It was a perfect night for high school football with a perfect atmosphere in Monrovia where the green-clad Bulldogs were off to a 2-0 start and looking to end Linton’s two-year run of victories over them. Last year, Linton and Monrovia battled to the final horn in a 42-36 Miner win. The Bulldog community was out in full-force with a light spattering of rain falling early on, but no sign of the extreme heat that we have had the past two Fridays.
As the Miners took the field, it was immediately noticeable the numbers were less in terms of players dressed in Miner red, (white,) & blue. Linton was already down a starting lineman as Freshman Hank Gennicks tries to get healthy again, as well as Sophomore Ty Boyd (TE/ILB) doing the same. Both players hope to be back before season’s end. Joining that list was 2-year starter Senior Jaydan Miller, who was a vital player at Free Safety. Jaydan is also the punter and place kicker. On top of it, you have the Covid quarantine issue that has reared its ugly head once again, affecting many if not all high school football teams (as well as everyone in general). I can’t tell you specifics on any of it, but I know that we were without starting OL/NT Senior Donovan DeBruhl, and starting WR Ayden Riggleman, and last week’s starting RG Senior Cody Jackson. I have no idea how many players were affected and not on the sideline, but it was more than a few.
The Miners have proven to be a second-half team in both wins this season thus far. With the health news coming late in the week, I could feel a Miner team in pre-game preps with some degree of concern. There is always a “Next Man Up” attitude in Miner Land, and Coach Oliver and his staff always work kids at different positions, and give plenty of practice reps to second teamers for just this reason. However, a long bus ride to the game, this being the first road game, along with various players not playing — well — this set the stage for a possible let-down against a 2-0 team on their field for the third week in a row.
All that said, Linton’s defense came out precisely as they had all season. Back-to-back runs by the Bulldogs netted negative 6 yards rushing setting up a 3rd-and-16. Monrovia had only thrown three passes in their opening two wins, but still junior QB Eli Wagner hit a wide-open Junior TE Corbin Byrnes at midfield, gaining a total 36 yards to the Miner’s “29,” and only kept out of the end zone by Hunter Gennicks’ tackle. Four consecutive dives from Sophomore FB Brayton Belcher culminated in a 15-yard TD run at 7:57 on the clock. Belcher tagged two more points on a run to make it 8-0. That made for a 7-play 4:03 minute opening drive score that had Monrovia fans in cheers.
Linton lost 4 on their first play from scrimmage, but nearly salvaged the series on a 10-yard screen play to senior RB Drew Smith. Junior Logan Webb, pressed into duty as both punter & kicker with Miller’s injury, to the Bulldog’s “41.” Linton’s defense immediately gave the Miners a lift was Sophomore DE Wrigley Franklin slammed into the Bulldog backfield, causing Wagner’s hand-off to Belcher to jar loose. Actually, several Miners were there as Senior ILB Gabe Eslinger slammed Belcher to the ground, and Senior OLB Jackson Lynn jumped on the loose ball at the Bulldog “42.” Junior QB Hunter Gennicks looked to capitalize immediately with a long sideline aerial to Senior WR Eli Poe.
Poe had gotten behind DB Gavin Followell inside the 20 and the pass was on-the-nose at the 11 for at minimum a big gain, but possibly a TD had he only kept his balance. But the football isn’t just a round ball, it has a unique shape, indeed, and perhaps Poe was thinking about staying in-bounds or maybe took his eyes off the ball for an instant and the ball bounded off his hands. We have all seen Eli make catches — and interceptions, too, as we will again later in the game. Junior WB Hunter Johns ran for 12 for a First Down at the Bulldog’s “30” on 2nd-and-10. That is where the Miners stalled out after an incompletion, though, a loss of four, and a small game set up 4th-and-9. Gennicks tried a keeper, but was met by Senior LB’s Lennox Tkachuk and Alex Scdoris well short of the needed gain at the Monrovia “25.”
It was a punt fest for the next three possessions, specifically Linton once and the Bulldogs twice. Linton too over with 10:16 in the second quarter at the Miner’s “35,” and gained 9 on First Down with a strike from Gennicks to Webb (seeing his 1st action at WR with Riggleman out). Drew Smith then pounded ahead for 12 and a first down, then another perfect strike from Gennicks to Poe on an out pattern gained 17. The passing success led to more inside room, and Smith was ahead for another physical run of 11 for a 1st Down at the Bulldog “21.” After a 1-yard Gennicks keep, it was a pitch to the right to Eslinger who broke five tackles enroute to a 20-yard TD run that put Linton on the board at 7:24 in the second. With Miller out as PAT kicker, Gennicks rolled out pass/option was bottled up, and his pass for Breneman was knocked down. It looked to be a defensive slobber knocker as the scoreboard read 8 to 6 in favor of the hometown Bulldogs.
Monrovia went back to ground-and-pound with Belcher on six of their next seven plays. Belcher converted a 4th-and-1 on a Wagner keeper behind his Center Adam Bales to their own 39, but Eslinger was in on four tackles in the series, the last being with Johns to stuff Belcher short of the 1st down marker. Monrovia got a procedure call on 4th-and-3, and thus Belcher punter; however, it was a shank that would up at the Miner “37.”
Linton lost 5 on a pitch left to Johns perfectly played by Byrnes. Facing 3rd-and-15, Gennicks tucked the ball and ran off tackle to the left, and literally ran over a Bulldog before Adam Bales and Hunter Leeds could twist him down at the Monrovia 33-yard line with a gain of 35. Gennicks was forced to scramble on the next play, but the Miners shot themselves in the foot with a holding penalty spot foul that pushed the ball all the way back to the Miner 43.
With time a factor, Gennicks hit Webb again for a catch-and-run to the Bulldog “38.” Hunter Johns put another 11 yards in the books with a counter to the two, but still needing 4 yards to move the chains. Gennicks tried to hit Poe but Tkachuk put big hit on the Miner QB forcing an over-throw and a turnover on down at the Bulldog 27. Monrovia QB Wagner took a knee to end the half with the Miners trailing 8 to 6.
The halftime stats were heavily in Linton’s favor with a 171-to-87 total yard advantage. The second quarter alone was 130-to-23. Of that 87 total was the one completed pass for 36 yards in the first possession of the game. They had rushed for 51 yards on 20 carries, just 2.6 per touch. Linton had run for 119 yards on 16 carries (7.4 per carry) and Gennicks was 4 of 10 for 52 yards passing. Third downs had not been pretty, as Linton was 1 of 5, as well as unsuccessful twice on fourth downs. In contrast, Monrovia was 2 of 6 on third downs and 1 of 1 on fourth downs. Gennicks had run for 64 yards on 6 carries for Linton, while Belcher was the workhorse for Monrovia with 53 on 13 carries, 36 of that in the opening quarter. For the third consecutive game, though, the Miners were behind or tied at the half, twice on the low side of the score. Unlike Sullivan the week before, the Miner offense had moved the ball, and had seven first downs, but just six points on the board.
Linton started quarter three with a 3-yard loss, but followed with a leaping grab by Webb that set up 3rd-and-5 at Linton’s “42.” Hunter Gennicks then took the shotgun snap, tucked the ball, paused, and ran behind the blocks of Nathan Watson, Cameron Goodman, and Wrigley Franklin for a run down the Miner sideline of 36 yards. The play’s success also saw the downfield blocking of Webb, and the physicality of Gennicks refusing to go down. Gennicks then hit Eslinger across the middle for a catch-and-run of 17 more to the Bulldog’s 5-yard marker. One play later, Drew Smith pile-drove into the end zone for the Miner’s first lead of the game. It marked the third game in as many games that Linton scored on their first possession of the second half. The 2-point run was good, but was nullified on a penalty. The replay was an incomplete pass, but Linton now lead 12-8.
Monrovia came out with runs by Camic and Kostrzewski to get to their own 45 with a 1st down. Facing 3rd-and-7, Wrigley Franklin got his hands on the pass from Wagner to Kostrzewski knocking it away, which forced a Belcher punt. From their own 31, they would move 3-yards and face a 3rd-and-7. Once more, it was Gennicks with a keeper on the left side battling through tacklers Eli Welch and Trenton Hale to get just enough to move the chains. He would gain eight more yards a couple plays later, leaving a 3rd-and-2 at the Bulldog’s 49. If not for a nice play by Cole Petty knocking down a screen pass intended for Smith, Linton would have easily converted. Instead, Coach Oliver played field position, and Logan Webb punted to the Bulldog’s ” 22″ with 5:19 left in the third.
The Miner defense continued their solid play with three plays going nowhere for Monrovia on tackles by Eslinger, Gennicks, Breneman and Franklin. Monrovia suffered the play special teams coaches fear, the bad snap. Belcher tried to field the snap that had bounced half-way back to him, but it went through his legs back to the Bulldog’s “8.” He was mauled by Eslinger and Franklin at the “15,” giving the Miners a huge chance to up their lead. They almost got in on a pass from Gennicks to Poe that got to the 3-yard line, then it was Hunter Johns untouched into the end zone for an 18-8 lead at 2:36 of the third quarter. It would stay that margin on yet another failed 2-point conversion pass thru the air.
Due to a personal foul call against Linton on the PAT, Webb’s kickoff was from Linton’s own 25-yard line, and a great return by Gavin Followell got to the Miner’s “18.” A yellow flag at the Linton “41” though pushed the Bulldogs back to their own 44. Linton would then pin their ears back and come after QB Eli Wagner. First Johns blitzed from the back side and dragged Wagner down for a loss of 6-yards, then Smith fought off blockers and dropped WB Kostrzewki for another 6-yards. With 3rd-and-22, Wagner was again under pressure, Aiden Giles being one of them, and his pass across the middle was picked clean by Eli Poe near midfield, his second of the year. This put Linton at the Bulldog 45-yard line, which became the “24” after Johns took a counter left with great blocks from Lynn and Giles. From there, Linton would grind down to the “12,” but face a 4th-and-10 in their early minutes of the forth quarter. Gennicks would look to pass, but be forced to scramble, and in doing so broke five tackles on some side steps and jukes to make Tyler Meurer be proud. He finished off the drive with a 1-yard dive, and connected with Eslinger in the back of the end zone for the 2 -conversion putting Linton up 26 to 8 with 9:40 left in the game.
Down 18 points and time, the enemy Monrovia was forced into a passing game they had not used thus far in 2021. Wagner did his Gennicks impersonation with a keeper for 6, and then scrambled away from another Johns’ blitz for get 8 more and another 1st down at the Bulldog 36. Facing 2nd-and-10, it was Hunter Johns again with heavy pressure forcing Wagner out of the pocket, and with Wrigley Franklin in tow Wagner was dropped for a 9 yard loss. Bracey Breneman got in the blitz act on 3rd and Indianapolis with pressure on Wagner with Senior CB Kaulin Padgett swatting down a long sideline pass for Followell. Belcher would then punt to the Miner’s “38.”
Gennicks would use all of the play clock waiting to snap with 2 or 3 seconds left per play. The Miners kept things on the ground with runs of 5 from Johns, 4 from Smith, and then a break-away to the right side from Gabe Eslinger that gained 34 yards to the Bulldog 15. Once more the blocking of Jackson Lynn, Cameron Goodman and Wrigley Franklin made the play happen. Hunter Johns scored his 2nd TD of the night from 14 yards out and again he was untouched on the counter left. Eslinger bulled in for the 2pt play and Linton was on their way to win #3 with a 34-8 margin. The remaining 3:58 consisted of a 3 and out that concluded with senior NT Jackson Fields sack of Wagner for 8 yards. Linton would take three kneel downs to run out the clock.
Linton dominated the stat lines, starting with a 368 to 82 advantage in offensive production. The second half was bleak for Monrovia with the QB sack yardage while Linton rolled up 197 yards to (-5) for the Bulldogs. Hunter Gennicks had this third 100+ yard rushing game with 132 on 13 carries and a TD. He accounted for nearly half of Linton’s 280 on the ground, but it was a solid night for Gabe Eslinger with 55 yards on 7 touches with a TD, Drew Smith 11 for 50 and a TD, and Hunter Johns 43 on 8 and 2 TDs. The passing game hit for 88 yards on 7 of 17 passing from Gennicks. Three of those went to Logan Webb for 33 yards, two to Eli Poe for 28 and 1 each to Drew Smith (10 yards) and Gabe Eslinger (17 yards).
Monrovia got 59 of their total 82 yards earned on their initial and only scoring drive of the night. Sophomore Brayton Belcher carried the brunt of the work with 17 carries and 49 yards with a TD. Todd Camic had 5 carries and 4 yards, Dustin Kostrzewski had -3 yards on 4 carries. Eli Wagner finished off with -8 yards on 8 carries which included -23 yards on 3 sacks. Total rushing for the Bulldogs was 42 on 34 carries, a 1.24 per carry average. Wagner hit just twice on 9 pass attempts, 1 for 36 yards to Corbin Byrnes, and 1 for 4 yards to Hunter Leeds.
It was the best defensive effort to date in a season of great defense already. Linton has been stern against the run allowing just 2.2 per carry in these first three contests on 107 attempts and 235 rush yards. ILB Gabe Eslinger had a season high 16 tackles, 5 of these solo and most all first hits. He was in on 4 TFL (2.5). DE junior Aiden Giles had 8 tackles (1 TFL). Wrigley Franklin had 5 tackles, and was in on a sack of Wagner. He also had a tipped pass, as well as a knocked down pass. Hunter Johns had 4 stops, 2 sacks, 3 QB Pressures. Also with four tackles were Jackson Fields (1 sack), Jackson Lynn and Hunter Gennicks. For the Bulldogs it was OLB’s Trenton Hale with12 tackles and Alex Scdoris with 11 to lead the way. ILB Lennon Tkachuk harassed Gennicks with 4 hurries, and finished with 5 tackles and 1 TFL. LB Nick Arnold with 7, and 6 from DT Adam Bales. Webb filled in for the injured Jaydan Miller with 3 punts for 31.0 average, and handled kick-off duties with 5 for 41.0 avg.
Linton racked up 17 first downs to just 6 for Monrovia (3 of those on their initial possession). Linton was hit with 6 penalties for 64 yards Monrovia 5 for 59. Miner were 41.7% on 3rd down (5-12) Bulldogs just 18.2% (2-11). Linton 1-3 on 4th down, Monrovia 1-2. Both teams were perfect in red zone (Linton 5-5, Monrovia 1-1). Linton has scored on 10 of 12 Red Zone appearances for the year. Time of Possession about even: 24:59 to 23:01 for Linton. 39 of the Bulldogs 43 plays were snapped in their own territory. Six of Monrovia’s 11 possessions were 3-and-out, while Linton scored on 5 of their 11, and only had two three-and-outs.
If there is one thing that is highly evident through three weeks, it is that this Miner defense is one of the better versions of recent years. It is also evident that the success of the pass game, not necessarily making it a huge part of the game, but having the threat that makes defenses have to respect it… is another plus. This team has big play ability with not only Hunter Gennicks, but with Johns and Eslinger at weeks both have big runs. There have been 16 plays of 20+ Yards for the Miners, while giving up just four. There is quickness and speed, but also physicality with the strength of Drew Smith at FB, but also as seen with Eslinger and Gennicks, as well as Johns. The offensive line has shone this season even while absorbing injury as well as quarantine issues. Much of the success has to be attributed to the names Watson, Franklin, Lynn, Giles and Goodman in this game, but also DeBruhl, Gennicks (Hank) and Jackson. Defensively the experience of the defensive backfield (Miller, Poe, Padgett, Riggleman, Gennicks and Webb) with a very good Linebacker corps (Eslinger, Breneman, Johns, Lynn, and Smith) with a talented quick group of down linemen (Giles, DeBruhl, Fields, and Franklin & Goodman) have the Miners confident. If we can just hold down the injury bug and keep away from Covid issues, this is shaping up to be a standout season for the red and blue.
Linton makes the long journey to Cayuga to face North Vermillion in a game that has been a regular meeting every week 4 since 2015, but also had met in post season games in 2015 and 2014. The Falcons won that 2014 Regional game 31-8 that later saw the Falcons run the table beating Pioneer in the 1A state title game and finishing 15-0 for the year. The Miners would win both meetings in 2015, the second game a semi-state 56-27 win sending Linton to their first state title game. They lost that game to LCC, but would return in 2016 to beat Pioneer for their 1A state trophy, beating NV 55-0 along the way. Linton has dominated the series winning all six regular season meetings. Last year at the Roy is was a 52-7, 38-20 in 2019, 34-7 in 2018, 54-18 (2017), 55-0 (2016) and 21-7 in 2015. North Vermillion has put up big offense averaging 36.7 ppg. They opened up beating North Central 34-28 in overtime to open the season but have dropped 2 in a row including a high scoring 60-40 loss to 2-1 Covington last week. They also were on the wrong end of 50-36 tally against rival South Vermillion (1-2) in week 2. Coach Brian Crabtree and Coach Brian Oliver are very familiar with each other as Coach Crabtree’s coaching years at North Central were a yearly opponent with the Miners.
File photo taken by Austin Gordon Photography.