Monticello football defeats Grand to close out the regular season

The Monticello Buckaroos defeated the Grand Red Devils on October 16 in Moab. The 61-26 win put Monticello’s record at 7-2 on the season and set up Monticello as the #3 seed in the Utah 8-player state playoffs with the Bucks first post-season game coming on October 30.

Monticello opened the game against Grand by recovering an onside attempt by the devils at their own 42-yard line.

The Monticello offense needed just one play with Brandt Mack receiving the ball on a jet sweep handoff before reversing field and going 58-yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.

Tristan Burtenshaw added a two-point run to put Monticello up 8-0 with 11:43 left in the first quarter.

Monticello would recover their own on-side kick attempt to get the ball at the Grand 48-yard line, but Monticello’s offense would stall and turn the ball over on downs giving Grand’s offense their first possession at their own 43-yard line.

Grand’s offense would rip their own big play with a 55-yard run setting up a two yard touchdown after a four play drive to make the score 8-6 with 9:45 left in the first quarter.

Monticello’s offense would respond quickly going 65-yards in four plays capped by a 26-yard touchdown run by Cash Mack to make the score 14-6 with 9:00 minutes left in the first quarter.

A short series by Grand resulted in a punt with Monticello returning the favor and the Devils doing it once more to give Monticello the ball at the Monticello 37-yard line.

On the fifth play of the drive Cache Young would find Cash Mack going down the sideline for a 48-yard touchdown with John Leber adding the point after kick to make the score 21-6 with two minutes left in the first quarter.

Monticello’s defense would give up one first down and then force a punt to get the ball back at the 13 yard line

The Buckaroos put together a nine-play 87-yard drive. The drive saw two 30 yard completions from Young to Cash Mack and was capped off by a five yard touchdown run by Miles Coleman.
Coleman earned the last 15 yards on the drive, and credited his linemen for leading the way after the game.
“I have really good trust in them. They're like really good friends. Every time I see Zamian turn, I can follow him.”

Monticello extended their lead 27-6 with 7:43 left in the first half.
The Devils would respond with a 66-yard touchdown strike and add a point after kick to make the score 27-13 with 7:07 left in the half.

Monticello would respond just as quickly with a kick return by Leber setting up Monticello with a short field and a one play drive with Young throwing to Canyon Christensen for a 38-yard touchdown to make the score 33-13 with 6:52 left in the first half.

After ending a Grand possession on a failed fourth-down conversion attempt Monticello would take over and three plays later score on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Young to Coleman. Leber would throw to Burtenshaw on the two point conversion to put Monticello up 41-13 with 4:17 left in the half.

Monticello’s defense would force a fourth down punt but the ball was fumbled on the return and gave Grand great field position at the Monticello 25-yard line.

Monticello’s defense would push the devils back though marching them back on a run and a big loss on a quarterback sack giving the Bucks the ball at the Monticello 38-yard line.

Monticello would run just one play with 34 seconds left in the half as Young again found Coleman for a 62-yard touchdown giving Monticello a 47-13 lead with a few seconds left until halftime. Coleman said the pass was perfectly placed. “It was special. I looked up and I was on the side and I did not see that ball, but Cache put it right on the money and put it in the basket.”
Brandt Mack would intercept a pass to end the half with Monticello in control of the game.
Monticello’s 47 points in the first half was not unusual for the Buckaroo offense which is so explosive. Reflecting after the game Cash Mack said they have a lot of confidence in the offense.

“We have a lot of threats. We have me obviously, and then we have Brandt Mack and then we got Cash Young. He can run and then even when Damon (Bunker) gets in there, I love when Damon gets in there like he's a dog, you know, plowing through everyone.”

Grand would receive the opening kickoff and drive 51-yards in four plays to pull closer to Monticello with the score favoring Monticello 47-20 with 10:30 left in the third quarter.

Grand would recover an onside kick attempt to get the ball at the Monticello 40-yard line. Despite that Monticello’s defense would cause a loss on every play and block the punt to get the ball back at the Grand 39 yard line.

Grand would return the favor and force a turnover on downs, and three plays later score on a 59-yard touchdown pass to make the score 47-26 with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

The Buckaroos would drive 60-yards in eight plays on their next drive capped with a nine yard touchdown pass from Young to Cash Mack.

Monticello’s defense would force a turnover on downs after four plays to get the ball back on the
43 yard line. Six plays later Monticello would score on a 36 yard pass from Young to Cash Mack. The duo connected for three touchdowns on the evening after the game Mack reflected on their connection in the passing game.
“They were good. I mean, a few of them are short, but I was able to get out there and I had that one drop, but I did my best to forget about it and use that to drive me to the next play.”

Damon Bunker would add the two-point run to give Monticello the 61-26 lead. That would trigger a mercy rule running clock with no additional scoring in the game.

Monticello’s offense gained over 500 yards on the game with the Bucks getting 373 yards through the air and 189 yards on the ground.

Young completed 16 completions on 29 attempts for 373 yards and six touchdowns.

Cash Mack led the team in receiving, catching six passes for 153 yards and three touchdowns. Coleman had three catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Christensen had three catches for 61 yards and a touchdown and Brandt Mack had three catches for 23 yards with Avery Hedrick catching a 15 yard pass as well.

On the ground the Buckaroos were led by Brandt Mack who had two carries for 77 yards and a touchdown. Coleman was the workhorse with 52 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.
Being the workhorse for Monticello means plenty of extra hits, Coleman said he doesn’t mind paying that price for the team. “It's about family. I think if you really like your team and you really want to play you just get back up and you just keep going.”
Cash Mack also had a carry for a 26 yard touchdown. Bunker and Lucas Morrison both had 14 yards on three and two carries respectively.

Monticello’s defense was led by Hedrick who had seven tackles. Leber and Burtenshaw each had six tackles while McKay Nielson and Noah Dilts accounted for five each. Brandt Mack and Jaxson Breedlove each had an interception in the game.

Monticello finished the regular season with a 7-2 record and earned the #3 seed in the Utah 8-player state playoffs. Monticello is off this week and will play the winner of a game between #6 Utah Military Academy Camp Williams and #11 Monument Valley on October 30.

Mack says the team is looking forward, “We're already done with our full schedule and it's already time to go. So now, it's do or die.”