The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School varsity football team was defeated in their homecoming game by Monarch High School with a score of 27-6 on Friday, Sept. 23.
Despite MSD’s homecoming game being played at Cumber Stadium at MSD, the game was technically considered a Monarch home game because Monarch does not have a home field. This is because every team must have a certain number of home and away games.
Monarch has been trying to raise money recently for their own stadium, but have not yet added a stadium to their campus. However, because the game was technically a Monarch home game, Monarch received all money generated from the game, including tickets purchased by MSD students and the concession stand.
Due to tickets to the game being oversold, the game was crowded with long entry lines. This meant many people who arrived at the game’s start at 7 p.m. did not enter the game until around halftime.
“It took almost everyone a long time to get into the game,” sophomore Marc St. Fort said. “The lines reached all the way to the end of the parking lot.”
Monarch’s and MSD bleachers were packed with their fans, sometimes to the point of overcrowding.
Monarch students embraced a “Wild West” theme for the game, while MSD’s theme revolved around the homecoming spirit outfit that day: grade colors. Freshmen attendees wore green, sophomores wore blue, juniors wore red and seniors wore black.
With the excitement of homecoming coming up on the weekend, the Eagles began the night by getting the ball on kickoff. However, they were unable to convert with points on this drive.
On the contrary, Monarch began the game strong by scoring an opening touchdown and led 6-0.
It was clear during the second quarter that both teams had a strong defense as neither team had the opportunity to score points. The defensive battle was competitive, keeping the Eagles in the game despite being behind since Monarch’s opening drive.
“We need to keep getting better offensively,” Head Coach Keith Hindsley said. “If we keep working on that, we can put our defense in better positions.”
As the third quarter approached the end, Monarch had widened their lead to 26-0. Despite their lack of success in scoring any points, the Eagles continued their efforts to break through the Monarchs’ defense.
“We get better physically and mentally by working together,” wide reciever Ryan Ebersberger (5) said.
By the end of fourth quarter, the Eagles had regained some hope, after running back Lawrence Morantus (1) had scored a touchdown, making the score 26-6. The Eagles’ extra point was good by kicker Rocco Duyugulu (32) and made the score 26-7.
“We executed the playbook as best as we could,” left tackle John Grubor (76) said. “Last week we didn’t even have any points; we need to be more transparent with our coaches and get everything coagulated for next week’s game.”
The Eagles were unable to surmount the Monarch Knights. When the final whistle blew, the scoreboard displayed a scoreline of 26-7 in favor of Monarch.
This Friday, they have another chance to redeem points against Coral Springs High School for the Pig Bowl.
