plays." The fun started right away for the Tigers (2-1) as a 12-play drive was capped off by a Nicholas Parks 4-yard touchdown strike to Gunner Polachek in the corner of the end zone. The Isaac Stockmaster extra point was good to give SE a 7-0 advantage late in the first quarter.That was all the scoring in the opening half. Monroeville (1-2) got within SE's 10 right before the end of the half, but after an incompletion, turned it over on downs to end the half. That was the pattern for the Eagles all night. They were able to move the ball, but SE's defense tightened up and made plays when it had to to keep them out of the end zone. "Hats off to Seneca East. That's a really good team there and we've had a tough non-league schedule to set us up for the Firelands Conference," Monroeville head coach Tylor Nester said. "But the question I asked was this adversity we're facing right now with this team. "As a team are we going to respond? Are we going to dig a little bit deeper, play a little harder and prepare a little bit better? That's what we have to ask ourselves right now." To start the second half, SE's defense stepped up with another big play – this time a turnover. Trevin Cottingham stepped in front of a pass for a pick and set up SE at Monroeville's 44. After a Parks go-ball to freshman Jaron Depinet for 39 yards, Parks three plays later ran in a 4-yard score to give SE a commanding 14-0 lead. Monroeville then had drives stall at SE's 22 and 26 yard lines before getting a gift from the Tigers.After a high snap on a punt attempt, Monroeville took over at SE's 2 with 4:38 left in the game. But three of the four plays went for negative plays as linebacker Jackson Gayheart, who was all over the field making plays Friday, made a couple tackles for loss. After the high snap, Phillips just decided to give Monroeville a safety with 1:37 left in the game. Monroeville 0 0 0 2 — 2Seneca East 7 0 7 0 — 14ScoringSE — Gunner Polachek 4 pass from Nicholas Parks (Isaac Stockmaster kick)SE — Parks 4 run (Stockmaster kick)MON — Safety