Greyhounds shut out visiting Rockets, 55-0
Lori C. Padilla
The Greyhounds鈥� Vaughn Taylor makes it across the goal line for a touchdown during Friday鈥檚 Tri-County South Conference against Jefferson-Morgan.
Jefferson-Morgan's Colby Rutan stretches for the ball during first quarter action of Friday's Tri-County South Conference game at Monessen.
The Greyhounds' Darnel Howell jumps between Jefferson-Morgan's Nash Morris (18) and Austin Foreman for a reception in the first half of Friday's Tri-County South Conference game at Monessen.
MONESSEN 鈥� The Monessen Greyhounds continued to establish themselves as the one of the top dogs in the Tri-County South Conference after a dominating 55-0 victory against the visiting Jefferson-Morgan Rockets last Friday night in the 缅北禁地 Game of the Week at Memorial Stadium.
The Greyhounds remain undefeated and currently sit at the top of the conference.
Monessen head coach Mike Blainefield credits the team鈥檚 preparation for their success this season.
鈥淲e are much more prepared this year,鈥� said Blainefield. 鈥淟ast year, we had a sluggish offseason, but this year we had a pretty good offseason and carried the momentum into this season.鈥�
鈥淲e had a game plan set up for the first half of two-main goals. One was to have no turnovers, and the second was to make sure we had 11 hats on the ball on defense,鈥� continued Blainefield. 鈥淲e accomplished both of those goals, and the scoreboard reflected that.鈥�
Monessen (2-0, 3-0) wasted no time and pounced on Jefferson-Morgan early when quarterback Devin Whitlock connected with Elijah Davis to give the Greyhounds a 7-0 lead.
The two-play, 27-second drive consisted of a beautiful 25-yard run by Taylor Vaughn, followed by Whitlock鈥檚 55-yard bomb to Davis.
After Monessen held Jefferson-Morgan (1-2, 1-3) to a quick three-and-out, the Greyhounds added eight more points to the board on their next drive for a 15-0 lead with 8:48 left in the first quarter.
This time, the Greyhounds reached the end zone off of the legs of Vaughn, who scored the one-yard touchdown after exploding for a 49-yard run on the prior play.
Monessen decided to fake the extra point and capitalized with a two-point conversion when Whitlock connected with a wide-open Darius Stevenson in the end zone.
Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Jacob Broadwater was sacked for a 9-yard loss on the next drive, but it wasn鈥檛 the only loss on the play.
Monessen鈥檚 Thaddeus King was seriously injured on the play with an apparent leg injury and taken off the field by ambulance, delaying the game for nearly a half hour.
However, the Greyhounds lost no momentum after the injury.
Taylor found the end zone again on a 16-yard run to make it 22-0, and Whitlock threw his second scoring strike in the quarter. This time, he connected with Marquell Smith for a 28-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Greyhounds held nothing back in the second quarter, putting up 27 more points against the Rockets.
Whitlock, Isaiah Beltram, and Justin Towler all produced rushing touchdowns in the second quarter for Monessen. Whitlock also threw his third touchdown pass of the game when he connected with Darnel Howell for a 6-yard touchdown pass.
The mercy rule went into effect in the second half with both teams going scoreless for the rest of the game.
Whitlock completed 7-of-10 passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed three times for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Taylor also had a strong performance for Monessen, rushing seven times for 87 yards and two touchdowns.
The Rockets struggled on both sides of the ball with the offense only managing two first downs for the entire game.
鈥淢onessen came out very prepared, and I don鈥檛 think our team really answered the bell too well. We didn鈥檛 come out as prepared as I hoped, and we really came out flat,鈥� said Jefferson-Morgan head coach Aaron Giorgi.
Monessen heads to West Greene (2-1, 2-0) Friday in a game that will give the winner the inside track to the TCS title, while Jefferson-Morgan hosts Avella (1-3, 0-1).