CHERRY TWP — Anthony Benson returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and Brockway took care of business from there, defeating Moniteau 41-12 at Warrior Stadium Friday night.

Benson received the kick and found a hole set up by his blockers and went untouched to open the scoring.

“The return was huge for us and it showed we were ready to play from the opening whistle,” Brockway offensive coordinator Andy Martino said.

Martino was the acting head coach for the game because the Rovers head coach Frank Zocco’s father passed away earlier this week. He was in Connecticut with his family.

“The kids had heavy hearts and played inspired tonight,” Martino said. “They would do anything for (Zocco) and he would do anything from them.”

On the ensuing drive Moniteau started out on their own 30 and moved the ball into Rovers territory when Dustin Geagan fought hard to gain 4 yards and a first down. The run put Geagan atop the record book as the leading rusher in Moniteau history.

“I’ve seen (Geagan) grow up from a freshman to where he is now,” Moniteau coach Cecil Blauser said. “He is a quality young man and I wish him the best in what he does after he leaves high school.”

The Warriors (3-7) continued to move the ball on that drive, but the possession ended when Cody Skiver was intercepted by Mike Martino at the Moniteau 30.

Martino returned the interception 10 yards to the 40 and the Rovers wasted little time turning the turnover into points.

Quarterback Alec Shaffer-Doan took a snap from midfield, rolled out and found a wide-open Anthony Isabella, who found the end zone to put Brockway up 14-0.

Brockway (6-4) added two more scores in the second quarter. Shaffer-Doan ran a quarterback draw and scored from 27 yards out.

After Moniteau punted on the next drive, Brockway went 48 yards in five plays, scoring on a 15-yard pass by Shaffer-Doan to Jack Glasl.

The teams traded punts to start the second half.

Moniteau got good field position after Geagan returned a punt to midfield. On the first play of that drive, Skiver found Stephen Hagg with a pass out of the backfield for what looked like a good gain, but when Hagg was fighting for extra yardage he lost the football and the Rovers recovered.

Moniteau held Brockway and forced a punt and took over at their own 36.

The didn’t have the ball long, though, as Skiver was intercepted by Benson. He returned the ball to the Warriors’ 7 and Brockway capitalized in two plays when Shaffer-Doan scored from 4 yards out to make the score 34-0.

Moniteau turned it over on downs at the Brockway 39 and it took one play for the Rovers to get on the board again. Shaffer-Doan hit Glasl with a quick screen pass and he broke a few tackles on his way to the end zone to put the Rovers ahead 41-0. Glasl had two receptions on the night and he scored on both of them.

“My hat’s off to Brockway,” Blauser said. “They are a good program that is going to the Single-A playoffs.”

Moniteau got on the board on the second play of the fourth quarter when Trevor Shaffer found daylight around the edge of the Brockway defense and scored from 51 yards out.

The Warriors added another score when Geagan scored on a 4-yard run.

Geagan finished with a team-leading 92 yards rushing on the night.

While the game didn’t end up in the Warriors favor, they did a nice tribute at the end of the game for their seniors. The group, which helped Moniteau win a District 9 title in 2011, took the field one last time and walked toward the end zone where the rest of the team and the coaches stood.

“We put that in this year,” an emotional Blauser said. “As much as they bleed and sweat on that field, it was something I thought we needed to do to recognize what they did for us the last four years.”