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Blue Devils quarterback A.J. Eller threw two touchdown passes to Daniel Dominique as the Brookville held on for a31-21 win on Thursday night at Brookville Stadium.
Connor Michael rushed for 134 yards and a TD for Brookville, which improved to 6-1 and 3-0 in the Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division.
Tyler Tracey rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown and Deaton added two rushing TDs for Monroe, which fell to 0-7 and 0-4 in the division. It was the third time in the last five weeks Monroe lost by 10 points or less.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of so-called moral victories this year,” Monroe coach Bob Mullins said. “For lack of a better word, it just stinks for our kids. Every day they show up and give us everything they’ve got. They’ve not been rewarded yet for all the hard work that we’ve done, but I’ll tell you this, I wouldn’t trade one of them guys for anybody else’s guys. Next week, we’re going to show up and do the same thing — we will continue to fight and play hard every single week.”
Collin Deaton scored on a 1-yard TD run with 8:46 remaining to pull the Hornets to within 24-21.
The Blue Devils countered with a 14-play, 56-yard drive capped by a 3-yard TD run by Jake Meyers to seal a fifth straight victory.
“Our kids battled and hung in there,” Hetrick said. “We put the ball on the ground three times and we were able to overcome it. I don’t know if that led to some of the things going on, but it was definitely a hard-fought win for us.”
The Blue Devils’ drive spanned nearly seven minutes and kept the ball out of the Hornets hands with the game on the line.
“That kind of broke us a little bit because we ran out of time,” Mullins said. “In order to beat them, you’ve got to match their physicality and you can’t let them do that on that last drive.”
Monroe had more than 100 students attend the game, Mullins said. The crowd got louder as the Hornets drew closer and closer at a chance to earn their first victory.
“We’ve had close game after close game,” Mullins said. “We’ve got to learn how to win these games. That’s just what it is.”
Dominique had a season-high eight catches for 102 yards and two TDs in the victory. Eller went 12-for-17 for 153 yards and two TD passes.
“(Dominique) does a great job,” Hetrick said. “There’s been a couple games where we’ve thrown the ball one or two times and didn’t need to. He’s a weapon. He’s someone you have to prepare for. He’s a great kid, too. It’s nice to see him have that success.”
Eller found Dominique on a 19-yard TD pass in the first quarter to give the Blue Devils a 7-0 lead. After forcing a Monroe punt, Michael scored on a 1-yard run to make it 14-0.
Two plays later, Tracey scored on a 67-yard run to make it 14-7. After recovering a Brookville fumble, Deaton scored on a 3-yard run to tie the game at 14.
On its next possession, Brookville turned to its passing game, quickly moving the ball down the field. The Blue Devils completed five passes, including a 26-yard TD strike from Eller to Dominique to take a 21-14 halftime lead.
“We knew we were going to throw more than we have the last few weeks,” Hetrick said. “We don’t practice any more or any less throwing it. Coaches think that’s all we do is practice passing and come out and run on Friday nights. Our kids are prepared to do it. We can throw if we need to. They were ready for what we had to do tonight.”
The Blue Devils are in a position to challenge for a league title and a playoff berth in Division V, Region 20. Key matchups with Bellbrook, Franklin and Valley View await in the final three weeks of the season.
“We’ve got the big three at the end of the schedule,” Hetrick said. “We’ve set ourselves up in the league to play them one at a time to knock ‘em off. We know that going into every year. If you want to win the league, you have to beat those guys. We’re looking forward to the challenge and it’s going to be a big challenge, but it’s going to be exciting. It will be fun.”
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