Oct 18, 2009 3 min read

MONESSEN – Did anybody get the number of that Greyhound bus? Monessen erupted for four third-quarter touchdowns, including two in a span of 11 seconds, to race past visiting Jefferson-Morgan Friday night, 43-21, and maintain sole possession of first place in the tight Class A Tri-County South Conference.

After the Greyhounds took a 7-0 lead on Brett Crenshaw’s 40-yard run early in the second quarter, Jefferson-Morgan capitalized on a pair of Monessen fumbles and excellent field position to grab a short-lived 14-7 lead. J-M’s Brent Moskola hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Kozich to even the game at 8:16 of the period and, following another turnover on the Greyhounds’ next possession, Derek Haiden scored from six yards to give the Rockets the lead. J-M’s scoring drives were 41 and 17 yards, respectively.

But whatever momentum the Rockets gained quickly evaporated. Monessen marched 58 yards through the mud in 12 plays to even the game when Crenshaw scored his second touchdown of the night on an 18-yard run with 1:17 remaining in the second period.

“We had some momentum, but Monessen took it right back with that late touchdown,” J-M coach Jan Haiden said.

Then came the third-quarter deluge – and it had nothing to do with Friday night’s inclement weather.

Taking the second-half kickoff, Monessen needed only five plays to travel 60 yards to grab a 21-14 lead, with Trae Cook scoring on a four-yard run. Monessen recovered the ensuing kickoff at the J-M 32 and Crenshaw recorded the hat trick on a 32-yard romp one play later. Following an interception, Cook scored on a four-yard run and, three J-M plays later, Monessen’s Brady Kunsa returned an interception 38 yards to cap the 29-point third quarter explosion.

“I just don’t know what happened in the third quarter,” Haiden said. “Monessen didn’t make any mistakes and we didn’t do anything right. We couldn’t get anything going. We’ll have to look at film Monday and see what happened. Obviously the two interceptions didn’t help, but Monessen is a good team. We just didn’t do the job.”

Dustin Conti scored the Rockets’ final touchdown on a two-yard run with 1:25 remaining in the game.

Monessen (5-2, 5-0), which won its fifth consecutive game, piled up 279 yards on the ground, and was led by Crenshaw’s 172 yards rushing on just 11 carries. Cook finished with 78 yards on eight attempts. Jefferson-Morgan (5-2, 3-2) managed 98 yards rushing, with Haiden rushing for a team-high 30 yards on 13 carries. Kozich completed eight passes in 16 attempts for 88 yards.

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Jefferson-Morgan will travel to California Friday, while Monessen will visit Carmichaels.