Monroe football gets Moore with win over MP

Published 10:58 pm Friday, October 21, 2011

MONROE — Friday night was senior night at Monroe High School and it was a senior running back for the Bearcats who stepped up and led his team to a 34-17 Wesco North victory over Marysville Pilchuck.

Aside from Jordan Moore’s 80-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, he didn’t do much that was flashy, but it was his ground-and-pound running that seemed to wear down the Tomahawks. Moore helped the Bearcats stay alive for a playoff berth in the Wesco North, while eliminating the Tomahawks from playoff contention.

“He’s such a workhorse,” Monroe coach Dick Abrams said. “He gets you those 2 or 3 yards when you need them. And that’s what’s really impressive about him. He’s always pumping for that extra yardage when we need it.”

Moore rushed for 177 yards on 30 carries and two touchdowns. His younger brother, Gabe, had eight rushes for 61 yards and a touchdown.

“Coach said a few weeks ago ‘we do not want to wilt,'” Moore said. “We do not want to wilt into what everybody else expects of Monroe. We want to be a better team. And we are always a second-half team so I guess it proves true.”

Thanks to Monroe’s victory and Snohomish’s victory over Arlington on Friday night, the Bearcats, Panthers and Eagles are all tied at 3-2 in league and will compete in a Kansas tiebreaker today at 1 p.m. at Monroe High School. Snohomish will first face Arlington, with the winner moving on to face Monroe. The winner of the second tiebreaker will be the No.2 seed in the Wesco North. If the winner is Monroe then the playoff is over with the loser of the second game taking the No. 3 seed. If Monroe loses the second tiebreaker then there would be a third tiebreaker between Monroe and the loser of the first tiebreaker for the No. 3 seed.

In a Kansas tiebreaker each team starts with the ball on the opponent’s 25-yard-line and the teams continue playing until one team scores more than the other.

It is certainly a quick turn-around for all the teams involved in today’s tiebreaker.

“Yeah it is, but it’s that way for everybody,” Abrams said. “If you put it back on Monday or Tuesday than you are in bad shape going into the next round when you have to play the southern division team.”

Despite hitting the field again in less than 16 hours, Moore seemed ready for today’s tiebreaker.

“I’m excited,” Moore said after the game. “We have been practicing waiting for this and we knew we were winning this game. And we are coming tomorrow, we’re excited.”

After losses to Arlington and Lake Stevens coming into Friday night’s game, Abrams said that finishing second in Wesco North wasn’t really on his radar.

“Honestly, no,” Abrams said. “Having a shot at number two in the North is a great thing. When you think about it, we have as much right to be there as anybody. We have played some tough games and the kids have played hard. We just got to keep it going.”

The Bearcats were on the brink of a playoff appearance last year, but fell short. Friday’s win gave the Bearcats something they haven’t had in a while — a taste of playoff football.

“I think it’s a real big win for our program,” Abrams said. “We had a shot last year to do something like this and we didn’t make it happen. So the kids made it happen this year. So it’s really a shot in the arm for the program.”

The Bearcats went ahead early on Moore’s long touchdown run, but a 63-yard touchdown run by Pilchuck’s Colby Merkt tied the score at 7-7 early in the second quarter.

With less than a minute remaining in the first half, the Bearcats regained control when quarterback Hunter Bingham found tight end Dylan Judson for a 5-yard touchdown reception. The Tomahawks, however, were able to race down the field thanks to two 15-yard penalties called on the Bearcats and add a 38-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

But the second half belonged to Monroe. The Bearcats ate up nearly half of the third quarter as Moore capped off a 90-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run that the Tomahawks never appeared to recover from.

Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Read his live blogs at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/prepzone, contact him at aaronlommers@gmail.com and follow him on twitter @aaronlommers.

At Monroe H.S.

Marysville Pilchuck 0 10 0 7 — 17

Monroe 7 7 7 13 — 34

Monroe–J. Moore 80 run (Felder kick)

Marysville Pilchuck–Merkt 63 run (Naff kick)

Monroe–Judson 5 pass from Bingham (Felder kick)

Marysville Pilchuck–FG Naff 38

Monroe–J. Moore 5 run (Felder kick)

Monroe–Mulholland 11 pass from Bingham (kick blocked)

Marysville Pilchuck–Joyner 22 run (Naff kick)

Monroe–G. Moore 10 run (Felder kick)

Records–Marysville Pilchuck 1-4 league, 3-5 overall; Monroe 3-2, 5-3