No points for style
CHERRYTWP— The field at Moniteau's football stadium wasn't the only thing that was sloppy Friday night.
The Warriors (3-0) hosted Punxsutawney (0-3) in a District 9 game that was plagued by penalties to the Moniteau offense — but not enough to prevent a runaway 42-6 victory.
Moniteau was penalized 10 times for 70 yards, most which came for illegal substitutions.
"The substitution penalties were on us," said Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell. "We play a lot of kids, but we have to figure out a better way to get kids on the field so we don't take those penalties."
The good news for Moniteau was that it overcame the sloppy start to take an early lead and, eventually, the win.
The scoring began late in the first quarter, when quarterback Tyler Armagost ran 14 yards into the end zone to give the Warriors a 6-0 lead. In the second quarter, Kenneth Miller put the Warriors on the board again with a 27-yard field goal.
Armagost then began showing off his arm when he threw a 25-yard strike to Tony Campbell, giving Moniteau a 15-0 lead that it held going into the half.
"We take what they give us" Coach Campbell said. "That's the beauty of putting Tyler in the shotgun like that and letting him read it. He's a three-year starter, so we give him a lot of leniency with the audibles."
Armagost threw two more touchdowns in the third quarter, both to wide receiver Campbell. The first came midway through the third quarter from 27 yards out to give Moniteau a 22-0 lead. Armagost then connected with Campbell from 40 yards out to put the game away.
"He's our downfield threat," said Coach Campbell when asked about Tony. "Tyler saw the man coverage and made the audible, and Tony was open every time."
The Warriors running game also was a giant pain in the neck for the Chucks. Moniteau's backfield combined for 287 yards. Justin Sanderson led the way with 114 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
"We have a very solid back in Dakota Campbell, a very fast back in James Shope, and Justin Sanderson and Ricky Best are just bruisers," said Coach Campbell.
"It's become more of a challenge than what we thought it would be to get all of those guys in the game and get their hands on the ball."
One thing that wasn't a challenge for Moniteau was pass coverage. The Warriors held the Chucks to 54 yards passing and came up with two interceptions in the second half.
"We've lived with poor pass coverage for two years and tonight it was pretty beautiful," said Coach Campbell. "These kids worked hard to get to this point and to be able to play like that."
Moniteau will carry its 3-0 record into next week's meeting with A-C Valley.
"We don't look ahead," said Coach Campbell. "We focus everything one week at a time. That's the way we do it."
