By JON WEBB
BARDSTOWN — John Petett was a little concerned.
With just more than six minutes to play in the first half, the Monroe County coach saw his team embroiled in a 14-14 tie with Bardstown. His defense was “sluggish” early and had just given up a 68-yard touchdown run to Bardstown’s Ricky Harper. The offense was playing at a high-level, but Monroe just wasn’t able to pull away.
“You’re always concerned (in those situations),” Petett said. “But we knew if we could get jump-started, we could get our offense going.”
At the 5:58 mark of the second quarter, they found a pair of jumper cables.
Wide receiver Neil Wilson broke a 55-yard run out the wildcat formation to score one of five Monroe second-quarter touchdowns that helped bury Bardstown Friday night and lead to a 49-14 Falcon win in the second round of the 2A playoffs.
A Chad Wilson fumble recovery during a Bardstown kickoff return on the Tiger’s next possession and the ensuing Tanner Kendall score allowed Monroe to finally pull away and ensure a trip to the regional championship game next week.
“Things just went our way (in the second quarter),” Petett said. “And when we got the fumble recovery off the kick off, that kind of took the wind out of (the Tigers’) sails.”
Monroe’s ground game had plenty of wind in its sails Friday night. Neil Wilson amassed 108 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone to finish with 132 yards, while Kendall added 118 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
It was Dillion Vickery that put Monroe on the board first, though.
The junior tailback scored on a two-yard run with 6:31 remaining in the first to give the Falcons an early 7-0 advantage. Bardstown would answer on its next drive, but Vickery helped Monroe retake the lead with a nine-yard score with 8:29 to play in the second quarter.
And then the Falcons’ offense took off.
Monroe rattled off 28 points in less than six minutes to close out the first half.
Neil Wilson’s 55-yard sprint up the sideline set off the rally, and was followed by an 11-yard Kendall run set up by Chad Wilson’s fumble recovery.
After Bardstown punted on its next possession, Monroe quarterback Jackson Arnett took advantage of a Tiger defense playing for the run by tossing a 33-yard play action pass to Neil Wilson to stretch the lead to 35-14.
Another Chad Wilson fumble recovery ended in a touchdown when the freshman scooped up the byproduct of a botched Bardstown punt and took the ball 22 yards for the score.
The Falcons went into the locker room with a 42-14 advantage. A two-yard run from tailback Colby Hamilton served as the game’s last touchdown, and set the score at 49-14.
Despite starting off “sluggish,” Monroe’s defense came alive in the game’s final thirty minutes, forcing three fumbles in all. Senior Jake Proctor consistently found ways into Bardstown’s backfield and recorded a sack for a four-yard loss in the second quarter.
“We dominated on both sides of the line tonight,” Petett said. “Our size eventually took over.”
The win advances Monroe to its second-consecutive regional championship game: a feat Petett said no other Monroe squad has ever accomplished.
And, to keep with the “consecutive” theme, the Falcons will face Green County for the second year in a row. Monroe defeated Green 14-13 in last year’s matchup, but fell to the Dragons 21-14 when the teams met earlier in this year’s regular season.
“It’s the same thing as last year, but we’re flipping sites,” Petett said. “I think it will be one of the best regional championships in 2A.”
