Waukon overwhelms Monti for Homecoming

     The bright side is that it wasn’t a season-ender.

     Monticello’s 52-7 homecoming loss to visiting Waukon Sept. 27 at Dean Nelson Field was proof that the Panthers have some work ahead, in order to close the gap between them and the top-ranked team in Class 2A.

     But there are four games remaining, and the Panthers are still 4-1.

     “Nothing changes,” Monticello coach Wes Wilson said. “This game is over; we need to flush it and move on. We still have a great opportunity in front of us, and we control that.”

     Monticello struggled to control the consistent, effective attack of Waukon, not to mention moving the ball. The Indians racked up 366 yards of total offense, took advantage of four Panther turnovers, and held the Monticello offense to just 48 yards rushing, 116 total.

     “Waukon did exactly what we said we needed to do,” Wilson said. “They converted on third down, and didn’t turn the ball over. Their QB (junior Creed Welch) was able to extend plays with his feet and find open receivers downfield. Defensively they were able to create turnovers and keep us off the field.”

     Welch passed for 189 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 89 yards and three touchdowns. He even caught a touchdown pass, from Dawson Baures, for the first Waukon score of the game.

     That came on the first Indian drive of the game, following an interception on Monticello’s first possession.

     Waukon scored on its second possession too, as Welsch rambled in on a 38-yard scramble to give the Indians a 14-0 lead.

     In the second quarter, Welch scored on a 27-yard run, and then a five-yard run following an interception, as Waukon took a 28-0 lead with exactly five minutes left in the first half.

     Following a Panther missed field goal, the Indians drove 80 yards in seven plays, scoring on a 10-yard pass from Welch to Brady Behrend. The Indians, who tried a two-point conversion after every touchdown, made three of five in the first half, taking a 36-0 lead into the break.

     The Panthers had just two first downs and 79 total yards in the first half.

     “We struggled keeping drives going,” Wilson said. “We did a good job of pass protection, we just didn’t convert when we needed to. We got out of rhythm early on offense, and never got back on track. We allowed our defense to be on the field way too much, and gave Waukon too many opportunities.”

     With the continuous clock rolling in the second half, Waukon scored twice more, on a 23-yard pass from Welch to Lincoln Snitker, and a 50-yard fumble return by Pat Hennessy.

     Monticello scored its touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, on an 18-yard pass from Jeff Carlson to Devin Kraus.

Up to West Union

     Friday’s game was the first game of Class 2A, District 3 play for the Panthers. All of the remaining games are within the district as well, starting with Friday’s game at North Fayette Valley (1-0, 3-2). The TigerHawks were 28-6 winners at Anamosa in a game moved to Thursday because of impending weather.

First RPI ratings coming

     The first Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) list for this season will be released following the Week Six games. In Class 2A there are eight district champions who will automatically qualify for the post-season; the remaining eight will be determined by RPI, which takes into account a team’s record, the records of its opponents, and the records of its opponents’ opponents.

Sept. 27

Waukon 14  22   8   8  –  52

Monti        0     0    0   7  –    7

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER

     Wauk – Welch 11 pass from Baures (Baures run), 9:02 remaining.

     Wauk – Welch 38 run (pass failed), 4:14.

SECOND QUARTER

     Wauk – Welch 27 run (run failed), 9:55.

     Wauk – Welch 2 run (Baures run), 5:00.

     Wauk – Behrend 10 pass from Welch (Benzing run), 0:03.2.

THIRD QUARTER

     Wauk – Snitker 23 pass from Welch (O’Neill pass from Welch), 2:37.

FOURTH QUARTER

     Monti – Kraus 18 pass from Carlson (Carlson kick), 5:59.

     Wauk – Hennessy 50 fumble return (Hennessy run), 1:47.

TEAM STATISTICS

                                   Wauk     Monti

First downs             11             5

Rushing yds.         166           48

Passing yds.          200          115

Comp.-att.-int.  13-28-0    8-18-2

Total yds.               366          163

Fumbles lost           0               2

Penalties-yds.     7-40         2-10

MONTICELLO STATISTICS

     Rushing – Jordan 11/38, Kramer 1-10, Lambert 2-1, Carlson 5 (-1).            

     Passing – Carlson 8-18-115-1-2.

     Receiving – Recker 2-47, Kraus 3-32, K. Luensman 1-28, Lambert 1-4, Jordan 1-4.

     Tackles-for-loss – Lambert 1, R. Manternach 0.5, Kramer 0.5.