SAINT MARYS — With his team coming off a 20-0 loss to Saint Marys last week, Moniteau football coach Bob Rottman found reason for optimism as the Warriors prepared to face Elk County Catholic.

“They are bigger than us up front, but just watching them on film and knowing how we were going to come off the ball, I thought we would spend a lot of time in the backfield tonight,” he said.

Rottman watched his hopes for the game turn into reality as Moniteau dominated the line of scrimmage, had ECC quarterback Charlie Geci on the run all night and forced six turnovers from the Crusaders’ offense in earning a 34-14 victory at Dutch Country Stadium.

Only a 38-yard run from Noah Cherry in the waning moments of play kept ECC from rushing for negative yardage. It finished with just 25 yards on 24 carries.

The Warriors picked off four passes, with Blaine Jamison being credited with two thefts. He also blocked an extra-point attempt.

“We could tell they were getting frustrated, could hear them arguing with each other in the huddle,” said Moniteau linebacker Logan Campbell. “We fed off that momentum.”

The offense, too, benefitted from dominant line play. Campbell and sophomore Kole Scott, who ran for just 28 yards between them last week, toted the ball 30 times for a combined 220 yards.

“The line did the job tonight,” said Rottman. “Some of those holes were huge, but Logan and Kole are both bruising runners and punished people at the end of their runs. That takes its toll on defensive players.”

Campbell scored four of Moniteau’s five touchdowns, on runs of 65 and 5 yards and catching scoring tosses of 24 and 13 yards from quarterback Trent Beachem.

Scott opened the scoring by snagging a 12-yard touchdown pass from Beachem on the Warriors’ second drive.

ECC answered quickly when Cherry raced 78 yards for a score on the ensuing kickoff.

But the Crusaders (0-2) were struggling to get anything done offensively.

Trailing 15-6 late in the first half, they received a boost when Alex Gahr tackled Beachem in the end zone for a safety. Following the free kick, ECC managed its one big offensive play in the game when Geci connected with Will Wortman on a 37-yard scoring play.

Scott blocked the point-after attempt, but despite being outgained 169-48 in the first half, ECC trailed just 15-14.

But Campbell scored his second and third touchdowns of the night in the third quarter and Geci and the Crusader offense posed very little threat of a rally in the face of, among others, Adam Grossman and Brock Beachem, who helped lead the defensive pressure.

“We had some timing issues with the snaps and just weren’t getting things set the way we needed to,” said Crusaders coach Tim Pearson.

The team’s best scoring opportunity of the second half came when a bad snap on a Moniteau punt resulted in ECC taking over at the Warriors 30 early in the third quarter. The drive stalled and a field goal attempt was thwarted due to an errant snap.

Also intercepting passes for Moniteau were Brendin Sankey and Ashton Grossman.

“It was amazing to get the offense going tonight,” said Campbell. “It feels good to get to (a 1-1 record) and we’ll make it 2-1 next week.”

The Warriors will host Cameron County next Friday.

Moniteau 7 8 13 6 — 34

ECC 6 8 0 0 — 14

First Quarter

M — Kole Scott 12 pass from Trent Beachem (Ashton Grossman kick), 7:03

ECC — Noah Cherry 78 kickoff return (kick blocked), 6:49

Second Quarter

M — Logan Campbell 24 pass from Beachem (Matthew Baptiste run), 11:43

ECC — Safety, Beachem tackled in end zone, 1:06

ECC — Will Wortman 37 pass from Charlie Geci (kick blocked), :55

Third Quarter

M — Campbell 65 run (Grossman kick), 7:53

M — Campbell 13 pass from Beachem (kick failed), 1:59

Fourth Quarter

M — Campbell 5 run (run failed), 1:38

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Moniteau, Logan Campbell 17-96, Trent Beachem 10-(-12), Kole Scott 13-124, Brendin Sankey 1-6, TEAM 1-(-6). Elk County Catholic, Frankie Smith 6-6, Charlie Geci 2-(-8), Noah Cherry 14-43, Will Wortman 1-(-15), Matthew Gilmore 1-(-1).

Passing: Moniteau, Trent Beachem 11-18-120-0. Elk County Catholic, Charlie Geci 4-17-68-4, Frankie Smith 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: Moniteau, Kole Scott 2-12, Logan Campbell 4-78, Brendin Sankey 5-30. Elk County Catholic, Matthew Gilmore 2-33, Percy MacDonald 1-(-2), Will Wortman 1-37.