Eagles perfect season spoiled

In an opening round contest in the Central Coast Section Open Division, Mitty spoiled Oak Grove's perfect season with a 24-0 victory.

Kyle Evans scored a 13 yard touchdown run on Mitty's opening drive, and the Monarch defense kept the momentum after they forced a three-and-out on the following possession. Evans found the end zone again on the ensuing drive with a one yard run, and Mitty never looked back.

The defense was key for the Monarchs on Friday night and held an explosive Oak Grove team to just 121 yards of total offense. The Eagles never scored less than 21 points in the regular season, and this was first shutout for the Monarchs this year. Mitty had a strong defensive line to win the battle of the line of scrimmage, led by senior defensive end Jason Sutton, and a solid linebacking core to prevent the big play.

"The key was recognizing their plays and knowing what they were going to do," said Sutton. "We knew what they were going to do every play, we just played harder than them. We just came out and we wanted to win, and we did that."

Sutton had a sack and forced the opposing quarterback to scramble out of the pocket on two different occasions. Sophomore cornerback Dakari Monroe recovered a fumble on Oak Grove's first possession of the second half, which led to Mitty's final touchdown of the night.

The Monarchs also did a good job in stopping one of the top playmakers in the CCS, Oak Grove's Chidobe Awuzie. Awuzie typically saw double coverage when split out wide and had 58 total yards.

"We knew that was one guy we needed to stop," Sutton added about Awuzie. "We didn't count him out, but we knew we were going to stop that guy."

Offensively, the Monarchs were paced by a strong run game. Mitty's only pass attempt occurred with 4:30 left in the third quarter, which was completed for seven yards, but the passing attack was not needed.

Mitty ran for 264 yards in their option offense, which primarily featured quarterback Wyatt Hansen (69 yards), running backs Evans (23 yards, two touchdowns) and Daniel Mosko (90 yards), along with fullback Chandler Ramirez (40 yards, touchdown). The offense was extremely effective, as Mitty dominated the time of possession and scored all of their points on their first four drives.

Next week, Mitty will face St. Ignatius at Independence high school in the CCS Open Division semi-finals. All four West Catholic Athletic League teams in the Open Division advanced into the second round; however, those are the same three teams who defeated the Monarchs in the regular season. St. Ignatius defeated Mitty 21-6 in the final game of the regular season, but the Monarchs will be looking for revenge.

When asked about the expectations for the rest of the postseason, Sutton gave a simple response.

"CCS champs."

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

Mitty - 7:44 Evans 13 yard run (PAT Good) 7-0

Second Quarter

Mitty - 11:32 Evans 1 yard run (PAT Good) 14-0

Mitty - 1:19 Phil Langlois 40 yard field goal 17-0

Third Quarter

Mitty - 6:13 Ramirez 3 yard run (PAT Good) 24-0