Monroe Area head coach Kevin Reach knew it wasn’t too much of a stretch for his 2-4 Purple Hurricanes to pull off the upset Friday night against undefeated and fifth-ranked Hebron Christian Academy in Dacula.
After all, Reach knew his team was better than what its record indicated, having lost all four of its games to teams that had just one loss between them entering Friday.
Behind a 130-yard rushing performance by quarterback Jeremiah Anderson, the Purple Hurricanes (3-4, 1-1 Region 8-AAA) did it in dominant fashion, rushing for more than 300 yards as a team while capitalizing off turnovers and good field position to chalk up a much-needed 41-7 win over the Lions (6-1, 1-1).
“We were 2-4, but four of our losses were against ranked opponents,” Reach said. “We hadn’t had an easy schedule. It’s been a tough road, but our kids didn’t quit on me.”
Four of Monroe Area’s touchdowns came on drives in which they started in Lions territory. The Lions, on the other hand, drove the ball into the red zone six times, only to come away with one touchdown. The Lions turned the ball over on downs twice, fumbled inside the 10, had a pass intercepted at the 1, and missed a 47-yard field goal.
Reach said he knew Hebron Christian wouldn’t have much problem gaining yardage, and his defense stood tall and came up with game-changing plays when it needed to.
“They’ve done a great job all year being up on people early, 14- or 21-nothing,” Reach said of Hebron Christian. “We just felt like we needed to get a few stops. We got a big stop near the goal line and then went down and scored and it just kind of rolled from there. Our defense played really well.”
Running back Darrion Manuel broke a scoreless game open with a 1-yard touchdown run after Lions quarterback Gavin Hall was sacked and stripped at his own 20-yard line. The Purple Hurricanes recovered it and didn’t waste time taking advantage of the turnover.
Monroe Area started its next drive at the Lions’ 40-yard line and Anderson hit JB Flud on a screen pass as Flud avoided two tackles and raced down the sideline before being knocked out of bounds at the 2-yard line. Manuel punched it in on the next play for his second of three touchdowns. He finished with 48 yards on 12 carries.
Sophomore CJ Wilborn added 78 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns.
Anderson found the end zone just before halftime on a fourth-and-10 from the Monroe 32-yard line. With 25 seconds left, he looked toward the end zone but noticed no one was in front of him. He took off and slashed through the secondary for the 32-yard score to give the Purple Hurricanes a 21-7 advantage.
Monroe Area erased any doubt of a comeback, scoring on its first second-half possession, capped by Manuel’s third score of the night.
Hebron Christian mounted another drive that once again ended in disappointment as Hall was picked off near the goal line by Zillion Hammond, who returned it 69 yards to set up the next Purple Hurricanes TD.
Hall led the Lions in rushing with 154 yards on 23 carries, and running back Devon Caldwell had 85 yards on 18 carries.
In his sixth season at Monroe Area, Reach has never had more than four losses. After the game, he reminded his team to stay the course as it has three region games remaining, starting with Oconee County at home next week.
“A lot of times, you’re 2-4, and kids start losing interest, but our kids have stuck to the grindstone,” he said. “We know we’ve got a good football team, we just need a break here or there, and it kind of fell our way here tonight.”
Monroe Area |0| 2 |13| 7|--|41
Hebron |0| 7| 0| 0|0--|7
Second Quarter
MA — Darion Manuel 1 run (Rickey Valdivanos kick)
MA —Manuel 2 run (Valdivanos kick)
HC — Jake Redman 10 yd pass from Devon Caldwell (Nils Cole kick)
MA —Jeremiah Anderson 32 run (Valdivanos kick)
Third Quarter
MA — Manuel 5 run (kick failed)
MA — CJ Wilborn 19 run (Valdivanos kick)
Fourth Quarter
MA — Wilborn 1 run (Valdivanos kick)
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