Monticello cruises to win in season opener

by David Boyle
News Director
The Monticello High School football team opened their season with a 42-15 win on the road over the St. Joseph Jayhawks. The Buckaroo defense steadied an offense that took off as the game went along.
Monticello opened the season by recovering an onside attempt by St. Joseph to set up their first drive near midfield.
The Buckaroos picked up a couple of first downs off some good running from Landon Shumway and a catch by Arturo Gutierrez.
A fumble by the Buckaroos just outside the red zone gave St. Joseph their first possession but it was short-lived as John Leber and Seth Taylor caused a fumble recovered by Tommy Morrison on St. Joseph’s first offensive play.
While Taylor recorded a few hits on the defensive side of the ball, he praised his teammates as well for making heads-up plays all game long.
“It’s good to know that even if I don’t get the sack, I can at least take up a block to make sure one of the linebackers can get that sack or that tackle for loss.”
The Buckaroos took advantage of the miscue with Shumway picking up five yards on a run before quarterback Jackson Keyes delivered a pass right near the back of the end zone where only Cache Young could pull it in.
The junior receiver tapped his toes near the back line to haul in the first touchdown of the season for the Buckaroos.
Monticello’s passing game saw sustained success the whole game, with the Buckaroo offensive front taking on the challenge thrown at them by St. Joseph.
Taylor, the starting center on the team said the offensive line got low, communicated, and worked together.
“They ran a two-man front for the game, so we had to communicate a lot with that and to make sure we picked up all those blitzers.”
Monticello added a two-point conversion to make the score 8-0 with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The Buckaroo defense forced a short three-and-out series with the Buckaroos getting the ball on the 35-yard line. Monticello picked up one first down before an interception gave St. Joseph the ball back at their own ten yard line.
St. Joseph picked up one first down but the Buckaroos forced another punt giving themselves the ball near the 50 yard line.
After no gain by the Bucks on three plays, a punt by Monticello got away from the Jayhawks and was recovered by the Bucks.
After gaining seven yards on the next three plays, Keyes and Young connected for a touchdown catch but a tough offensive pass interference call took the score off the board and ended the drive and the quarter with Monticello leading 8-0.
St. Joseph’s offense picked up a couple of first downs, one on a long run and the other by penalty down to the 30 yard line but a pair of Buckaroo sacks including one on fourth down gave Monticello the ball back at the 50 yard line.
The series exemplified Monticello’s punishing defense, which both Taylor and Shumway said was their preferred side of the ball. Shumway adding linebacker is his favorite spot on the field.
“You kind of just get a flow to the ball wherever, hit whoever. You get to hit, have more contact, more fun.”
Monticello’s offense scored in three plays with a five-yard run by Shumway, an 18-yard run by Gutierrez to set up a 28-yard pass down field from Keyes to Morrison who pulled the pass in to over his shoulder at the goal line to give Monticello their second score of the game.
Leber added the point-after kick making the score 15-0 with six minutes remaining in the first half.
After a short series by the Jayhawks a punt was partially blocked by Leber and bounced down at the St. Joseph 27-yard line.
Young grabbed the ball on the bounce at the 27 yard line with a full head of steam for a quick sprint to the endzone. Shumway added the two-point conversion to make the score 23-0 with 4:30 remaining in the half.
St. Joseph’s offense saw some success driving to the Monticello red zone off a big 30-yard completion and a pass interference penalty. Monticello’s defense tightened up forcing a 28-yard field goal by the Jayhawks to make the score 23-3 with 1:30 remaining in the half.
Monticello’s hurry-up offense saw one big chunk play downfield with a 30-yard gain on a pass from Keyes to Shumway but an interception gave St. Joseph the ball back near midfield.
Monticello returned the favor a few plays later with Will “Bean” Rogers tracking a pass for an interception, returning the ball across midfield with eight seconds left in the half.
Keyes found Gutierrez for a big gain down to the two yard line with less than a second remaining. The Buckaroos attempted a play action pass and found two Buckaroos open battling for the same ball for an incomplete pass to end the first half with a 23-3 lead for Monticello.
Even without the score Monticello carried the momentum into the second half forcing a quick three-and out for St. Joseph on their first possession.
Monticello found paydirt on offense, going 60 yards in five plays capped off by a 45-yard touchdown run by Shumway.
The senior running back followed blocks to open grass about 15 yards downfield before bowling over two Jayhawks at once and running over one more opposing player on his way to a punishing touchdown run to make the score 29-3 with 7:40 remaining in the third quarter.
Shumway recalled it as his favorite run of the game, saying he just hoped he didn’t get tackled as he made contact. “It was just fun to be able to run through people and run around them really make it a challenge.”
Following the Monticello score St. Joseph picked up a pair of first downs but a turnover on downs gave Monticello the ball back at their own 40 yard line.
Monticello drove down the field in four plays with a penalty and a big 30-yard completion from Keyes to Morrison, setting up a six-yard touchdown throw from Keyes to Young. The extra point kick from Leber made the score 36-6 with a few seconds remaining in the third quarter.
St. Joseph once again picked up a few first downs and got into Buckaroo territory but a fourth-and-one run attempt was stuffed by Leber and Taylor to give Monticello the ball back.
Monticello’s first play of the drive was a big gain called back by a blindside block but Shumway made up for it taking a sweep run off the right side following blocks and making a few jump cuts to get into the open field for a 60-yard touchdown run for the final Buckaroo score of the game making the count 42-3.
While Shumway admittedly likes contact, he says his field vision has improved this year thanks to the underclassmen.
“A lot of it’s been in practice. Our JV this year is really fast, so I really have to look out of every direction and try and see what’s going on all around me.”
St. Joseph added two more scores in the fourth quarter to make the score less lopsided with a final of 42-15. Shumway shared that even with the win the team is looking at ways to improve.
“For our offensive side, we really need to work on getting to the ball quicker – not waiting for the other team to be set, just going set, go. And then on defense, I think we did really good. I just think that we kind of need to communicate a little bit more.”
Speaking after the game Taylor said it felt rewarding to win the first game of the season. “It’s been good to see the hard work you do at practice pay off. It feels good to see the fruits.”
Keyes went 9-for-23 through the air for 167 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. Shumway rushed for 162 yards on 11 carries including two touchdowns.
Cash Mack ran for six yards on two carries while Bryson Adair had four yards on two carries.
Gutierrez rushed for 22 yards on three carries, and pulled in two catches for 40 yards. Young grabbed four catches for 48 yards and two touchdowns.
Morrison pulled in two passes for 40 yards and a touchdown, while Shumway had one catch for 19 yards.
The Buckaroo defense limited the Jayhawks to 114 yards through the air and 35 rushing yards, forcing one fumble and one interception, with St. Joseph’s two touchdowns coming in the fourth quarter.
The Buckaroos play their first home game of the season on Friday against Panguitch. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and if you can’t make the game you can watch it on StreamUtah.Live.