Monrovia Defeats San Dimas - 26-13

The Monrovia Wildcats defeated the visiting San Dimas Saints on Friday night by a final score 26-13.  Despite San Dimas’ 0-3 record the Wildcats figured to have their hands full playing without starting quarterback, Deshawn Potts.  Potts banged up his shoulder at the end of last week’s game vs. Arcadia which left the quarterback duties squarely on the shoulders of true freshman, Miles Bryant.

Bryant at times flashed the potential Wildcat coaches see in him, including two 1st half touchdown passes, one of 20 yards to wide out, Crayvon Gillespie and another 72 yarder to tight end, Jacob Ramos.  According to Monrovia head coach, Ryan Maddox, “Bryant is a smart kid; he throws a very good ball and has played a lot of football for his age.”

At other times however Bryant looked like a true freshman, including 2 first half interceptions.  The 2nd interception with under 1:30 left in the first half led to a wild sequence.  Saints safety Eric Ware intercepted a pass at midfield on what appeared to be a case of miscommunication between Bryant and Gillespie.  Ware returned the ball 45 yards and appeared headed for the end-zone.  However the Monrovia offense-turned-defense never gave up on the play and wound up forcing a fumble at the 5 yard line which San Dimas ultimately recovered.

From there the Wildcat defense stopped San Dimas on consecutive running plays.  With less than 20 seconds remaining in the half and no timeouts left the Saints had a 3rd down and goal from the 3 yard line, at which point linebacker Kurt Scoby came up with a huge sack.  With the clock winding down under 10 seconds, the Saints ran to the line for a 4th down attempt, however quarterback Josh Avila lost track of downs and spiked the ball to stop the clock, resulting in a hold for the Monrovia defense and a 13-7 lead going into halftime.

The stop epitomized the night for the Wildcats as the defense turned in a stellar effort led by the front 7.  According to Maddox, “(Davanote) Moore and (Alejandro) Vega played good games along the line and our linebackers were lights out.  Truly a team effort by the defense tonight.”

San Dimas tied the score 13-13 with 2 field goals in the 3rd quarter.  From there Scoby and the Wildcat offensive line took over.  Monrovia marched 47 yards, capping the drive with a 15 yard touchdown run by Scoby to put Monrovia ahead 19-13 after San Dimas blocked the extra point.  

Finally, after recovering a fumble at their own 30 yard line mid-way through the final quarter Scoby broke off a 70 yard touchdown run to give the ‘Cats a 26-13 lead and put a nail in the Saints’ coffin.  Monrovia left tackle, Ryan Chang, remarked after the game, “we realized we had to pick it up after the mistakes in the 1st half…They are fairly small along their defensive line so we just eventually wore them down.”  Scoby finished the night with 190 yards on 22 carries and 2 touchdowns.

Under challenging circumstances given the tenuous quarterback situation, multiple turnovers along with several untimely penalties the defense again won the day for Monrovia.  From Maddox, “It wasn’t pretty but we got the W.  I’m really proud of the way our kids fought tonight.  Our defense again played a heck of a game.”

The Wildcats host the South Hills Huskies next week at 7:00pm.