Seminoles Visit Big Reds For First Time In Star-Filled Matchup
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BELLAIRE -- Two teams coming off banner starts to their seasons will clash Friday on Nelson Field as Monroe Central (1-0) visits the Bellaire Big Reds (1-0) in a game with a lot of star-power.
Bellaire is coming off of a 43-13 victory over Buckeye Local, a game where star senior Raekwon Pettigrew ran back two punts for touchdowns, and hauled in a touchdown catch as well.
"We feel pretty good. We were healthy," Bellaire head coach Mark Bonar said. "That was the biggest thing, coming back healthy. We had some big plays, but we didn’t have that many offensive plays because 'Kwon kept running their punts back for touchdowns. So we really didn’t have as many offensive plays as we thought we would. But it was a good thing for us to come out healthy. That’s always the biggest plus after the first week."
Monroe Central dispatched Liberty Union 33-12 in their own opening game.
"I thought it went well," Monroe Central head coach Jonathan Calder said of his team's game. "Obviously there’s always things to clean up, but we had roughly 400 yards of offense and scored 33 points. Really out of week one, what I took away was our defense. We had guys flying to the ball. I think they had about negative 14 total yards at halftime. Really defensively it was one of the better outings I’ve seen in my four years here."
Monroe Central enjoyed big days from several of their stars like senior quarterback Cooper Howell (200 passing yards, two passing TDs, two rushing TDs) and senior receiver Max Demchak (seven catches, 142 yards, two TDs).
"He's started since he was a freshman," Calder said of Howell. "Not at quarterback, but he was a wide receiver, a running back, we kind of put him everywhere his freshman and sophomore years. He’s a pretty talented kid. I look for him to have some big games this year as well as Max Demchak, who had a really, really big game last week, had a couple touchdowns. Offensively we got those two guys and Jett Kaiser is doing a good job at running back, and even catching some balls."
Fellow senior Corbin Farnsworth set the Monroe Central school record for sacks in a career vs. Liberty Union, reaching 25 in his career-- with most of the season still to come.
"He’s probably one of the best athletes on our team," Calder said. "A great athlete off the edge."
"They got some nice skilled players and they have some big linemen who move really well," Bonar said of the Seminoles. "They really have a nice nucleus and I think they have a good program in place, I think that they do a nice job."
Pettigrew began his own senior season with a bang vs. the Panthers after missing much of his junior year with injury. He provides Bellaire with their own star power.
"I think he’ll keep getting better because he really had a long recovery, but he worked hard at it," Bonar said of Pettigrew. "It was clear in the track season, before he even started to compete. I think all he’s going to do is get better every week and we can find more ways to use him on offense and defense."
"They’ve definitely got some skilled players," Calder said of the Big Reds. "And obviously, No. 22, Pettigrew, we’ve got to know where he’s at at all times. Their quarterback throws the ball, makes good decisions; they’ve got a pretty good kid at running, looks like he runs the ball hard. They’ve got talent kind of all over the place, and, like I said, we’ve got to keep an eye on 22."
Friday will be only the second meeting ever between Bellaire and Monroe Central. Last year was the inaugural meeting between the two teams, a 44-27 Bellaire victory.
"Last year was our first time meeting them and it was pretty exciting," Calder said. "Bellaire's a storied, traditional powerhouse in the Valley and growing up in the ’90's and 2000's, watching football, you always liked watching Bellaire. They were always good. This will be our first year going down there. We’ve never played down there. I look forward to that. Last week they played Buckeye Local and I thought they looked good."
Kickoff at Nelson Field is set for 7 p.m.