The Monticello Billies opened the 2024 8-4A Conference season on Friday night at Hyatt Field, hosting the undefeated Hamburg Lions.
Hamburg came into the contest with an overall 3-0 record having defeated McGehee, Dumas, and Magnolia in non conference contests.
The Billies entered the contest with a 2-1 non conference record having lost to Fordyce but had won their last two contests against Bauxite and Dumas.
Monticello would win the opening coin toss and would defer to receive the ball to start the second half.
Joseph Rojas would kick the ball away to get the contest underway with the ball going out of bounds giving the Lions their first possession of the game at the Hamburg 35 yard line.
Hamburg would not get much offense going in their first possession, having to punt the ball away from the 50 yard line after A.J. Robinson tackled the Hamburg runner for a loss.
Monticello would begin their opening drive on their own 30 after a 10-yard punt return by Jackson Hines.
Monticello would drive into Hamburg territory with the majority of plays being on the ground between Zaedin Jones and Joseph Accelus with Accelus pushing the ball to the Hamburg 28 yard line before breaking free on the next carry for the 28-yard touchdown run.
Rojas would add the extra point to give the Billies a 7-0 lead.
Hamburg would once again be forced to punt by the Billie defense after Robinson sacked Saxton Cooper at their own 34.
After the punt, Monticello would take over at their 27 after no return.
Jones would gain seven yards on the first two runs, followed by a 12-yard pass from Tye Guthrie to Jax Rawls to the Monticello 46.
Accelus and Jones would combine to rush the ball down to the Hamburg 28 where Guthrie would connect with Rawls for a 28-yard catch and run for the Billie touchdown.
After the Rojas xtra point, the Billies extended their lead to 14-0 with nine second remaining in the quarter.
Hamburg’s next drive would extend into the second quarter with Hamburg being forced to punt from their own 34 yard line after a false start penalty but before the punt, Monticello would be flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty that would give the Lions a first down at the Monticello 44.
Jackson Hines would get an interception on the next pass, but Monticello would be flagged for pass interference to give the Lions a first down at the Monticello 29.
Hamburg would score on the drive after a pass from Cooper to Ke’Ovion Brown for a 28-yard touchdown pass.
Alberto Aguilar added the extra point to cut the lead to 14-7.
Monticello turned the ball over on downs at the Lion 34 on their next possession with Hamburg cutting the lead to 14-10 after a field goal by Aguilar.
The score remained until the end of the half.
Monticello received the ball to begin the second half but the drive would stall at the Hamburg seven, but the Billies would get the ball back at the Hamburg 20 after Jackson Hines recovered a fumble for the turnover.
Guthrie would connect with Rawls for a 16-yard gain to the four with Jayden Rhodes taking the ball in for the touchdown.
Rojas added the extra point to extend the lead to 21-10.
Monticello forced Hamburg to punt on the next possession but Hamburg would intercept Guthrie on the next possession at the Hamburg 45.
Cooper would connect with Colt Tubbs for 53-yard gain to the Monticello two with Ni’Kel Lewis getting the touchdown run.
Aguilar added the extra point to cut the lead to 21-17.
Aguilar’s kickoff would go into the endzone for a touchback and on the first pass of the drive, Guthrie connected with Accelus for a nine yard pick up.
A holding penalty would move the ball to the Monticello 44.
The Billies would advance the ball into Hamburg territory, pushing the ball down to the Hamburg 15 to end the third quarter.
Jones would advance the ball to the Hamburg two to start the fourth quarter with Accelus covering the two yards for his second touchdown of the contest.
After the Rojas extra point, the Billies lead was 28-17 with 11:47 on the clock.
Hamburg would score on their next drive to cut the lead to 28-25 with 8:52 remaining.
Monticello would answer the score on their next drive after a 17 yard run by Guthrie and an extra point by Rojas to put the Billies up 35-25 with 4:20 on the clock.
Hamburg would cut the lead on one play on the next drive on a 67 yard touchdown pass with Aguilar adding the extra point to cut the lead to 35-32.
Hamburg would successfully execute an onside kick on the kickoff, but on fourth down Hamburg’s pass would be incomplete out of the end zone allowing Monticello to take over on downs, downing the football for the win to improve to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in 8-4A Conference play.
The Billies will now turn their attention to Friday night for their second conference contest, travelling to Warren to face the Warren Lumberjacks in the annual Union Bank Saline River Shootout.
The Lumberjacks defeated the DeWitt Dragon last Friday 36-22 and are currently 3-1 overall and 1-0 in conference.
Kickoff is at 7 pm.
