The Monticello Billies 2024 4A State Championship Tournament run ended on Friday night as the Billies traveled to Southside to face the Southside Southerners in the Quarter-Final round of the tournament.
The Billies would win the opening coin toss and would defer to the second half.
Joseph Rojas would kick the ball away to begin the contest with Southside beginning their drive at their own 28 yardline.
The Billie defense would take center stage on the opening drive, forcing the Southerners to punt from their own 35.
Monticello would begin their opening drive from their own 40 after an offsides penalty was called on Southside before the first snap of the possession.
Joseph Accelus would run for 10 yards to the 50 on his first carry but would lose yardage on his next two carries.
Tye Guthrie’s first pass of the contest would be intercepted by Southside’s Trey Allen at the Monticello Southerner 40, returning the ball to the Monticello 46 yardline.
Southside would get the first touchdown on the drive on a five yard run by Owen McLaughin.
Monticello’s next drive would extend into the second quarter and would produce the only Billie score of the contest, a 60 yard touchdown pass from Guthrie to Jayden Rhodes.
After several penalties and extra point attempts, Rojas would finally get a fair kick to tie the contest at 7.
The Billie offense could not get anything going throughout the game producing a total of 205 total yards of offense.
Southside would add two more touchdowns and a field goal to secure the 24-7 win to advance to the semi-final contest at Arkadelphia.
For the Monticello Billies, the season ends with the Billies making a run to the quarter-finals after finishing the season as the 8-4A Conference Runner-up.
The Billies will finish the season with a 9-4 overall record, marking the highest conference finish in several years and advancing to the third round of the championship tournament.
