MONROE — It may have taken Zach Zimmerman, Isaiah Cole, JJ Jerome and company a quarter to shake off the rust, but once the Monroe High School football team’s high-powered offense got into gear in its season opener, it emphatically showed just why the Bearcats are considered the team to beat in Wesco 4A.
After a sluggish start, Monroe erupted for 41 points in a span of less than 11 first-half minutes as the Bearcats routed the Meadowdale Mavericks 55-9 Friday night in a non-league game at Monroe High School.
“We came out flat as heck, it was rough there for a second,” Monroe coach Michael Bumpus said. “But this is a resilient group, they stick together, they figured it out, and once we get rolling, we’re a tough team. I’m just glad we finally figured it out, but there’s definitely a lot of things to work on.”
Monroe (1-0) made mistakes early, turning the ball over twice deep in Meadowdale territory in the first quarter, and the Bearcats trailed 3-0 in the final minute of the period. But beginning with Cole’s 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Bearcats put on an explosive display worthy of a top contender in midseason form.
Zimmerman, Monroe’s star senior quarterback, had his long-range radar working Friday. He finished the game 12-for-15 for 280 yards, and all four of his touchdown passes went for 39 yards or more.
Zimmerman had plenty of help. Cole, in addition to his kickoff return, caught four passes for 112 yards and two long touchdowns, and also returned a punt for a TD. And when the Bearcats decided to keep the ball on the ground, Jerome overpowered the Meadowdale defense by rushing for 137 yards on 11 carries, finding the end zone twice himself (once on a screen pass).
Monroe’s first-team offense did all its damage — 458 yards of total offense — in the first half as it didn’t step foot on the field in the second half.
“Man, we run a spread offense, but we’re balanced with JJ in the back,” said Cole, who confidently stated the team’s goal as winning a state championship. “As soon as they start stacking the box against JJ, it opens things up for all our receivers, and we can go.”
Meadowdale (0-1), was led by quarterback Drew Tingstad, who was 6-for-16 for 212 yards. However, the Mavericks’ ground game was stifled by the Monroe defense, and it was hindered when starting running back Kela Marshall limped off the field injured in the first quarter and did not return.
Monroe was in ascendancy early in the game, but turned the ball over twice when deep in Mavericks territory. After the second of those turnovers Tingstad’s 83-yard completion to Haelin Roberts set up Will Schafer’s 31-yard field goal that gave Meadowdale a 3-0 lead.
But Monroe wasted no time regaining control. On the ensuing kickoff Cole found a hole straight up the middle and raced 93 yards for a touchdown to give the Bearcats a 7-3 lead.
That began a string of six straight possessions in which Monroe found the end zone, with none of those possessions requiring more than six plays. Jerome took a screen pass 39 yards to make it 14-3. Then after the Mavericks scored on Tingstad’s 1-yard plunge, Jerome stepped his way out of tackles for a 29-yard TD run.
Then Zimmerman went to work. His pump fake allowed Jason Cyr to get open down the right sideline for a 59-yard touchdown. He followed by hitting Cole on a quick slant up the middle that Cole broke for a 50-yard score. The explosion was concluded when Zimmerman found Cole wide open down field for a 48-yard score. It took a total of just 10:32 for the Bearcats to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 41-9 lead.
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