‘We’re not soft like that’: Monroe City expects to improve after facing vaunted Valle Catholic in season opener

MONROE CITY, Mo. — Except for the final score, Dylan Ross wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Ross, a senior running back and linebacker for Monroe City, welcomed the challenge of facing 15-time state champion Valle Catholic in Week One.

“If we play a cupcake Week One, we’re just going to be known as a team that goes out there and takes easy wins,” Ross said. “We’re not soft like that. We want to come out and hit people.”

Even after a 47-14 loss at Lankford Field on Friday, Panthers coach David Kirby knew this challenge would suit his team well.

“There was a reason we scheduled this team,” Kirby said. “We probably could have found somebody else, but we wanted to see right where we were. We were able to get out and play one of the premier teams in the class.”

The Panthers hung tough with the Warriors throughout much of the first half, and the jolts of momentum that had Monroe City believing it could do more than just give Valle Catholic a scare came on back-to-back plays.

When Monroe City got the ball back following a Josh Fallert touchdown run with 2:41 left in the first quarter, the Panthers trailed 12-0 and had gained 14 yards in three series.

Then Ross gave the Panthers a spark. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Ross took a pitch from quarterback Wyatt DeGrave and turned on the jets down the left sideline. He outran the Warriors’ defense and scampered untouched into the end zone to cut the Panthers’ deficit to six.

“I thought I was in a dream, I’m not going to lie,” said Ross, who totaled 126 yards on the ground. “I heard the crowd, and I was like, ‘Is this really happening right now?’”

A failed onside kick attempt gave the Warriors the ball at the Monroe City 42-yard line. Then junior linebacker Quincy Mayfield gave the Panthers another spark.

On the first play of the possession, Warriors quarterback Wyatt Fallert delivered a strike over the middle to his receiver Will Kuehn, but as Kuehn fought for extra yardage near the 35, Mayfield ripped the ball out. The ball popped up in the air, and Mayfield recovered the fumble — the first forced fumble of his career.

“I’ve never done that before. I was going crazy,” Mayfield said. “That was definitely a momentum booster. Dylan scoring that touchdown hyped everybody up, and we just knew we had to do something on defense. It was a spark, definitely.”

The Panthers couldn’t turn that spark into a flame, however, as they went three-and-out on their next three drives. Meanwhile, the Warriors put together a nine-play, 86-yard drive capped by another Josh Fallert touchdown to take a 20-6 lead with 8:38 left in the first half. The Panthers ran 11 plays on their next drive, but it stalled out at midfield and featured two of Monroe City’s six first-half penalties.

“We had a lot of opportunities, and we also had a lot of mistakes,” Kirby said. “I thought we had them outflanked in a couple positions, then we shot ourselves in the foot. You can’t do that against great teams.”

Valle Catholic’s offense continued to hum in the second half. The Warriors reached paydirt on each of their first four possessions, which included Josh Fallert’s third touchdown run and two of Wyatt Fallert’s three touchdown passes. On back-to-back possessions, Kuehn scored off wide receiver screens, one for 63 yards and another for 23 yards. Conner Clanton, who played significant time for the Warriors in their two-quarterback system, had a 4-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter.

Warriors coach Judd Naeger said he was riding the hot hand between Clanton and Wyatt Fallert.

“That’s how we’re going to roll with it,” Naeger said. “They both can run the entire offense, so there’s no reason to have certain plays for one and certain plays for the other.”

Wyatt Fallert completed 10 of his 16 passes for 200 yards to go along with his three touchdowns. Clanton threw for just 28 yards on five attempts but had 46 rushing yards on five carries. 

“I thought we did a good job of adjusting on the field,” Naeger said. “They ran a lot of different fronts, a lot of different coverages on defense, and I thought our quarterbacks played outstanding. They answered a lot of questions.”

The Panthers’ lone second half score came on a DeGrave 26-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Abram Smyser over the top of the defense on a fourth down with 3:51 left in the third quarter.

With this test in the rearview mirror and a road date with Montgomery County on the horizon, Kirby said the Panthers now have two choices.

“You can get bitter, or you can get better,” Kirby said. “Our goal from here on out is just to get better.”

Ross feels confident the Panthers can accomplish this goal.

“If we don’t stay positive, this game could carry on with us throughout the season,” Ross said.

Mayfield heard the wakeup call, too.

“I felt like we learned our lesson,” Mayfield said.