Waterproof
CHERRY TWP — The rain couldn't slow down Moniteau.
After jumping out to a big halftime lead, the Warriors' defensive unit took care of matters in the second half in a 25-0 shutout win.
"The things we have been working on defensively, we knew we had to get better if we were going to be able to compete in this league this year," said Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell. "It is tough, but it is coming. We're close to being a solid defensive team and give them credit, that is a good Union team. Coach (Al) Pryor has those kids playing hard and they never gave up."
As for the offense, the Warriors (3-2) racked up 254 yards rushing to go with 121 passing.
Zach Wheeler hauled in a 20-yard scoring pass from quarterback Kyle Armagost on Moniteau's first possession of the game before Armagost went in untouched from 5-yards out later in the opening period for a 12-0 Warriors lead.
After sitting out the first quarter, Warriors running back James Shope completed the Moniteau scoring with touchdown runs of 26 and 30 yards in the second period.
Shope led all rushers with 172 yards on 15 carries. Armagost chipped in with another 72 yards rushing.
The Warriors' defense smothered the Union offense, allowing the Golden Knights only 72 passing yards and holding the Union rushing attack to 1 yard on 23 carries.
"Some nights the offense does it and other nights the defense does it," said Campbell. "Tonight was the night where the offense put some points up (on the scoreboard) and the defense was able to hold them."
Last week, Campbell and his staff converted from a 3-4 look to a 4-3 alignment, and, although the Warriors still have some "bugs" to work out, Campbell is pleased with the effort so far.
"It is still a work in progress, but it is coming," said Campbell. "We just felt we no longer had the personnel to run the 3-4. We were getting beat in it, so we went to the 4-3 and it is working pretty good."
Although his team never got off the ground offensively, Pryor liked what he saw from his team's overall effort.
"Offensively, we picked up a few first downs, but we are just self-destructing too much," he said. "There always seems to be somebody not doing what they are supposed to be doing, but we are young and it is coming."
Five games into the season, Pryor was quick to point out that he and his assistant coaches are seeing improvement from week to week.
"Each week we have been improving from the week before and this is a big jump from where we were five weeks ago," noted Pryor. "Last week was a little setback, but then this week, I thought we made a big improvement."
