Rawlins leads Monessen to 21-0 victory over Mikes
Carmichaels' Josh Mundell (11) picks off a ball intended for Monessen's Aaron Jackson (10).
Carmichaels' quarterback Josh Mundell carries the ball towards the end zone in Friday's game against Monessen.
John Menhart (right) questions a referee about a call. Menhart resigned as Carmichales Area High School football coach but remains as the high school principal. (Photo by Holly Tonini)
MONESSEN — In an essentially defensive struggle throughout the first half at Monessen’s Memorial Stadium Friday night, Greyhounds quarterback Chavas Rawlins took matters into his own hands…er legs.
Rawlins gave the ‘Hounds a 7-0 first-quarter lead with a 51-yard run on a fourth-and-one quarterback draw at the 7:31 mark.
With 5:20 remaining in the second quarter, Rawlins did it again, racing untouched between the hash marks and through the middle of Carmichaels’ defense, giving Monessen a 14-0 halftime lead.
Rawlins, with 117 yards rushing on eight attempts for the night, propelled Monessen (3-0, 3-0) to a 21-0 Class A Tri-County South win. Carmichaels fell to 1-2, 0-2.
Monessen had run roughshod over its first two conference opponents in the first two weeks of the season, outscoring them 80-0, but the 21 points given up in the loss were of little consolation to Carmichaels coach John Menhart.
“You are never satisfied with a loss,” Menhart said, “but I did see some good things out there tonight. We knew coming in here that it was going to be a tough, physical game. Monessen has a lot to challenge you on offense and the big plays in the first half obviously hurt.” Monessen, in fact, rushed for a mere 21 first-half yards, excluding Rawlins’ touchdown romps.
Especially demoralizing was Rawlins’ second touchdown run, on the same play.
“Monessen has great athletes and can hurt you in so many ways,” Menhart added. “Once Rawlins got in the open, we didn’t have anyone who could catch him.”
Down 14-0 at the half, Menhart’s words to his Mikes were simple: “Come out in the second half and get something soon, but that didn’t happen. We had several opportunities, but couldn’t take advantage of anything, and against a team like Monessen you can’t give anything away.”
Final statistics failed to indicate the closeness of the game. Behind Rawlins, Monessen rushed for 191 yards and added 110 through the air, including Rawlins’ 13-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Madison at the 5:03 mark of the third period. Conversely, Carmichaels, whose deepest penetration into Greyhounds territory was to the 32-yard line early in the third quarter, was able to muster only 41 yards rushing and 62 passing.
Menhart, however, said the defeat was all on him.
“We made some changes for this game but the result was confusion,” he said. “We wanted to spread it out to put us in a better position to win, but we were unsuccessful.”
Perhaps Carmichaels’ most obvious change was inserting sophomore quarterback Brandon Lawless into the starting lineup.
Talk about a tough arena for a first start and baptism under fire!
Lawless was 6-for-22 for 62 yards and two interceptions.
“These were his first varsity snaps,” Menhart noted. “He didn’t play last year and he’s a 15-year old sophomore but, all in all, I was pleased with his effort. To his credit, we had a few drops, but for the most part his passes were on the button.”
Despite the setback, Menhart was encouraged by his team’s effort.
“There was no quit out there tonight,” he said. “Despite the score and outcome, we saw a lot of good things out there. We did well against a talented group of players and we have a ton of things we can build on, including senior leadership. We just have to put things back together for next week.”
Josh Mundell led the Mikes with 35 yards rushing on 15 attempts, Colton Yoders, Vincent Stephan, and Mundell each had two receptions.
Carmichaels will host Beth Center next week, while Monessen hosts California.
Tri-County South Conference
Monessen 21, Carmichaels 0
at Monessen
First Quarter
M: Chavas Rawlins 51 run (Coby Matush kick), 7:31 (0-7)
Second Quarter
M: Rawlins 54 run (Matush kick), 5:20 (0-14)
Third Quarter
M: Jalen Madison 13 pass from Rawlins (Matush kick), 5:03 (0-21)