Shorewood’s 2009 season didn’t get off to the start head coach Andrew Hershey might have hoped for.
His Shorewood squad gave up the first 50 points to Monroe in a 50-6 defeat on Sept. 4.
Monroe racked up 285 yards rushing and scored five touchdowns with the ground attack. The Bearcats also added a two passing touchdowns and a punt returned for a touchdown in the victory.
Tyler Layson led the Monroe attack carrying the ball six times for 130 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Layson also added a receiving touchdown.
“Monroe took advantage of our weaknesses,” Hershey said.
“I think right now we need the most work on defense,” he added.
Shorewood will try to focus more on slowing the opposition’s running game.
“Understanding how individual positions fit into our defensive scheme is going to be a big part of that,” Hershey said.
Another problem for the Thunderbirds last weekend is one that isn’t going away any time soon: they are young, and there aren’t many of them.
“We’re just a really young squad,” Hershey said. “We had 22 kids in pads, 16 of which had never played at the varsity level.”
Monroe used that to build a big lead.
“Our kids were kind of shell-shocked when it started, but they finished strong,” Hershey said.
Even though the game had long since been decided Hershey said his team controlled the ball for much of the second half putting together two impressive drives offensively.
“The thing that I was most encouraged with was the play of our quarterback Dempsey Brown,” Hershey said. “He really emerged as one of the leaders of our team.”
According to Hershey, Brown had some key runs when the team needed it and though his numbers weren’t spectacular, he did not turn the ball over.
“He really emerged as one of the leaders of our team,” Hershey said.
Things don’t get easier for Shorewood; they face Jackson this Friday at 5 p.m. at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Hershey said Jackson is a team that can attack through the air and on the ground, but he remains confident his team will continue to improve.
“I absolutely expect us to take a step forward on Friday night,” Hershey said.
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