FB 2A SEMI: #3 Monrovia drills #2 Paoli, 30-13

PLAINFIELD – The temperatures may have dipping into the mid-40s toward the end of the Class 2A southern semistate battle of unbeatens held Nov. 20 at Plainfield, but third-ranked host Monrovia turned that chill into firepower during its 30-13 thumping of No. 2 Paoli.

The Bulldogs (14-0) chewed up more than 10 minutes in an 18-play scoring drive to start the game, and the West Central Conference champions never lost control of their flamethrower in advancing to their first 2A state championship game to be played Nov. 27 at Lucas Oil Stadium against No. 13 Fort Wayne Luers.

Luers (9-5), which will be making its 12th appearance in the 2A state title game – the Saints are 7-4 when it counts most – was a 52-21 northern semistate winner Friday night over visiting fifth-ranked Rensselaer (11-3).

Monrovia’s decision to move the game 13 miles northeast to the new Plainfield High School due to poor field conditions at home was a stroke of genius as some 6,000 screaming fans showed up to pack both sides of the stadium. Meanwhile, it was the first game ever played on FieldTurf for Paoli (13-1), located 88 miles to the south in Orange County.

And the game featured more points that probably anybody in attendance thought possible. 

Monrovia, which upset top-ranked host Indianapolis Ritter last weekend 20-15, had given up only 63 points all season – an average of 4.8 points per game – and had seven shutouts. Paoli, coming off three straight postseason home wins over Providence, Brownstown, and Evansville Mater Dei, had surrendered only 77 points (5.9) and had six shutouts.

The Rams’ defense was no match for Monrovia on this night, however. The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff and proceeded to go 81 yards in 18 plays, with 6’2’ senior quarterback Tim Connor’s 15-yard run off the right side following a beautiful fake handoff making it 7-0 after senior Dean Reeves’ extra-point kick.

The long, cold wait to get on the field obviously had an impact on Paoli’s offense as the Rams fumbled the ball away on its second play. After no gain on a first-down run from the Paoli 27, senior QB Logan Laswell pitched right to running back Brian Wilson.

Connor came up from his defensive back position to stick the 5’11” sophomore, and the subsequent loose ball was recovered at the Rams’ 35 by junior safety Dalton Clements. Although the Paoli defense stiffened, Monrovia pushed its advantage to 10-0 on Reeves’ 32-yard field goal on the third play of the second quarter.

 

Things looked bleak again for the Rams when the kickoff rolled past senior Cody Baker and down to the 2, with Baker managing to return the ball to the Paoli 11. But the Rams sandwiched a 16-yard run by senior Tyler Dillard around Laswell passes of 28 yards to Wilson and 23 yards to senior Jacob Randolph, moving all the way to 1st and goal on the Monrovia 1.

Disaster nearly struck after a sweep left lost four yards when a QB sneak would have scored easily, but Laswell cashed in on the drive’s 14th play with an excellent scramble up the middle on 4th and goal from the 5. An offsides penalty moved the ball a yard closer to the goal line, but Paoli’s two-point pitch left attempt to Dillard was stuffed, leaving the score at 10-6 with just under five minutes to go before halftime.

Special teams would play a huge role in the remainder of the half, with Monrovia getting two huge plays en route to heading into the warm locker rooms with a 17-6 lead.