MONROE – There’s no denying the orange and black attack is back. Yet, more work remains to be done.
Led by workhorse running back J.P. Oliver, the Cascade Bruins defeated Monroe
24-14 in a Western Conference North Division contest Friday night, the first-ever football game played in the Bearcats’ sparkling new stadium.
Oliver bolted 52 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter to hush the standing room only crowd and help Cascade improve to 3-1 in the division and 4-1 overall. Monroe dipped to 2-3 in the division and overall.
“I just found myself a seam and hit it,” Oliver said. “We came out here fired up and I’m just happy for our team.”
“Monroe’s a really, really hard-hitting football team … we feel good to get out of here with a win,” Cascade coach Jake Huizinga said as he stood at midfield afterwards. “The community should be very proud of what they’ve done here.”
Though disappointed, Monroe coach Steve Hannan acknowledged the fans who have come back to support the Monroe program in a big way.
“You just can’t say enough about the support we have received,” Hannan said.
“I just wish we could have won this game for them.”
Oliver ground out 147 yards on 29 carries and the Bruins took advantage of three Monroe turnovers, including two in the opening six minutes that led to a 14-0 Cascade lead.
Monroe fumbled the opening kickoff and Cascade’s Joe Eskew recovered at the Bearcat 32-yard line. Eight plays later Travis Warren scored from 4 yards out.
On its next possession, Monroe marched to the Bruin 20-yard line before another turnover led to a 12-play, 80-yard Cascade scoring drive capped by Dirk Snel’s 27-yard TD pass to Harinder Singh.
After fumbling themselves into an early hole, the Bearcats commenced battling back early in the second quarter.
Monroe forced a Cascade punt and took possession at its own 20-yard line.
On first down, Jeff Donaldson (21 carries, 176 yards) broke free on the right side, shed a pair of would-be tacklers near midfield and dashed into the end zone with an 80-yard TD run to bring the Bearcats within a touchdown with 8:43 remaining in the half.
On Cascade’s next possession, the Bruins advanced to midfield before Jimmy Santjer’s leaping over-the-shoulder interception gave Monroe the ball back at its own 26-yard line.
The Bearcats converted two third downs before John Crise caught a 13-yard TD pass from quarterback Jake Morgan (4-for-7, 32 yards) to knot the score at 14-14 in the waning seconds of the first half.
“We shot ourselves in the foot to start the game,” Hannan said. “But the kids battled and came into the half sky-high.”
Snel (6-for-10, 69 yards, TD pass) put the Bearcats away with his 32-yard field goal with 49 seconds remaining.
At Monroe High School Stadium
Cascade14073-24
Monroe01400-14
Cascade-Eskew 4 run (Snel kick)
Cascade-Singh 21 pass from Snel (Snel kick)
Monroe-Donaldson 80 run (Crise kick)
Monroe-Crise 13 pass from Morgan (Crise kick)
Cascade-Oliver 52 run (Snel kick)
Cascade-FG Snel 32
Records-Cascade 3-1 in division, 4-1 overall. Monroe 2-3, 2-3.
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