Marysville’s Chase Kilgore (34) is upended after gaining yardage on this play at Central Crossing on Friday. The Monarchs wrapped up their season with a 36-6 victory.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
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After polishing off Central Crossing 36-6 Friday night, Marysville’s 5-5 record doesn’t tell the story of the direction the program seems headed.
While the .500 season doesn’t stand out as much of an improvement from last year’s 4-6 slate, the truth is that the Monarchs were a couple plays away from the state playoffs. Winnable games against Delaware, Olentangy Liberty and Dublin Coffman would have surely put the Monarchs in the postseason and in all likelihood, two wins from that batch might have gotten the job done.
While a five-loss season wasn’t ideal, the Monarchs weren’t blown out in any game. The loss against Upper Arlington was the only game in which the squad’s effort could be questioned.
Even against some of central Ohio’s perennial powers, the team never looked out of its depth. It didn’t quit.
Monarch coach Brent Johnson gives a lot of credit to his seniors for changing the culture in the program. He said players like three-year starters Mike Powers, Tyler Connolly, Ethan Smegal and Walker Heard are the reason the Monarchs battled in so many close games.
“The seniors did a phenomenal job,” Johnson said.
The coach said the outgoing senior class has shown the underclassmen the right way to lead a team.
“They just kind of trusted us (the coaches),” Johnson said. “Our goal was to send them out with a win.
“This will send us into the offseason with momentum.”
In a lot of ways, the game showed two teams headed in opposite directions. An argument could be made that Central Crossing played a similar game to recent Marysville teams. The Comets weren’t without talent, but seemed to lack the heart to compete.
A couple of exchanges exemplified that idea.
In the third quarter trailing by two scores, Central Crossing opted to go for it on fourth-and-one, but the line got no push and the QB sneak went nowhere.
The Monarchs took the ball and soon found themselves facing a fourth-and-two inside the 20. The Monarchs, however, easily converted on a quarterback keep by Heard and went on to score a touchdown a few plays later.
The second vignette came in the fourth quarter and was a simple handoff to Powers. Hes found a nice hole and met contact after about five yards.
Instead of going low on the bruising runner, a handful of Comets encircled him, held him up and tried to strip the ball. Powers somehow backed out of the cluster of players who still had a hold of his jersey and drug them down the field facing backwards.
As the referees held their whistles, Powers continued to back up and eventually fell – after a 29-yard gain. He gained 25 yards after contact, in reverse.
The MHS offense was dialed in most of the night, rolling for 383 yards on the ground, but none in the air through a constant rain. Marysville applied damage with a host of ball carriers, two of whom cracked triple digits and a third who was close.
Bodie Ebertart paced the Monarchs with 150 yards on just six carries. He scored on runs of 88 and 48 yards, both on counter plays.
Chase Kilgore was the workhorse, grinding out his 111 yards on 21 carries. Powers also pounded out 83 yards on seven attempts.
Marysville put up two quick scores in the first period, the first on Eberhart’s 48-yard tote and the second coming when senior safety Mike Bonzak picked off Comet QB Kameron Peck at the Monarch 11 and zig-zagged 89 yards the other way for a score.
Marysville missed the first PAT and went for two points on the second. That failed as MHS went into the second quarter with a 12-0 margin.
The Monarchs again drove deep in the second quarter, but the drive stalled inside the 10. Marysville settled for Thomas Wolfe’s 23-yard field goal to put the score at 15-0.
In the third quarter, the fourth-down conversion by Heard led to another Monarch score, as Kilgore blasted in from four yards out.
Wolfe’s PAT put the score at 22-0 with just under two minutes left in the quarter.
On the ensuing drive, the Comets quickly found success through the air and moved down the field with a 25-yard completion from Peck to Kameron Ink doing the most damage. That put the ball at the MHS 1.
From there, Pierre France went in for the lone Comet score with a second left in the third quarter. The snap was bad on the PAT, after leaving the score at 22-6.
The final frame was all Monarchs. Following Powers’ backup breakaway, Heard scored from three yards out.
On the next series, Eberhart hit on another counter from the MHS 11 for the 89-yard score. Wolfe hit both extra points.
Johnson said the lopsided victory, scattered with dynamic plays, will give his underclassmen some fuel as they prepare for the 2019 campaign.