Morgan County relied on a team effort to beat Cedar Shoals 46-20 on Sept. 12 during its homecoming game.
The Dogs (5-0) made plays in all three phases – offense, defense, and special teams – to dominate the Jaguars.
Early on, their offense took control, scoring on their first six possessions. A number of players got in on the action, with the team holding a 19-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter and a 33-7 lead at the half.
Morgan County’s defense also shut down the Cedar Shoals offense, outside of one drive early in the second quarter. The Dogs’ domination on the defensive side of the ball allowed the offense to thrive and stay in rhythm. Their offensive unit also had a short field most of the game, making it easier to get into the end zone.
Morgan County head coach Clint Jenkins said his offense, thanks in part to the defense, set the tone early.
“You can get out and get ahead and try to build a little lead, which we were able to do, and that’s important. And, obviously, again, we feel like we only punted once in that game, and that was actually late in the game,” Jenkins said. “So I’m proud of our offense. Coach (Brett) Bell and the offensive staff are doing an unbelievable job with that. And the kids are just getting first downs and making plays, so we’ve got to keep doing it.”
The Dogs continued their success on offense in the third quarter, not letting their foot off the gas. Their defense gave up a few more big plays, but as a team, they coasted the rest of the game to preserve the big win.
Throughout the game, Morgan County’s special teams played well aside from one mistake, but the unit complemented the other two units nicely. The Dogs didn’t recover a squib kick, but they did recover two onside kicks.
Jenkins felt his team could’ve played a bit cleaner, but said they’ll work on those things during the bye week.
“I thought Cedar was an improved team from last year,” Jenkins said. “We knew they were a young team last year, but we got some guys back who can really play in certain areas, and they’re tough when they get the ball to their guys in space. On defense, aside from two plays where they got away from us, I felt like we were able to do what we wanted to do, just like on offense. We just need to clean up some things on special teams, especially with our extra points — but that’s all in the past now.
"Watching the Notre Dame-Texas A&M game, you realize that can’t happen in a close game, so we’re struggling a bit with that. We lost the turnover on special teams, on a squib kick that we didn’t handle well, but we did recover two onside kicks they tried later. Cedar did a lot of things, switching from empty to a four-man overload, so there’s a lot to prepare for.”
Quarterback Davis Strickland completed 11 of 17 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Christian Monfort tallied 84 yards on 16 carries with four scores. Alex Corrias added 47 yards on 10 rushes.
Coley Wesley caught three passes for 59 yards and a touchdown, while Ty Tillery hauled in two receptions for 57 yards. Monfort and Wyatt Singleton, who had two catches for 26 yards, also caught touchdown passes.
Morgan County will have a bye this Friday, but will open up region play on Sept. 26, against Westside (Macon).