CHERRY TWP — A cold rain fell on Moniteau's football stadium Friday night, but it failed to dampen the Warriors' spirits as they walked off the field after the game.

Junior running back James Shope ran for 177 yards and four touchdowns, and Moniteau's defense forced seven Redbank Valley turnovers as the Warriors posted a 34-14 win.

Had the Warriors lost, they would have shared the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference title with the Bulldogs and Karns City.

With the victory, the Warriors have the conference title all to themselves.

The program's last title came in 1970, when Moniteau finished atop the Clarion County League standings with a 5-1-1 record.

"I asked the kids earlier this week if they were happy with being co-champs," said Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell. "You know, this game meant nothing for us as far as the playoffs are concerned. But I told them that if they wanted the title (outright), then go get it, and they did."

"We don't like to share," said Shope. "We've been waiting for this for a long time."

Moniteau led 14-0 at the half before Redbank mounted a short scoring drive on its first possession of the third period.

The Bulldogs took over at their own 37 and junior quarterback Shiloh Buchleitner completed back-to-back passes to Bruce McDaniel and Pat Goheen totaling 37 yards.

A personal foul penalty on the Warriors in between the pass completions helped move the ball closer and, on a first-and-goal play from the 1, Buchleitner scored on a sneak to cut Moniteau's lead to 14-7.

It was one of the few bright spots for Redbank's offense, as the team lost two fumbles and a muffed kickoff in the first half and Buchleitner suffered four interceptions in the game.

"It's disappointing," said first-year Redbank coach Brandon Rapp. "Winning the conference was a goal we talked about at the beginning of the year, but we just shot ourselves in the foot too many times tonight."

The Bulldogs' running game was unable to help its quarterback.

Senior Alex Bladel, who is closing in on his school's all-time rushing mark, was held to 23 yards on 12 carries.

"To beat Redbank, you have to stop Bladel," said Campbell. "We did a good job of that."

Shope scored on a 5-yard run later in the third quarter to put the Warriors' edge back to 14 points at 21-7.

Moniteau's Victor Santoyo picked off Buchleitner on the Bulldogs' next drive, setting up Shope's final score of the night, a 9-yard run early in the final quarter.

The Bulldogs (7-2, 7-2) did cut the deficit one more time, to 27-14 on a short touchdown pass from Buchleitner to Jerrett Magagnotti with 7:45 remaining.

Moniteau's Justin Sanderson closed out the scoring with an 8-yard scoring jaunt with 2:38 left.

Shope, who had two of his team's four interceptions on defense, scored both of Moniteau's touchdowns in the first half on runs of 21 yards late in the first quarter and one yard midway through the second period.

The Warriors (9-0, 9-0) now look to finish their first unbeaten and untied regular season in school history Thursday when they travel to Riverside, a team from the WPIAL.

Moniteau's 1959 team finished 8-0-1.

"As a coach, you hope your team peaks at the right time," said Campbell. "I think we're getting close, but we're not there yet. We beat a very good team tonight."