Monessen dominates Jefferson-Morgan in Tri-County matchup

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 14, 2018 | 11:15 PM

The scoreboard operator was a busy bee Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Monessen.

Unfortunately for the visitors, it was all on one side of the board.

It took the Greyhounds (3-0, 2-0 Tri-County South) two plays and 27 seconds to score their first touchdown, and they continued to find the end zone on every first-half possession except the last one in route to a 55-0 pasting of Jefferson-Morgan (1-3, 1-2).

As dominant as the Monessen offense was, the defense was equally impressive pushing the Rockets offense backwards. Jeff-Morgan had minus-21 yards in the first half.

“Our goal before the game was to not punt the ball and throw a party at the ball defensively,” Monessen coach Mike Blainefield said. “We were able to accomplish both of those goals in the first half. We knew we had an advantage in speed, which we typically do. It is one of our advantages.”

However, the win did not come without some bad news: Senior Thaddeus King was taken off the field by ambulance with a leg injury about midway through the first quarter.

“I’ve coached that kid since he was 6 years old,” Blainefield said. “Definitely a bittersweet night. We were able to get the victory for him tonight. He was our special teams captain and played a lot on defense, so we will need to make adjustments there. Hopefully we can find someone to step up in his absence.”

Blainefield said King was still at the hospital getting X-rays for a spiral fracture of his tibia. The injury was a brief delay in Monessen’s onslaught.

“The kids were really fired up today. We built that momentum up, and we rode the wave,” Blainefield said.

Monessen quarterback Devin Whitlock went 7 for 10 passing and finished with 203 yards of total offense. He started with a 55-yard scoring strike to Elijah Davis. Whitlock threw two more touchdowns in the first half: one to Marquell Smith for 21 yards, and the other to Darnel Howell for 7 yards. He also scored on a 3-yard run.

The Hounds scored their first three touchdowns running only nine offensive plays. Vaughn Taylor scored on runs on 1 yard and 16 yards. Darius Stevenson hauled in a 2-point conversion pass on one of those scores for a 22-0 Monessen lead. In the second quarter, Isaiah Beltram added a 10-yard touchdown, and Justin Towler scored from 36 yards.

Dean Dellamalva is a Mon Valley Independent staff writer.

Tags: Jefferson-Morgan, Monessen