Warriors stay in playoff hunt
CHERRY TWP — Once Moniteau's football team wrestled the lead away after trailing by 12 points, the Warriors held on for a potentially season-saving 29-28 KSAC Large School win over St. Marys Friday night at Warrior Stadium.
Moniteau coach Wade Vogan said the win gives the Warriors a chance to see their progress and be confident in their changes. Improving to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in division play gives the Warriors hopes for a playoff spot.
“It feels good and it's good for the kids,” he said. “St. Marys is a great team, but (our) kids really put together four quarters of football today.”
The Warriors gained the lead when quarterback Derek Boben threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dalton Anderson with 8 minutes, 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Moniteau's secondary struggled all night to stop St. Marys' quarterback Pat Schlimm from linking up with wide receiver Brady Bauer, who caught nine passes for 201 yards.
But, the Warriors' secondary forced a turnover-on-downs with under three minutes to play, batting away three straight passes to Bauer.
Moniteau still needed to convert a first down to seal the game, and the Warriors chose to continue running the ball.
With 2:30 remaining, the Warriors found themselves in a fourth-and-three situation at St. Marys' 45-yard line. Moniteau decided to give the ball to Shonn Kline, who converted the first down on a 13-yard carry to solidify the win.
Kline excelled throughout the game with his ability to gain extra yards after contact. He finished with 181 total yards on 26 carries with one touchdown.
“It felt pretty good,” Kline said. “We just have to do whatever works.”
Vogan said Kline put his heart into the game.
“He's been grinding all week and all year long,” he said. “I know what I'm going to get from him each and every week.”
Vogan tried to call heavily upon a read-option rushing attack featuring Boben and Kline.“Those are our two animals, and we'll keep feeding our animals the ball,” Vogan said.When St. Marys' defense began to read the option, they blitzed heavy to the right side, and the Warriors would pass the ball to loosen things up. They found success with Anderson. Boben connected on 4-of-7 passes to Anderson for 148 yards.Vogan said it feels good to have a more balance play style.“It makes it a little easier for me,” Vogan said. “There's a few more options.”St. Marys (6-3, 2-2) earned 50 yards rushing the ball, mainly through running back Christian Steffan, but the Dutchmen relied more on their passing due to Moniteau's blitzes.“We want to be a running team, but they did a nice job at stacking the box to force us to throw,” St. Marys coach Tony Defilippi said. “And we were able to throw the ball.”Defilippi said Schlimm played on of his best games all season and Bauer is a special athlete that can make those types of plays, even under strong coverage.“Pat did a nice job throwing, and Brady did a nice job running his routes,” he said. “(Bauer) had some decent coverage on him, but he was able to high point the ball and get the ball.”Defilippi said he thought they should have won the game, and the one-point margin made the loss sting.“It's frustrating when you don't win,” he said. “We built a lead there in the third quarter and we just weren't able to hold it.”
