CHERRY TWP — This time the Moniteau football team finished.

A week after watching a 16-point lead evaporate in less than a minute in a painful loss, the Warriors seized the lead in the third quarter for good and salted the game away in the fourth quarter with two big defensive plays in an 18-8 home win over Union/A-C Valley Friday night.

“It feels good,” said Moniteau coach Jon McCune. “I asked the guys, ‘Do we feel good? Are we ready to go?’ And they said yes. And we finished there at the end.”

The start, though, was shaky.

Moniteau (2-1) had no first downs and only 14 yards of offense in the first quarter as Union/A-C Valley led 8-0.

The Falcon Knights (0-4) got the lead on a well-executed fake handoff by quarterback Lucas Bowser.

After the fake, Bowser scampered around left end and dove into the end zone for the score.

He then caught a 2-point conversion pass from Luke Bowser.

But that was the only points Union/A-C Valley could muster, despite several opportunities.

Bowser and running back Jeffrey Ginn just missed connecting on three long passes that would have likely resulted in touchdowns.

“We had a good game plan and it was there, a couple of corner routes to Jeffrey,” said Union/A-C Valley coach Dave Louder. “We just missed them, whether the throws just tipped off the fingers or were slightly overthrown.”

Moniteau answered in the second quarter on a 7-yard run by Cody Wise. Warriors’ quarterback Chance Nagy then found Brayden Risinger with a pass for the two-point conversion to knot the game at 8-8 at the half.

Moniteau broke the game open in the third quarter.

After a long drive stalled, Steven Fawcett drilled a 22-yard field goal for an 11-8 Warrior lead.

Manny McLean then sunk the dagger with a 75-yard run on a sweep play for a touchdown to give Moniteau a 10-point lead late in the third quarter.

McLean was untouched and showed off his speed down the right sideline.

McLean finished with 96 yards rushing on just eight carries.

“That’s what happens when all cogs are going. It was perfectly blocked — we were blocking guys off the field,” McCune said. “Our grit showed there.”

Union/A-C Valley showed its grit on a couple subsequent Moniteau drives.

Moniteau marched to the Falcon Knights’ 6, but were pushed back to the 23 and turned the ball over on downs on one drive and were turned away again in Union/A-C Valley territory later.

“I’m so proud of our defense,” Louder said. “They played a heck of a game and they are so young. We just have one kid who started on defense last year.”

Moniteau’s defense also shined.

The Warriors’ intercepted Lucas Bowser twice in the second have.

Wise jumped high from his middle linebacker position to intercept a pass and then Nick Martino put an end to another fourth-quarter possession with an interception he caught by trapping it under his elbow against his hip.

Despite the bounce-back win, McCune still sees the need to improve.

“We have to play four quarters,” McCune said. “The first quarter we played a little rough. Just mental stuff. Once we put all four quarters together we’re going to be a dangerous team.”

Louder is just hoping his team keeps its head up after an 0-4 start.

“The big thing is 0-4 team, we have to make sure we keep these guys pepped up and ready for the next game,” Louder said.

U/ACV 8 0 0 0 — 8

Moniteau 0 8 10 0 — 18

First Quarter

U/ACV — Lucas Bowser 3 run (Lucas Bowser pass from Luke Bowser), 1:06

Second Quarter

M — Cody Wise 7 run (Brayden Risinger pass from Chance Nagy), 3:03

Third Quarter

M — Steven Fawcett 22 field goal, 7:34

Fourth Quarter

M — Manny McLean 75 run (Fawcett kick), 3:20

Individual Statistics

Rushing: U/ACV, Greg Duncan 14-75, Jeffrey Ginn 7-23, Jonathan Powell 1-4, Lucas Bowser 6-(-4); Moniteau, Manny McLean 8-96, Cody Wise 19-90, Chance Nagy 12-7, TEAM 1-(-12)

Passing: U/ACV, Lucas Bowser 11-29-90-2; Moniteau, Chance Nagy 10-22-75-0

Receiving: U/ACV, Nolan Cumberland 4-35, Isaac Yoder 3-1, Jonathan Powell 2-31, Jeffrey Ginn 1-12, Greg Duncan 1-11; Moniteau, Wyatt Geibel 4-36, Brayden Risinger 2-25, Hunter Fitzingo 2-10, Jared Lominski 2-4