Penalties and miscues spoiled a strong comeback effort for the Warriors, as Portage was penalized seven times for 75 yards and was unable to comeback from a 22-8 hole on the way to a 28-21 loss to the Monroe Cheesemakers on Friday night at Bob Mael Field.

The biggest penalty came early in the second quarter when Nate Fredrick returned an interception 95 yards for an apparent touchdown, only to have the score taken off the board on a personal foul penalty on the Warriors. The official called Portage for an unnecessary block on that came well behind the play.

"They're fixable, but boy, they were stupid penalties tonight," said Portage head coach Dave Schmitz of his team's penalties. "Three unnecessary ones. They were questionable, but still, if you put the ref in a position to call them, you're going to get called. Those killed us."

Monroe looked to take control of the game early, after scoring on a 3-yard run from Alex Dammen on its opening drive. The Cheesemakers appeared set to go up two scores when Fredrick's interception ended one scoring threat.

Two more interceptions from Portage in the second quarter halted Monroe's scoring chances. The second of those interceptions came from Shawn Maldonado and was returned 60 yards to the Monroe 25 yard line. Portage scored on the very next play on a pass to Fredrick to tie the game entering the half.

Portage's third pick of the quarter was made late in the half by freshman Jon Nolan.

Monroe opened the third quarter with two straight touchdowns to go up 22-8, but the Warriors answered late in the quarter with an 18-yard TD run by John Biba to close the gap to 22-15.

After the Cheesemakers took a 28-15 lead early in the final quarter on a 20-yard run by Garrett Wyss, Portage again came up with an answer. This time it was Kevin Hurd who caught a strike from Koch on a slant route to make it 28-21 with 2 minutes, 37 to go.

The Warriors got the ball back on their own 7-yard line with 46 seconds to go and were able to drive the midfield, but get no farther as time ran out.

The win for Monroe ends a long losing streak as the Cheesemakers were 0-9 in 2007.

"We've been waiting for this one for a while and our kids have worked hard and they have been relentless," said Monroe head coach Curt Miller. "They have not given up and it's tough when you have a lot of loses in a row from one season to the next. I'm so darn proud of these guys. They were able to dig down deep and get a victory."

The win was also a first for Miller, who is in his first year leading the Cheesemakers.

"It feels great. It always does. We were really hoping for one last week, but we'll take this one. It feels awesome," Miller said.

Portage was able to move the ball at times, especially through the air. Koch showed off his strong arm, throwing for 175 yards on 13-of-25 passing.

Monroe did most of its damage on the ground, led by Alex Dammen's 158 rushing yards, the Cheesemakers finished the night with 251 rushing yards on 50 carries.

Schmitz and the Warriors will get back to work this week as they prepare to open up the conference season at Sauk Prairie. Schmitz was happy to see his team rally in the second half, but also realizes penalties cost his team a chance at getting its first win of the season.

"In the third quarter we got down 22-8 and I was looking to see how the kids responded and it was nice to see that they didn't quit. But, I let them know after the game that I wasn't happy," Schmitz said. "I am not going to let them be satisfied. It's easy to come back like that and say, ‘good try. We made a good comeback.' You can't be satisfied in a game like this."

MONROE 28, PORTAGE 21

Monroe 8 0 14 6 - 28

Portage 0 8 7 6 - 21

 

MONROE - Dammen 3 run (Klinzing pass from Tordoff)

PORTAGE - Fredrick 24 pass from Koch (Fredrick pass from Koch)

MONROE - Dammen 30 run (pass failed)

MONROE - Popanz 9 pass from Tordoff (Dammen run)

PORTAGE - Biba 18 run (Hohlstein kick)

MONROE - Wyss 20 run (run failed)

PORTAGE - Hurd 10 pass from Koch (kick failed)

 

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs - M 22, P 17. Rushes-yards - M 50-251, P 27-133. Passing yards - M 109, P 175. Passes (Att-Comp-Int) - M 7-13-3, P 13-25-1. Fumbles-Lost - M 0-0, P 3-2. Penalties-yards - M 5-35, P 7-75.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing: M - Dammen 32-158; P - Biba 9-39. Passing: M - Tordoff 7-13-3, 109; P - Koch 13-25-1, 175. Receiving: M - R

Rast 3-51; P - Fredrick 7-41.