WEST SUNBURY — The Moniteau high school football team exploded with 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter Friday to beat Keystone Athletic Conference Large School opponent, Brookville, 37-14.

“I'm really proud of our young team putting together a four-quarter ballgame finally,” Moniteau coach Wade Vogan said.

The Warriors (3-3, 2-1) entered the fourth quarter clinging to a 17-14 lead, but a 68-yard drive to end the third quarter placed them on Brookville's 1-yard line with a fresh set of downs and the full 12 minutes on the clock. Quarterback Chance Nagy scored on the first try on a sneak.

Nagy scored again with a 5-yard run with 5:58 left, and again on a 30-yard pass to receiver Wyatt Geibel with 4:51 left.

Nagy ended the night with four touchdowns, three rushing and one passing. He ran 15 times for 128 yards, and completed 10-of-14 passing for 125 yards.

Vogan said a balanced offense helped open Brookville's defense.

“We have to keep running the ball to open the passing game,” Vogan said. “It makes our job a lot easier for us.”

Vogan also highlighted his running back tandem of senior Mitch DiMaria and freshman Nick Martino, who combined for 100 yards. He said they have been working well together.

Martino finished with 66 yards on 14 carries, but what impressed his coaches most was his ability to extend drives by continuing to gain yards after contact.

In the third quarter with the game still close, Martino only needed one yard to get a first down. After three yards, he was met by a huddle of five opposing players and carried them along for 15 extra yards.

“He doesn't go down with a on-arm tackle,” Vogan said. “The best part about him is that he has a motor on him and doesn't stop.”

Vogan said Martino continues to impress him despite his youth, and he felt Friday's game was a significant moment in Martino's career.

“I'm definitely proud of him,” he said. “We told him he's not a freshman any more, he's a big bruiser.”

Martino said the game gave him confidence moving forward and showed him where his effort is being invested.

“I'm satisfied that I can keep working hard,” he said. “I gotta' keep pushing myself farther and farther every game.”

Brookville (1-5, 1-2) wasn't exactly quiet offensively, and the Raiders had multiple opportunities slip away.

With four seconds remaining in the second quarter, a pass was dropped in the end zone, and in the third quarter, a 60-yard touchdown pass was called back on a holding penalty.

The Raiders found some life from a dynamic of quarterback Seth Ray and running back John Frank.

The two connected four times for 135 yards and one touchdown, but their totals would have spiked without a number of penalties.

“We're close, and for what whatever reason, we can't put four complete quarters together,” Brookville coach Scott Park said. “The excuse that we're young at week six has to be out the window.”

Park said his staff was able to pick apart some mistakes in Moniteau's secondary resulting in a nice passing game, but their limited yardage on the ground hindered them from truly surprising the Warriors.

Park said key starters on the offensive line did not play, but that excuse doesn't carry too much weight.

“It's just one of those things, but you have to have people step up and fill in when people go down,” he said.

The Warriors defense combined for seven sacks on Ray.

Vogan said that pressure and some adjustments in the second half helped alleviate a poor first half performance from his secondary unit.

“In the first half they were definitely throwing the ball over us,” Vogan said. “We were having our linebackers come out and cover the slot guy, and that's where they were eating us up.”

Vogan said the secondaries has been a season-long issue, but he felt better after the adjustments to their coverage in the second half.

He said the whole team regrouped well despite a close 10-6 score at half time.

“Brookville was hungry and they wanted to win,” Vogan said. “It feels good to see our kids perform through adversity and put 27 points together in the second half.”