MONROE — The Washington Blue Lions completed the non-league portion of the 2024 season when they made the trip over on the other side of I-75 in Butler County to take on the Monroe Hornets Friday, Sept. 20.
It can be looked upon as a moral victory.
The Blue Lion certainly took a few steps in the right direction before falling to the Division II team, 24-7.
Washington is now 0-5 and Monroe improves to 4-1.
The Blue Lions came into the game allowing an average of 54 points per game in its first four games of the season, while scoring an average of 12 points per game.
Monroe hit its average of 24 points per game in its first four contests, while allowing an average of 14 points per game coming into Friday night’s game with the Blue Lions.
A scoreless first quarter saw the two teams each turn the ball over, including a fumble recovery by Washington senior Kaden Craft.
Monroe scored first with 11:17 remaining in the second quarter.
After the extra-point kick, it was 7-0 in favor of the Hornets.
The Blue Lions responded with a pass from senior Gavin Coffman to sophomore Aden Osborne, who out-ran the Monroe defender down the visitor’s side of the field for a 54-yard touchdown with 8:43 to play in the second quarter.
Sophomore Caiden Justice converted the extra-point kick to tie the game, 7-7.
Later in the second quarter, junior Tharon McCracken had an interception for the Blue Lions.
Washington was driving and moved the ball down to the Monroe 2-yard line with the clock winding down and the Blue Lions out of time outs.
The game was tied, 7-7 at the half.
With 10:07 to play in the third quarter, the Hornets scored on a 6-yard run.
The point-after kick gave Monroe a 14-7 lead.
Washington’s first possession of the second half resulted in a punt.
Monroe took over at the Washington 45, only to have Osborne intercept a pass in the end zone for a touch-back, preventing the Hornets from increasing their lead. That play came with 7:20 left in the third quarter.
Washington moved the ball out to its own 43-yard line before having to punt.
Justice’s punt ended up at the Monroe 19-yard line with 4:13 to play in the third quarter.
Washington’s defense played another strong series and forced the Hornets to quickly punt away without benefit of a first down.
As time expired in the third quarter, it was still just a one-score advantage for the Hornets, 14-7.
Coffman passed to Andrew Young on a play from the Washington 36-yard line. The gain by Young took the ball to the Monroe 35-yard line.
The Blue Lions were threatening, but soon faced a fourth down and four situation.
After a timeout, the Blue Lions went for it on fourth down, but the pass was incomplete.
Monroe had the ball at its own 29-yard line with 10:29 to play in the game.
This series resulted in a 37-yard field goal by Monroe to extend their lead to 17-7 with 7:22 still to play.
Coffman found Sam Pfeifer for a nice gain of 29 yards on the next Blue Lion possession.
A Monroe defender committed a face mask penalty, tearing the helmet off of Coffman’s head. He was alright, but had to come out for one play.
Washington was able to move the ball to the Monroe 38-yard line, but having to go for it on fourth down and seven, an incomplete pass turned the ball back over to the Hornets on downs with 5:20 remaining.
Washington called its final time out with 2:36 to play.
Monroe scored on a three-yard run with 2:31 to go in the game, setting what would be the final score of 24-7.
“Our kids battled, they really did,” Washington head coach David Everson said. “Our defense played so much better. We’d been giving up 54 points a game. Tonight, we cut it to 24.
“We got (several) turnovers, which were big,” Everson said. “Offensively, we did some things at times. We’re still trying to find that consistent running game.
“We had too many penalties,” Everson said. “We mismanaged some things right before the half. We ran out of timeouts. Those are things we can learn from. We can grow.
“I’m just so proud of our kids’ effort tonight, on the road against a Division II team that was 3-1,” Everson said. “I think we grew up tonight. Now we’re ready to focus in on league play starting with Chillicothe.”
The Cavaliers fell to 0-5 on the season with a 38-6 loss at Wilmington Friday night.
Washington will play at Chillicothe on Friday, Sept. 27.
In other games involving Frontier Athletic Conference teams Friday, the McClain Tigers fell to 1-4 with a 40-7 home loss to the now 4-1 Williamsburg Wildcats.
Miami Trace improved to 4-1 with a wild 56-49 win over now 3-2 Western Brown.
The Hillsboro Indians improved to 2-3 with a 65-0 win at home over now 0-5 East Clinton.
Jackson fell to 3-2 with a 28-21 loss at Hamilton Ross. The Rams are now 2-3.
