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'Furious' Monarchs storm back to beat Beavers

Friday, October 10, 2008 2:43 PM PDT

By Ben Zimmerman

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For one half, Woodland built an impressive fortress to protect its back-to-back league championship football crowns.

Its host at Longview Memorial Stadium even chipped in with the sandbags.

But during halftime, the Beavers celebrated their gaudy edifice in rowdy fashion, and did so within earshot of the Mark Morris lockerroom.

Oops.

Enraged, the Monarchs overwhelmed Woodland with 20 unanswered points in the second half to secure a 34-27 victory on Thursday, taking sole possession of first place in the Greater St. Helens 2A League.

Woodland players pounded the lockerroom wall they shared with Mark Morris during halftime, chanting: “Who’s house? Our house!”

“That,” said 6-foot-5, 295-pound MM lineman Jake Welch, “is not OK.”

The hubris backfired. A Monarch roll call of heroes big and small reduced the Beavers’ 27-14 halftime lead to a smoldering pile of rubble.

There was the behemoth defensive tackle duo of Welch and Taylor Beck (6-0, 255), who helped Mark Morris take over the line of scrimmage and anchored the second-half shutout.

And there was the jitterbug counterpoint of Travis Kinder, a 5-6, 135-pound scatback who weighs less than a Welch sneeze but who darted through the Woodland defense for the tying touchdown with 9:13 left in the game.

Big or small, the Monarchs (5-1, 2-0 league) were not amused by the halftime soundtrack.

“I haven’t been that mad, ever,” said Kinder, whose touchdown run covered 75 yards. “They were pounding on the walls chanting, ‘Our house.’”

“All it took was hearing that,” Welch added.

The noise made Mark Morris “furious,” said Beck, and the Monarchs adjusted their intensity and execution accordingly. After swapping fruitless possessions to open the second half, Mark Morris marched 74 yards in eight plays to pull within a touchdown. Kinder bolted 25 yards to pick up a key first down, and Andrew Moenck put an exclamation point on the drive by outjumping Woodland cornerback Shane Brady to haul in a 27-yard touchdown pass from Scott Kirkpatrick.

It was the first of several big plays that defined the second half for Mark Morris, a clutch menagerie with plenty of contributions from the defense.

Jeremy Wolf knifed into the Woodland backfield to drop Mike Hartley for a 3-yard loss on the Beavers’ ensuing possession, spoiling a third-and-1 and forcing a Woodland punt.

Three plays later, Kinder ran through a Welchian hole on a simple counter play and sprinted untouched to the end zone.

“I nailed the defensive end, but that was all Kinder’s speed right there,” said Welch. “And it was a great play call.”

When the Monarchs shanked the point-after attempt, the game was still tied 27-27.

But Kinder, who fumbled away the ball on MM’s first possession after halftime, jumped a Hurn pass intended for Brady and picked it off inside Monarch territory with 6:58 left in the fourth quarter.

Braydon Poole pounded for gains of 9 and 15 yards on the ensuing MM drive. Nolan Burnett put his fingerprints on the winning drive by hauling in a 40-yard pass.

On third-and-8 from the Woodland 9, Wolf sprinted into the end zone on a sweep play to put the Monarchs ahead.

The Beavers (3-3, 1-1 league), who played a near-flawless first half and tormented MM with an audacious mix of run and pass, mounted a heroic final drive. Hurn completed a 16-yard pass to Brady, an 8-yarder to Elijah Denis, a 9-yarder to Hartley, a 6-yarder to Denis, an 11-yarder to Denis and 7- and 8-yarders to Brady as Woodland marched down field against a dwindling clock.

On third-and-6 from the MM 15, Hurn rolled to his right and barely overthrew tight end Elliott Moss, who was wide, wide open in the end zone.

“Missed him by a foot,” Beavers coach Mark Greenleaf lamented.

On fourth down, Hurn was flushed out of the pocket by Welch. He misfired on a desperation pass toward the sideline, turning the ball over on downs with 16 ticks left.

“Great teams capitalize on those opportunities,” said Greenleaf. “We’re getting better.”

Of the halftime ruckus, Greenleaf added: “We try to get our kids pumped up, keep things going. The kids might have gotten a little excited at halftime.”

Hurn was 16-of-32 for 192 yards and two touchdowns, both to Brandon Smith. Smith also rushed for a first-half touchdown. Hartley added 48 yards rushing and Woodland’s other first-half TD.

Brady had six catches for 66 yards.

Kinder led all rushers with 153 yards on just 12 carries.

“We showed a real sense of pride tonight,” MM coach Shawn Perkins said. “This was a huge team win. We talked about the fact that we’ve won eight in row (now nine) at home.”

The last MM loss at Longview Memorial Stadium came on Oct. 6, 2006 — against Woodland.

“Mark Morris teams in the past just gave up,” wadded Beck. “We don’t give up.”

Monarchs 34, Beavers 27

Woodland          21       6       0         0 — 27

Mark Morris        7       7       7       13 — 34

W — Brandon Smith 23 pass from Trevor Hurn (Mike Hartley kick)

W — Hartley 2 run (Hartley kick)

MM — Colton Carpenter 2 run (Jake Cotterell kick)

W — Smith 5 run (Hartley kick)

MM — Jeremy Wolf 3 run (Cotterell kick)

W — Smith 15 catch (kick failed)

MM — Andrew Moenck 27 pass from Scott Kirkpatrick (Cotterell kick)

MM — Travis Kinder 75 run (kick failed)

MM — Wolf 9 run (Cotterell kick)

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fajunga wrote on Oct 10, 2008 12:26 AM:

" nice win monarchs "

Nimby wrote on Oct 10, 2008 7:32 AM:

" Terrible coaching to allow this to go on at halftime. Reminds me of "Big Jumbo" hootin' and hollerin' at the Okanogan boys prior to Kalama getting their butts handed to them 28-0 in the state title game a few years back. "

pilaf wrote on Oct 10, 2008 10:03 AM:

" The band marching was great, too! "

angeljcdb wrote on Oct 10, 2008 10:06 AM:

" Seems like there is always 2 sides to a story I'm not sure why you overlooked the fact on How the Beavers were Booed of the field when they went into the locker room at 1/2 time that may have caused them the anger to lash out the way they did. If you are going to be a good reporter you should always tell both side of the story. "

onaprayer wrote on Oct 10, 2008 11:10 AM:

" Angel-a coach cannot control a crowd but he certainly can control his team-or maybe not. We found out who's house it was afterall-MONARCHS HOUSE!!!!! "

fajunga wrote on Oct 10, 2008 11:19 AM:

" whats wrong with a home crowd full of students booing a visiting team? its part of the game. Im sure woodland used that to build on their game for the second half right? "

slowburn wrote on Oct 10, 2008 11:19 AM:

" If I was at a football game and the visiting team didn't take a little heat from the home crowd at halftime, I'd think something was wrong. Let me see if I understand the disgruntled Woodland fan's logic on this. The home team booed the Woodland players, and the Woodland players taunted the MM players. The Monarchs played their rears off in the second half to earn the win. Therefore, the home crowd boos caused the Beavers to lose? Isn't that called home-field advantage? I wasn't there, but it seems to me the Beavers thought they had the game in the bag and the Monarchs proved them wrong. How about we give them a little credit for showing some moxie? "

bulldog42 wrote on Oct 10, 2008 11:56 AM:

" The Monarchs rose to the challenge and repsond to the Beavers taunting through the walls. Hope the Beavers have learned their lesson. Don't rile up the big fellas in the trenches, especially Jake Welch. He came out fired up in the 2nd half and opened up some huge holes with his other linemen. Jon Suek and Taylor Beck. This was flat out won in the trenches. the big boys up front opened up some big holes for the skilled players to work their magic. Way to Monarchs!!!!!
Keep playing great and lets take this team all the way!!!! "

TheGenius wrote on Oct 10, 2008 1:11 PM:

" Last time I checked, the WIAA dropped their pursuit of a "boo" ban on crowds. Big deal, the home crowd jeered the opponents. In other news, dogs and cats fight. Huge win for the Monarchs. They should move into the AP top ten next week with this win. If not, well, there's some motivation for the next game. "

Lucky7 wrote on Oct 11, 2008 7:49 AM:

" Actions speak louder than words! Always! "

TheGenius wrote on Oct 11, 2008 10:04 AM:

" You know what's the best part about this season so far for the Monarchs? All the recruiting and transfer nonsense has been silenced and the focus is on the kids who are actually playing. I worried the allegations would come up again, mainly because MM is not beloved in this community, but they haven't. Of course, we're two months from hoops season starting, so there is still time for the knuckledraggers to come out of the woodwork.... "

jack player wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:13 AM:

" WHOS HOUSE???? JACKS HOUSE AND IT WILL ALWAYS BE OUR HOUSE...IM COMING FOR BLOOD MONARCHS "

TheGenius wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:11 AM:

" Not this year, pal. "

jack player wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:01 AM:

" oh its gonna be this year ill make sure of it..... "

pilaf wrote on Oct 13, 2008 12:23 PM:

" jack player,
I hope you have been spending more time on football than you have on your English, then. "

duckguy wrote on Oct 13, 2008 12:42 PM:

" Hey Jack Player, who's house was it last year....or the year before? You need to learn a lesson from this story...don't poke the Lion, it'll bite you. "

jack player wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:24 PM:

" whos house has it been every other year duckguy check the stats....and for pilaf sorry i dont have perfect english but what does that have to do with football really how many people use perfect english on here.... "

duckguy wrote on Oct 14, 2008 8:33 AM:

" Jack Player - You need to focus on trying to beat Washougal and Ridgefield, those are the only games left on the schedule that you have a chance in. And I wouldn't be feeling to confident against the Spudders if I were you. "

Ralfthelion wrote on Oct 14, 2008 8:47 AM:

" Young man.. we dont expect you to have top notch english skill but you should be smart enough to know the caliber of your team. Judging by your words i would guess you do a pretty fine job at handing out the gatorade! Keep it up and goodluck "

TheGenius wrote on Oct 14, 2008 12:46 PM:

" I do. My English is impeccable. But keep talking Jackplayer. Go ahead, poke the lion while he's sleeping. "

onaprayer wrote on Oct 14, 2008 3:10 PM:

" jack player-MM will stomp you and your kind. The trench men-Welch, Beck-are real hungry. I can't wait! "

dawg14 wrote on Oct 14, 2008 6:35 PM:

" MM wins 1 more game...(their next one)....JACKS HOUSE BABY!!!!!!!! "

Ralfthelion wrote on Oct 15, 2008 10:27 AM:

" Hmmm. Dawg, think about the depth of your team. Mark Morris has lost 2 running back but they still average about 200 plus on the ground. In my opinion Ral has 2 players that would even start on MM. You should maybe think about bringing your team over here. We could use a better scout team "

dawg14 wrote on Oct 15, 2008 1:41 PM:

" Ralf Ralf Ralf. Just sayin I see match up problems for you at Hockinson and you can throw out all the stats when we strap up on Halloween. Scout team.....whatever. "

duckguy wrote on Oct 17, 2008 1:02 PM:

" dawg14- I'd like you to describe the "matchup problems" against Hockinson. Is their line better......No. Is their QB better......No. Is their backfield better.......No, even with the Monarchs losing their top 2 rushers in week 3. Who has Hockinson played? Washougal, Ridgefield, LaCenter right after their 3 best players were suspended and the mighty Lumberjills? Come on, that's like playing 4 JV teams in a row. They've played 2 decent teams (Centralia and Skyview) and lost both games by a score of 76-28. And, don't forget that the Monarchs beat Centralia. I think Hockinson might lose to Woodland tonight! "

dawg14 wrote on Oct 18, 2008 12:22 PM:

" Line is smaller but very quick, qb is as good, receivers are better (theres your big problem as the queens cant cover anyone) very balanced on O and quick, and swarming on D. They put 42 on the same (JV) defense that your "mighty" offense could only manage 24 against. They held a Woodland offense that you struggled with to 14. Who has MM played? You beat a depleted Centralia team when you were at full strength by 10 and got outplayed, but managed a win at Kelso. Washougal was your only convincing win. (Another JV team according to you) Earth calling the "overrated" No mention in the AP this week either? "

markle jordan wrote on Oct 20, 2008 8:19 PM:

" Alright well first off id like to comment on the great tdn user Dawg14 ok barbee we all knows its you. we all can understand that your excited about this season seeing how you won your first league game in 2 years! speaking of a very strong schedule the first 3 wins the jacks had were against teams who have combined 6 wins which is equal to the monarchs. the defense that is "out matched by hockinson" gave up a total of 88 total yards to ridgefield. the small but quick line wont matter when there 3 yards in the back field courtesy of beck,welch and the powerhouse line. the wide recievers at mark morris have dominated every team they played...nobody has stopped atkins,lomasney,moenck,molner, or burnett. all those guys are over 6 feet tall and hockinsons corners are 5'8 and 5'10 i see an advantage there. With the db situation 2 starters are coming back this week from injury (colin smith and josh larson). so "dawg14" chew on that one for a little bit. "

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