MONARCHS 27, PORTERS 14
A team full of surprises produces more of them
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First, the Monarchs started the season with a surprising loss to the Center Moriches Red Devils, a team that picked up its first win in two seasons at the varsity level. Since then the Monarchs, seeded 14th in Suffolk County Division IV, have strung together three straight wins. Their most recent triumph, a 27-14 defeat of their rivals, the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck/Shelter Island Porters, on Friday night, leaves the Monarchs sitting pretty. Guess who is in fifth place with a 3-1 record, on course for what would be their first playoff berth in 16 years?
Just like that, the Monarchs are one of Suffolk football's feel-good stories through the first half of the regular season. Not bad for a No. 14 seed, huh?
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As expected, the Monarchs had a few tricks in their bag Friday night to spoil the Porters' homecoming game at Dorrie Jackson Memorial Field.
Pat Lowth plays wide receiver and outside linebacker for the Monarchs, but his biggest influence on the game might have been as a kicker. Lowth executed two onside kicks in the first half, one of which the Porters bobbled before Mercy's Pat Burney successfully recovered it. That set up Bryan Conrad's one-yard touchdown run that helped put the Monarchs in front, 13-7, four seconds into the second quarter.
"I just kind of do what coach tells me," Lowth said, "kick it where he wants me to."
With McGann-Mercy's free-wheeling style and Read's out-of-the-box thinking, the unpredictable Monarchs are liable to try anything at any time. "Anything goes," said Read.
Three of the Porters' four turnovers led to touchdowns for the Monarchs, who twice took 13-point leads.
Drew La Grasse's dive off left tackle from the 2-yard line for a touchdown and Lowth's extra point made it 20-7 with 28 seconds left in the first half. That possession could be traced to an Anthony Marone interception.
Sean Heaney carried the ball three times for 43 yards on a four-play drive that he finished with a one-yard surge over the goal line to pull the Porters (1-3) back within striking distance at 1:39 of the third quarter.
It wasn't long, though, before the Monarchs struck again. A fumble by Heaney was caught in midair by La Grasse, who ran the ball 41 yards in the other direction before Dimitri Rauseo's touchdown-saving tackle. Four plays later, Ryan Olson found Lowth streaking down the left sideline for a 36-yard scoring connection.
"Ugh," Porters Coach Jim Anderson groaned. "That was a killer."
The game had started with both teams scoring on their first possessions on quarterback sneaks by Dan Letteriello of the Porters and Olson.
At first glance, the Monarchs would seem unlikely candidates for a 3-1 start. With precious little depth, the Monarchs had 12 players spread out among the 22 starting positions. With guard/middle linebacker Nick Tombs unavailable to play, freshman Anthony Hepner was brought up from the junior varsity team to play guard, and another freshman, Marone, played running back and safety.
In a statistical oddity, the Monarchs were whistled for 120 yards on 18 penalties, but somehow it didn't seem to hurt them too much. "I can't be too happy with all those penalties," said Read.
They gained only 40 yards on the ground, but Olson made the difference. The senior threw for 206 yards on 13-of-31 passing.
"We gave up a lot of deep passes," Porters running back/cornerback Anthony McKnight said. "That's basically what it came down to."
Also, in large part because of its turnovers, the Porters ran only 12 offensive plays that consumed 6:57 off the clock in the second half. The result was all but sealed when Henry Read, the coach's son, recovered a fumble for the Monarchs with 5:22 to go.
The loss was a crushing blow to the seventh-seeded Porters, who dropped to 11th place. "It hurts," said McKnight, who covered 100 yards on 17 carries. "This hurts us bad because obviously they're the 14 seed and we're 7. Obviously it hurts our playoff chances, but I still believe in our team. I think we can pull together. We're going to shock a lot of people."
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