Monroeville outlasts Western for big win

COLLINS — In a 10-game regular season, every win is big. But some victories feel bigger than others. That was certainly the case Friday night when the Monroeville football team turned away host Western Reserve several times down the stretch for a 27-20 win in a Firelands Conference game at Bachelder Field. The Eagles (4-2) led 14-0 with 21-plus minutes left in the game, only for Western (4-2, 2-1) to tie the game and have several opportunities to take the lead. But Monroeville got key turnovers and were able to put the game away to remain in a tie for first place with Crestview (4-2, 3-0) atop the FC standings. "This win obviously is big in the conference, but in the grander scale there are some ones earlier in the season we wish we could have had back, or responded in adverse moments," Monroeville head coach Tylor Nester said. "But we responded, and it shows the growth of our team and our leadership as we continue to move into the final month." After a penalty pushed Monroeville back to a first-and-25, Connor Bores opened the scoring when he found an opening at the second level and was in the clear for a 59-yard touchdown run. Isaac Krueger's extra point gave the Eagles the early 7-0 lead with 4:19 left in the first quarter. Monroeville extended its lead to double-digits as quarterback Colt Clark scored on a 24-yard run on third-and-10 with just 59 seconds left in the half. Krueger's PAT made it 14-0. But Western put together a big third quarter to tie up the game. On their opening drive, the 'Riders got a 26-yard pass on third-and-8 from Colton Meagrow to Brexton Fraelich to the Monroeville 2-yard line. The next play, Landyn Wiegel followed his right side of the line and into the end zone for the touchdown at the 9:17 mark of the third quarter. Western then went for the 2-point conversion and got it as Meagrow found Hayden Dobias in the right corner of the end zone to cut the deficit to 14-8 to cap the 61-yard drive. After stopping the Eagles on a fourth-down play at the Western 32, the 'Riders moved the ball and faced a fourth down of their own at the Monroeville 3. On a direct snap to Wiegel, he again followed his blocking on the right side into the end zone. However, the try for two points was no good as Meagrow was sacked, leaving the score tied at 14-14, which is where things stood entering the final 12 minutes. Western then appeared to have more momentum, as Clark was intercepted on a screen pass and Blake Welch returned it to the Monroeville 10 on the first play of the fourth quarter. However, the 'Riders were unable to cash in. Wiegel was tackled for a one-yard loss, then an incomplete pass set up a third-and-goal from the 11. The next play, Meagrow was flushed out of the pocket and fired toward the right corner of the end zone, but it was overthrown and Monroeville's Derek Ackerman intercepted the pass and returned it 29 yards to the Monroeville 32 with 11:13 left in the game. Monroeville threw an incomplete pass on a third down, but a 15-yard penalty on the Western defense gave the Eagles new life at midfield. Two plays later, Clark faked a handoff to his left and went right and outran three Western defenders for a 47-yard TD run with 9:02 left in the game. Krueger's PAT pushed the lead to 21-14 with 9:02 left in the game. "They made some adjustments in the third quarter to put some points on the board, but I'm proud of our kids because they stuck with it,," Nester said. "It would have been real easy to hang our heads or lose some momentum after giving up two quick scores like that. "We just had to be patient and disciplined. We knew they were going to get theirs, but we stayed focused." Back came Western on its next possession. Meagrow threw a jump ball pass brought down by Fraelich at the Monroeville 23 for 24 yards on a third-and-9. Meagrow then ran for nine yards to the Monroeville 14. But the 'Riders then were forced into a fourth-and-3 at the Monroeville 16 with 5:16 left in the game. Meagrow ran five yards for the first down, and another direct snap to Wiegel went right up the middle untouched for an 11-yard TD run with 5:08 remaining in the game. But on the 2-point conversion, the Eagles got the stop as Colton Koch deflected a Meagrow pass that was intercepted near the line of scrimmage by Brycen Dunlap. Western then got the three-and-out it needed, and the Eagles punted with 3:31 left in the game. The Roughriders took over at their own 30 with 3:23 left in the game, but the Eagles came up with yet another big play. Cooper Cleary intercepted a Meagrow pass at the 34 and returned it 20 yards to the Western 14 with 3:02 left in the game. Bores picked up five yards on the next play, which set up Clark for a 9-yard TD run, as he faked to his right and went around the left side untouched. The extra point was blocked, but Monroeville had a 27-20 lead with 2:32 remaining in the game. With one last chance and starting at their own 42, Meagrow appeared to complete a pass to Cooper Roe to the Monroeville 27. However, Meagrow had crossed the line of scrimmage and the play was called back on a penalty. On fourth-and-9 with 1:26 left in the game from the 42, Meagrow was tackled near the line of scrimmage by Alec Schafer and Maverick Myers to clinch the Eagles' win. Clark ran 17 times for 145 yards with the 3 TDs for the Eagles, while Bores added 76 yards and his score on 11 attempts. "One of the keys to the week was to win the battle in the trenches, and on offense we sure did," Nester said. For Western, Meagrow was 16-of-33 passing for 201 yards, with Fraelich catching five passes for 99 yards. Wiegel was held to 27 yards on 21 attempts, but scored all three touchdowns and caught four passes for 35 yards. "The front three we rotate through along with our linebackers did a great job," Nester said. "We were able to keep Wiegel in check and kind of made them one-dimensional. Obviously they got some yards out of that, but we were able to limit their big plays and keep them in front of us for the most part."