On a crisp fall night where Monroe Central football (4-2) celebrated the school’s Homecoming, the team, and more specifically Sam Feola, had plenty to celebrate. Feola’s four touchdowns propelled the Golden Bears to a 41-12 victory over Wes-Del (1-5) Friday.
“Mainly, our blockers did their job — blocked everybody they needed to, and on my part, I just ran hard and tried to stay up,” Feola said.
Feola ran for 71 yards to go along with his four touchdowns and was also the game’s leading receiver with 97 yards.
“You see how long he is so he can make catches, and he wants to play well in big games, and he did tonight, and we have a big game next week,” head coach John Hochstetler said.
Hochstetler said taking care of the ball was a significant reason the Golden Bears came out on top. They got a large contribution from quarterback Jackson Ullom who passed for 249 yards and, more importantly, did not turn the ball over.
“We didn’t turn the ball over like we did in our last two games,” Hochstetler said. “We capitalized in the red zone, and we continued to go through our fullback as much as possible, and we tackled well on the perimeter.”
Monroe Central has not had the last three weeks it hoped for, dropping two of the last three contests. The team came up big in one of the biggest traditions in high school football.
“We had to get back to our approach,” Hochstetler said. “It was a tough couple of losses we went through in a three-week timespan, so winning always makes you feel good again, and Wes-Del is a big rivalry with homecoming week, so it was good for the kids to have momentum.”
Feola said the goal for Monroe Central is to improve each day and use this win as fuel going forward as sectionals creep around the corner.
“The way we bounced back was really important,” Feola said. “Most teams might shut down after a loss, but we just keep on going because if we meet them again in sectionals, we will have to play a better game.”
Optimism is in the air as the Golden Bears look at the rest of the schedule.
“We want to win out,” Feola said. “We want to beat every team that we see. Shenandoah and Eastern Hancock are good teams, so we want to play our best game.”
Contact Ian Hansen with any comments at imhansen@bsu.edu or on Twitter @ianh_2.
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