Centralia loses to Monroe City, 36-34.
Listen below to Monroe City Head Coach David Kirby discuss the Centralia game. Fireside Guard Live! Audio paid for by David Raithel for the 44th.
Listen below to Centralia Panthers Head Football Coach Tyler Forsee discuss the Monroe City game. Fireside Guard Live! Audio paid for by David Raithel for the 44th.
Listen to Marshal Kable and Jameson Cooper discuss the Monroe City game. Fireside Guard Live! Audio paid for by David Raithel for the 44th.
The heat was a wet heat and it pressed down like a mailed fist on everybody at Miller Field the evening of September 20.
That is when fans of the Centralia Panthers and Monroe City Panthers Football teams came together to watch the two high school’s football teams carry out one of the oldest rivalries in north Missouri.
No catchy names like “The Bell Game,” or “The Route B Rivalry,” or “The Border War.”
Just two schools, one small, the other smaller, playing high school football.
This time Monroe City won, 36-34 after spending almost the entire game behind Centralia, they took the lead in the fourth quarter and held on for the win.
Centralia started strong, very strong.
In less time than it would have taken BonZai the Bassett to snarf down an Allen St. Social Po’boy Ethan Ross had crossed the goal line to make it 6-0.
The two point conversion attempt was no good, Centralia lost six points to failed conversions.
Monroe City bounce back with a touchdown pass from quarterback Wyatt DeGrave to Dylan Ross to tie the game 6-6 with 8:15 left in the first.
“We knew we had to be physical against Centralia,” David Kirby, Monroe City head coach said afterward. “We knew we couldn’t be down on each other… I challenged the kids to one-up the intensity, one-up the physicality, one-up the aggression.”
And they did.
But for three quarters of high school varsity football, Centralia matched each increase in Monroe City intensity with one of their own.
Coulten Baker, for example, at 5:46 in the first, blasted through the Monroe City line for a one-yard touchdown. Baker capped that with a successful two-point conversion to make it 14-6, Centralia.
Centralia had one more arrow in the quiver that quarter, specifically Deke Maenner. He took a weathervane spinning handoff from Rex Bryson and ran it 41 yards north for a touchdown, but again, Centralia stalled on the conversion.
Nevertheless they finished the first atop Monroe City, 20-6.
Centralia’s margin dwindled early in the second when Monroe City scored again at the 11:20 mark after DeGrave rushed one yard through Centralia’s line touchdown. He capped his touchdown by handing the ball to Quincy Mayfield for a successful two-point conversion, narrowing Centralia’s lead to 22-14.
Centralia responded eight minutes later, capping off a strong drive, putting Maenner in position to score again with a 37-yard run, followed by a failed Bryson to Anthony Ford conversion pass, making it 26-14.
There was still plenty of confidence in Centralia’s stands.
Kirby’s Panthers whittled it down three minutes later when Mayfield scored with an eight-yard run and DeGrave hit Dylan Ross for a successful conversion, cutting Centralia’s lead 26-22 at halftime.
The third quarter looked like a scoring drought for both teams until with less 
than three minutes left Centralia scored again when Ethan Ross took the snap and carried it 41 yards north for a touchdown. Maenner celebrated Ross’s success with a successful conversion.
“We were really physical, took care of the ball, kept scoring and never let off the gas,” offensive lineman Marshal Kable said afterward when discussing what worked for Centralia, particularly in the first half.
Centralia finished the third, leading 34-22.
“We just kept the pressure on. It was go-go-go the whole game,” Jameson Cooper, defensive lineman said afterward. “We weren’t ever going to get off the gas pedal and neither were they. We had some phenomenal catches, some outstanding plays.”
Monroe City counter-punched in the fourth, scoring twice to win.
First off a one-yard run by Jayden Holland, capped by a conversion by Marty Smyser, then a 12-yard Dylan Ross touchdown, to finish the game 36-34 for the win, aided in part by a late-game injury taking Centralia’s Rex Bryson out of the game.
“This was the first time this year we’ve played with the true physical nature, which as a football team we are capable of,” Kirby said afterward.
Bryson on offense and Ian Tuggle on defense were two Centralia players on Monroe City’s radar, he said. “That Tuggle is probably the best defensive lineman in our conference. If he’s not, I don’t know who is. Centralia’s offensive line is massive… My heart goes out to them for what happened to the young man (Rex Bryson) tonight. As a dad you don’t want to see any kid get hurt. Unfortunately that is part of this game sometimes. My heart goes out to him, his teammates, his family.”
Next week, 2-2 Centralia heads north to play 0-4 Macon.
Monroe City heads way north to play 0-4 Clark County.
For the complete article, see next week’s edition of the Centralia Fireside Guard.
