Monroe loses to Skyline in first playoff game in 19 years

SAMMAMISH — Whenever the Monroe Bearcats football team needed something to go right, it seemed something would go wrong.

The Bearcats lost a 59-21 decision to the Skyline Spartans on Friday night in a 4A quad-district playoff game.

Despite what seemed to be a lopsided score for much of the first half, the Bearcats were still very much in the game. But every time the Bearcats needed a stop, Skyline would score. When the Bearcats needed a big play, they would commit a turnover. No one on the Monroe football team was alive the last time the Bearcats made the playoffs in 1992 and the inexperience on the big stage was evident.

“Really we haven’t played a team like this,” Monroe coach Dick Abrams said. “What I told the kids at halftime was, ‘You have to play hard on every play. You can’t take a play off.’ In our league, we just didn’t compete against teams like this. Lake (Stevens) is similar in offense and things like that, but these guys are very good at what they do in every phase of the game. So you can’t let up and you can’t make a mistake and we made a lot of mistakes tonight.”

The writing might have been on the wall from the opening kickoff, when Skyline’s Chase Premone returned the game’s opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead after the extra point.

“It’s just another play for our guys, for this group of guys,” Abrams said. “I don’t know what it has been like for the last 19 years, but for these guys, because we have had that, we have faced adversity where we have been down by three touchdowns before, but we just hang in there.”

The Spartans added a field goal to take a 10-0 lead after one quarter.

Monroe responded in the second quarter with an 80-yard drive that ended in a touchdown and it looked as though the Bearcats were going to make the game competitive. Bearcats quarterback Hunter Bingham scored the touchdown on a keeper from 1 yard out.

But the theme of the night was Skyline responding to every move the Bearcats made with a move or two of their own.

The Spartans answered Monroe’s first touchdown with three of their own to take a 31-7 lead.

Despite the lopsided score, Monroe seemed to have life and was in desperate need of a score before halftime to stay in the game. As he has for much of the season, Jordan Moore provided that big play, scoring on a 69-yard touchdown run.

“We break that one run there to make it 31 to 14 and we felt like we were right back in it,” Abrams said.

Moore finished the game with 171 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns.

But the Spartans delivered another crushing blow before halftime when quarterback Max Browne found Nic Sblendorio for a 53-yard touchdown reception with less than a half minute remaining in the half. The Spartans took a 38-14 lead into the locker room.

Browne finished the game 17-for-25 for 263 yards and five touchdowns. Sblendorio caught five passes for 123 yards and three scores.

As the third quarter began, it looked as though the Bearcats had regrouped, marching down the field and scoring on a Jake Dimaggio run from 6 yards out. After the extra point, Monroe trailed just 38-21.

It was the final points the Bearcats would score.

Skyline added three more touchdowns before the end of the third quarter to make up the game’s final margin.

“We just couldn’t do the things right at the right time,” Abrams said. “That’s what you need to do. We had done it in some games in the past, but these guys take advantage of any mistake you make.”

Despite the loss, Abrams seemed happy about where the program is headed.

“I’m very proud,” Abrams said. “All the stuff that they have accomplished, all the hard work, it’s too bad that it had to end this way and I’m sure we all feel that way, but I told them they should be very proud of themselves. I think they changed the attitude around our school. It’s a different attitude around there about football now.”

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

At Skyline H.S.

Monroe 0 14 7 0 — 21

Skyline 10 28 21 0 — 59

S—Premone 94 kickoff return (McDonald kick)

S—FG 29 McDonald

M—Bingham 1 run (Felder kick)

S—Sblendorio 6 pass from Browne (McDonald kick)

S—Greene 15 run (McDonald kick)

S—Krueger 7 pass from Browne (McDonald kick)

M—J. Moore 69 run (Felder kick)

S—Sblendorio 53 pass from Browne (McDonald kick)

M—Dimaggio 6 run (Felder kick)