‘It’s an expectation to win’: Monroe football ready to rule Wesco again

The Monroe High School football team is known as “The Orange and the Black.” The Bearcats wear black helmets with an orange “M” and orange jerseys with black numbers when they welcome opponents, or prey, to their home turf that overlooks Highway 522 and has Snohomish County as a scenic backdrop.

It’s a culture and ambiance that Carl Watson III, Aaron Clifton, Logan Manson and 25 other seniors have been accustomed to during the past four years.

Watson, Clifton and Manson were freshmen in 2021 when the Bearcats were Wesco 3A South and Wesco 3A Conference champions, they were sophomores in 2022 when the Bearcats repeated as Wesco 3A South champions and they were juniors in 2023 when the Bearcats won Wesco 3A South for the third-consecutive year.

Now in their last season suiting up in orange and black, there’s a few more tasks to be checked off for the senior trio and members of the Bearcats’ squad: win Wesco 3A South, the Wesco 3A Conference and bring home a state trophy.

But that’s not everything that coach Scott Darrow, who’s in his fifth year as head coach and who spent 15 years prior as an assistant commanding the offensive line, wants to see from his players.

“We’re just trying to … treat each week like it’s championship week and have that approach, just one game at a time, and all the other stuff will work itself out,” Darrow said. “I don’t feel the pressure of chasing a fourth title, we’re just trying to do the best we can every day.”

Since getting on with Monroe in 2005, Darrow has witnessed changes in the program. He saw firsthand the disappointing stretch between 2005-10 when Monroe football maintained a below-.500 winning percentage and tallied 17 wins and 43 losses; the Bearcats registered zero wins n 2007.

Darrow also has been a part of historic achievements. In 2011, the Bearcats made their first district-tournament appearance since 1992. From 2011-15, Monroe couldn’t get a win in the district qualifying playoff rounds, but in 2016, the Bearcats not only won their qualifying game against Auburn Riverside 48-28, they also earned their first state berth since 1991. Monroe made a return trip to state in 2017 after topping Mount Si 44-40 in districts and continued being a regular in the postseason in 2018 and 2019. That was all done as a 4A program.

When the COVID-19 pandemic moved the 2020 season to spring 2021, which was when Monroe was reclassified from a 4A program to a 3A program, that still didn’t halt the Bearcats’ momentum as they displayed another three seasons of postseason success.

But it hasn’t been an easy ride by any means the past few years. After securing the Wesco 3A South title last year and having a chance to declare Wesco 3A Conference bragging rights, the crossover game against Arlington didn’t go as planned as Monroe concluded the night with a 45-18 loss.

“We played some (average-level) competition in season, and then (went) to the Wesco crossover game and play(ed) Arlington, and then we (didn’t) know what to do,” said Clifton, who plays wide receiver and safety.

Watson, a running back and linebacker, said, “We all broke down. We all got down on ourselves by halftime. … We all lost character. And I’d say going out of the half, we mostly panicked.”

Monroe progressed to districts and topped Bonney Lake 41-24 to clinch its second-straight state berth. Bellevue, which went on to claim the 2023 state trophy, ousted the Bearcats in the first round 49-7. A year prior at state, Monroe lost to Lincoln (Tacoma) 49-16 also in the first round, which was a team that Bellevue then beat in the quarterfinals.

Having progressed to districts and state the past two seasons, the postseason losses have created some reflection, and the Bearcats believe this could be the year the results go their way.

“We got to be smart this year. We can’t be dumb,” said Manson, who plays quarterback. “We got to stay cool-headed during the games. We can’t get angry at each other. … We just got to move on, next play, shake it off. We can’t keep that in our minds and get angry and then make even more mistakes.

“We also need to lock in weeks prior instead of waiting until that game week to lock in for Arlington. We need to be prepared before that. We can’t just think that we’re on top of the world coming into that,” Manson continued. “We thought we were too good and nothing could stop us, and it just kind of got the best of us. And then we figured out as we stepped into the game, ‘These guys are no joke.’”

Monroe graduated 2023 All-Wesco first-team quarterback Blake Springer, first-team wide receiver Ryan Miller, first-team tight end Iseah Canizales, first-team offensive lineman Boyde Aney, first-team linebackers Palepoi Notoa Jr. and Nicholas Mouser, second-team running back Gavin Ranz and second-team defensive back Deegan Chapman but returns first-team wide receiver and kick returner senior Mason Davis, first-team offensive lineman senior Elias Nugent, first-team defensive linemen seniors Brennan Sheppard and Ireland Guthrie and second-team linebacker senior Carl Watson III.

There are 28 seniors on the roster for the upcoming 2024-25 season, nearly 10 more than in 2023. What’s helped make Bearcats football successful the past few years is the large turnout of players and their dedication to setting the expectation not just for each other but also for the area.

“We always tell our kids, ‘We’re not really playing Bellevue or Ferndale or whoever, we’re playing ourselves. We’re playing that man in the mirror,’” Darrow said. “That’s kind of our approach. We’re just trying to be the best Monroe football team we can be, and I just think the team we’re playing, those guys are irrelevant. We’re just trying to play ourselves.

“We want to be the standard. … We want to be that team that everybody else is kind of looking at. If we expect success, we got to do the little things the right way,” Darrow continued. “We don’t hope we win. It’s an expectation to win.”