Monarch Gabe Powers (36) hauls in a 41-yard pass reception against Pickerington North on Friday. The Monarchs rolled to a 31-6 victory. (Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
With Pickerington North playing its first home game of the year in an early-season battle of unbeaten teams, Marysville football coach Brent Johnson knew the Panthers would be fueled by emotion at the opening kickoff.
“They’re a big momentum team,” he said.
Before the game, he drilled into his charges that they needed come out of the gate hot.
They listened.
Marysville opened the game with a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Cameron Jones.
Joseph Riggsby’s PAT gave the swarming Monarch defense all of the advantage it would need.
Despite offensive struggles in the first half, Marysville pounded Pickerington North 31-6 in a central Ohio statement game.
“The story of that game was our defense,” Johnson said.
Marysville’s defense held the Panthers, who went into the contest averaging more than 35 points per game, to just 160 total yards.
“They just keep rockin’ and rollin’,” Johnson said of his defense.
After Jones scored on the first play of the opening quarter, he followed by scoring on the first play of the second quarter as well, a 50-yard interception return for a score.
The Monarch senior’s big plays were needed as the MHS offense seemed stuck in neutral.
For the second game in a row, Marysville’s young offensive line found itself learning on the fly as the Panthers stunted and slanted on the defensive front. The result was the backside linebacker running mostly free and blowing up play after play.
Initially uncertain of exactly what the guys across the line would be doing, Johnson said the Monarch line was tentative, trying to figure things out at the snap, rather than exploding off the ball.
“They had us kind of stymied,” he said.
Johnson said the Panthers also slanted hard toward Marysville’s motion, so MHS scrapped that in the second half and went with a more straightforward game plan.
The result was the offense coming alive for 17 points on three separate scoring marches.
“In the second half we finally played complimentary football,” Johnson said of the offense matching the defense’s intensity.
Jones’ score 10 seconds into the game seemed to rock the Panther offense as it made a series of miscues in the opening half.
After going three-and-out on its opening series, the Panther punter dropped to a knee to field a low snap, giving Marysville the ball at the North 15.
MHS failed to put points on the board, however, as a bad hold on Riggsby’s short field goal try resulted in him kicking the ball into his own linemen.
North fumbled the ball back to Marysville near midfield on the next series.
However, the Monarchs returned the favor as an incomplete pass was ruled a lateral, giving the Panthers the ball back with just under five minutes left in the first quarter.
Scoreless, but error-free, football continued until the start of the second quarter when both of those facts changed.
Jones stepped in front of a pass from Panther QB Landon O’Connell along the Monarch sideline.
He returned it for the second MHS score. Riggsby’s point pushed Marysville up, 14-0.
Both teams struggled offensively for the rest of the half, with Marysville showing some signs of life on the final drive when junior quarterback Brady Seger saw his first action of the game.
He quickly completed a nine-yard pass to Jeremiah McNeil and led the team to a couple of first downs before the march stalled.
The Monarchs settled for a 14-0 lead at the intermission.
Senior quarterback Ethan Musel guided the Monarchs into the red zone on their first series of the second half.
However, they were forced to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Riggsby that made the score 17-0 with 5:34 left in the third.
Seger got the nod for the second Monarch series of the second half. He wasted no time hooking up with Gabe Powers for a 41-yard completion that put the ball at the North 11.
Colton Powers capped the drive with an eight-yard run up the gut. Riggsby’s PAT made the score 24-0 with 2:48 left in the third period.
Panther Cayden Christopher ripped off a 58-yard return on the ensuing kickoff to put the ball in Monarch territory.
The Panthers could muster little offense and faced fourth-and-three at the MHS 30. Not only did Pickerington go for the first down, but went for it all.
O’Connell dropped back to pass and caught the Monarch defense napping. He dropped a 30-yard touchdown pass over the top to Eli Coppess.
The two-point try failed, putting the score at 24-6 with 32 seconds remaining until the fourth quarter.
Marysville’s final scoring drive ate almost five minutes of the fourth quarter clock. It was capped by McNeil’s two-yard run. Riggsby’s extra point closed out the scoring at 31-6.
The Monarchs rushed for 163 yards, with no one player dominating the stat sheet. McNeil had 59 yards on 15 carries, Griffin Johnson had 40 yards on nine totes and Colton Powers added 33 yards on five carries.
Segar completed three-of-four passes for 61 yards.
The two teams combined for five fumbles, with Marysville committing three.
The 2-0 Monarchs will travel to 2-1 Hilliard Bradley on Friday.