OAK HARBOR – All week long, Dave Ward worried.
His Oak Harbor Wildcats had to face a much-improved Monroe High School football team. Ward saw Monroe up close during a summer camp, and he recently analyzed video of the rising Bearcats. One thing was clear: This wasn’t the Monroe team that lost its last three games against Ward’s squads by a combined score of 142-42.
Ward’s fears proved valid, but Oak Harbor wielded a potent, balanced offense and short-circuited Monroe’s running attack to pull off a 35-20 victory Friday night in a Western Conference North Division game at Memorial Stadium.
Quarterback Marshall Lobbestael (145 passing yards and two touchdowns), running back Gabe Vest (11 carries for 106 yards and two TDs) and receiver/back Cameron Kays (149 total yards, including a 54-yard TD catch) fueled Oak Harbor, which improved its record to 3-0 in league and 4-0 overall. The Wildcats kept pace with Arlington (4-0, 4-0), but a determined Monroe team made things interesting by scoring 20 second-half points.
“They’re going to win a lot of games. They’ve got a good team,” Oak Harbor’s Ward said of Monroe, which dropped to 2-2. “I was nervous all week. I’m impressed that they act like they belong and they know they can go out and make plays.”
Monroe running back Jeff Donaldson had a game-high 20 rushes for 64 yards and one TD. The Bearcats managed just 71 first-half yards and fell behind 21-0 early in the third quarter after Lobbestael threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Brian Wandell.
But Monroe hung tough and turned two Oak Harbor turnovers into TDs to claw within 28-14 with 7:33 remaining in the fourth quarter. Following Vest’s tackle-shedding 33-yard scoring run that essentially clinched it for Oak Harbor with 4:06 to play, Monroe still battled. The Bearcats found the end zone one more time when quarterback Jake Morgan (55 passing yards) zipped a 12-yard TD pass to receiver Luke Pullen.
After the final whistle, Monroe coach Steve Hannan seemed perplexed by his team’s overall performance, but he appreciated the Bearcats’ persistence.
“You could have stopped playing,” Hannan told his players during a post-game huddle. “(But) this team kept playing, and I’m proud of you.”
One key for Oak Harbor was shutting down Donaldson, Monroe’s leading rusher, who had 520 yards and eight TDs in his first three games. To stop Donaldson, Ward switched Oak Harbor senior Sean O’Brien from linebacker to tackle. O’Brien, who also rushed for 62 yards and a score, thrived in his new defensive role, disrupting several Monroe running attempts before the ball carrier had a chance to get going.
“He’s so quick,” Ward said of O’Brien, “that it’s hard to get him blocked.”
The Wildcats gave Donaldson, who had nine carries for 24 yards in the first half, major attention right from the start.
“We actually had four guys watching Donaldson every play,” Ward said. “We knew we had to slow him down.”
On the other hand, Monroe never did bottle up Oak Harbor’s potent offense.
“I never felt like we really slowed (the Wildcats) down,” Hannan said, “and it kind of surprised me that they were more physical. … That’s a good football team. They’re gonna go a ways.”
At Oak Harbor
Monroe00713-20
Oak Harbor77147-35
Oak Harbor-O’Brien 2 run (Lokkins kick)
Oak Harbor-Vest 5 run (Lokkins kick)
Oak Harbor-Wandell 12 pass from Lobbestael (Lokkins kick)
Monroe-McPeters 6 run (Crise kick)
Oak Harbor-Kays 54 pass from Lobbestael (Lokkins kick)
Monroe-Donaldson 4 run (Crise kick)
Oak Harbor-Vest 33 run (Poggie kick)
Monroe-Pullen 12 pass from Morgan (kick failed)
Records-Monroe 2-2 in division and overall. Oak Harbor 3-0, 4-0.
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