Monroe to face defending 2A champion in state semifinal

Sports

Discussion

November 25, 2009

By JON WEBB The Glasgow Daily Times Wed Nov 25, 2009, 08:53 AM CST

It’s just another football game.

At least that’s how Monroe coach John Petett considers his Falcons’ Friday night, state-semifinal rematch with Fort Campbell. The defending 2A state champions eliminated Monroe from postseason play one game away from the state title game last season.

Forget that Fort Campbell has outscored its opponents by an average of 43 points per game this year. Forget the 13-0 record.

Petett just plans to stick to his team’s strengths.

“We’re going to do exactly what we’ve done the last two or three playoff games,” he said. “We feel like we’ve got some good athletes, and we’ll see if we can get a few blocks.”

Fort Campbell has its own share of good athletes.

Two Fort Campbell players — quarterback Antonio Andrews and tailback Troy Turner - have both rushed for more than 1,00 yards and 20 touchdowns this season. Andrews has also thrown for 1,520 yards and 26 touchdowns, many of which went to receiver Tre Powell, who has garnered 742 yards and 17 touchdowns in the passing game.

“In my book, (Andrews) is one of the best players in the state of Kentucky and a Mr. Football candidate,” Petett said. “I saw him last year. I can sum it up this way: he’s just a phenomenal athlete.”

Andrews leads the highest scoring offense in class 2A. Campbell has posted 668 points on the year, an average of more than 51 per game.

All of this could spell doom for a struggling team. Luckily for the Falcons, they’re playing their best football right now.

Petett said his team is still improving even this late in the season, and described its play over the last five or six weeks as “spectacular.”

Neil Wilson was nothing short of it against Green County Friday, rushing for 169 yards and three scores out of the Wildcat formation. Wilson also returned an attempted Dragon onside kick for a touchdown and intercepted a pass late in the first half.

Wilson’s efforts helped secure Monroe’s third straight win in a postseason that’s seen the Falcons outscore their opponents 130-35.

The easy win was in stark contrast to Fort Campbell’s near-scare at the hands of formerly undefeated Murray. Campbell escaped, winning 28-21.

Petett said Murray stuck to the ground game to wear down Campbell’s defense and keep its much-lauded offense off the field.

“They controlled the clock and did what they do well,” Petett said. “They power ran it and eventually broke one. And Fort Campbell turned it over a few times.”

Offensively, Monroe will do what they do well. On the defensive side, they will do what they should do well.

Petett said his defense has stuck to the fundamentals in practice this week.

“We have to line up correctly in every formation (Campbell) has,” Petett said. “We just have to play sound, alignment assignment football.

“If we don’t, they’re going to burn us.”

The Falcons will hope to avoid a repeat of last year’s state semifinals, when Andrews and Turner combined for 250 yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Stopping such a repeat would give Monroe its second milestone in as many weeks. The school had never won back to back regional titles. And now it hopes to advance to its first state championship game.

But before all that, there will be breakfast.

Monroe will host a community breakfast at the high school at 9 a.m. Thanksgiving morning. After the meal, the players will hold an open practice, listen to a guest speaker and return home by noon to spend 24 hours with their families.

And then, Fort Campbell will come calling.

But, after all, Monroe’s heard that call before.

“The best thing for us is we saw Fort Campbell last year, so we’re familiar with them,” Petett said. “Our kids really feel like it’s just another football game.”

Text Only

Sports

Scotties top Trojans, earn No. 1 seed in tournament
Hunter Bowles scored 23 points Saturday night to lead the Glasgow Scotties to a 66-54 victory over Barren County in boys' District 15 basketball action. The victory give the Scotties the No. 1 seed for the district tournament beginning Monday, Feb. 20, at Allen County Scottsville High School.
For a complete recap of the game, check out Monday's issue of the Glasgow Daily Times.

February 11, 2012
Scotties do their job, take down Caverna
HORSE CAVE – It would have been very easy for the Glasgow Scotties to have had their minds on something else Friday night when they traveled to play at Caverna. After all, Glasgow is having a pretty good season and the Scotties are preparing for a big battle with District 15 rival Barren County on Saturday night. And the game has added importance as the winner gets the No. 1 seed in the district tournament.

February 11, 2012
Barren boys, girls win

Barren County had a solid win over the Cumberland County Panthers Friday night, 70-43.

February 11, 2012
Glasgow girls roll over Caverna
HORSE CAVE – After fending off a furious Caverna rally in the final minutes of the second quarter Friday night, the Glasgow Lady Scotties bumped up the defense in the second half and held the Lady Colonels to only three points in the third period and cruised away with a 59-41 victory.

February 11, 2012
One last chance
As Lora Garrett prepares the Glasgow High School swim team for this weekend’s Kentucky High School Athletic Association Region 1 Swimming and Diving Championships in Owensboro, she sees a lot of positives for her team. Meghan Taylor is swimming well in the freestyle and Grayson Reynolds is swimming well, as are a couple of the Lady Scottie relay teams.

February 10, 2012
Focused
Steve Metzger, the head swim coach at Barren County High School, is pretty excited about where his team is right now as the Trojans and the Trojanettes prepare for the regional championships this weekend.

February 10, 2012
Underdog role
Luke Pniewski, the head wrestling coach at Barren County High School, knows his team will be the underdog this weekend at the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Region 2 Wrestling Championships in Danville.

February 10, 2012
Swindle signs to play golf at Lindsey Wilson
Only three years after she picked up a golf club for the first time, Glasgow High School senior Courtney Swindle signed her letter of intent to play golf for Lindsey Wilson College.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Caverna girls lose close match, 58-50
The Caverna Lady Colonels lost a hard-fought battle Tuesday night to John Hardin High School out of Elizabethtown. Caverna lost, 58-50.

February 9, 2012
Cummings leads Trojanettes over Russell County
A coach, in any sport, prays for the night when everything comes together for his or her team. In basketball, coaches want their teams to play good defense, rebound and shoot the ball well. When a team can do those three things, and do them well, they’re hard to beat.

February 8, 2012
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Monroe to face defending 2A champion in state semifinal

Site Map