William Monroe’s first home game of the season is always preceded by DragonFest, a big community festival that always draws a large crowd, confident that their beloved Greene Dragons can take on all comers at Martin Mooney Field.
That large crowd was not disappointed as Monroe got three rushing touchdowns from do-everything quarterback Malique Shackelford in a 32-14 victory over visiting Broadway Friday night in Stanardsville. Two of those scampers came in the second half after Broadway had trimmed Monroe’s lead to four and seemed poised to jump in front.
The Gobblers took the second-half kickoff and engineered a nine-play, 75-yard drive to trim its deficit to 18-14 on a four-yard keeper by quarterback Jesse Layne. Then, on the Dragons ensuing drive, Broadway’s Ezra Sawyer intercepted Shackelford on the Gobblers’ 10 to thwart a scoring opportunity, ostensibly flipping the momentum.
“What the normal person doesn’t see is that was a coaching interception,” Monroe head coach Jon Rocha said. “We told him to throw it and if it’s there, it’s a touchdown and if it’s not, it’s an interception.”
Monroe’s defense bore down though, forcing a Gobbler punt, and Shackelford made Broadway pay from 10 yards out to extend Monroe’s lead to 25-14 with 2:18 to go in the third. His third rushing touchdown effectively sealed the game as he went in from 24 yards out less than two minutes into the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
The Dragons’ defense dictated things in the first half. Broadway’s only points of the half came off a blocked punt return by Michael Fewell from 12 yards out early in the second quarter, giving Broadway a brief 7-6 lead. It was one of three blocked kicks in the half for the Gobblers, as they also swatted two Monroe extra point attempts.
But special teams was about the only facet of the game where Broadway outplayed the Dragons (1-1). On defense, they were unable to stop Shackleford, who carried 11 times for 95 yards and also did some damage through the air, completing nine of 16 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown. On offense, the Gobblers failed to take advantage of three William Monroe turnovers.
“One thing we did well tonight was handle adversity,” Shackelford said. “We turned it over a few times, but we went out and did what we had to do individually.”
Shackelford’s 26-yard dash with 7:29 to play in the second quarter gave Monroe a lead it wouldn’t relinquish, sandwiching his TD run with Greg Sizemore’s around the blocked punt. Sizemore’s 13-yard rumble in the first quarter had opened the scoring. Shackelford also linked up with Kam’Ron McCain for a 77-yard catch-and-run that accounted for the halftime margin.
“Malique will be the first to tell you that his offensive line gives him tons of time back there,” Rocha said. “And he’s got a great receiving corps, namely Kam’Ron and Jordan Gray. It’s great to have those options because we’ve been going against teams that put everyone in the box to stop the run.”
Layne struggled through the air for Broadway, completing just six of 19 passes for 26 yards and an interception. Brandon Cruz had a solid showing on the ground, carrying 24 times for 146 yards, but he was held out of the end zone.
William Monroe looks to get its record above .500 when it travels to Charlottesville next weekend. Broadway hosts Stuarts Draft as it searches for its first win of the season.
