It’s Playoff Time As Hurricanes Host ACE

The Monticello Hurricanes worked their way back into hosting a home playoff game for the first time since 1992 with a 63-0 victory against an overmatched Utopian Academy for the Arts team last Friday night.

The game was a make-up game from when Hurricane Helene made a visit in September, and was played at the Hurricanes home field instead of on the road as originally scheduled. The game itself was never in doubt, as the Hurricanes scored early, and scored often on the hapless Utopian defense.

Speaking of defense, the Hurricanes set what is believed to be a school record with six interceptions in the game. This broke a record of five that was set in 1971 against GMC, and previously against both Duluth and Berkmar during the 1967 season.

Jalen Stewart also eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season on his first carry from scrimmage, a 65-yard blast through the heart of the Utopian defense on the first play of the game. Stewart is the first 1,000-yard rusher for the Hurricanes since Shamarian Greene in 2019.

As for the game, the Hurricanes set the tone early, scoring in two plays after taking the opening kickoff. Stewart scooted all the way to the two-yard line on a 65-yard carry as previously mentioned, and then finished off the quick drive on the next play, going in from the two. Tyrin Epps added a two-point conversion, and the Hurricanes were off to the races with an 8-0 lead.

This was to be repeated on the next Hurricane drive, as MJ Maddox scored on a 20-yard dash around right end. This score was also on a two play drive, this time set up defensively on an acrobatic play by Cam Farley, diving to garner an interception, the first of six picks on the night for the defense.

A short time later the Hurricanes were back in the end zone again, scoring on a 35-yard pass from Jamarkus Thomas to Demonte Greene, who was alone for the uncontested catch. Parker Eaton added the point after try, and the score now stood at 22-0 with 3:47 left in the first quarter.

Kamarion Owens added another touchdown, this time on the defensive side of the ball just two plays later, returning the second Hurricane interception of the night 55-yards to pay dirt. This time Martin-Garcia added his second point after kick of the night, and the lead had increased to 29-0.

The next score came on the shortest drive of the season for the Hurricanes, as Stewart crossed the line from three-yards out on the first play from scrimmage after the Hurricanes had forced a three-and-out. On the punt attempt, the snap went over the head of the Utopian punter, who picked it up and ran sideways and backwards before being stopped for an 18-yard loss by a host of Hurricane tacklers. The score by Stewart and the ensuing PAT by Martin-Garcia increased the first quarter lead to 36-0.

The Hurricanes forced another three-and-out, and another poor snap on the punt attempt led to a panicked pass by the punter for a two-yard gain, unfortunately for Utopian it was fourth and 10, and to add insult to injury, there was a flag thrown on the play for ineligible receiver downfield. The Hurricanes declined the penalty, and took over possession at the Utopian 30-yard line. Another short field and another short drive resulted in a quick Hurricane score, with Thomas taking it in from 19-yards out. The extra point from Josue Torres was good, and the margin increased, now up to 43-0 with the second quarter still freshly started.

Another three-and-out, and another punt attempt for Utopian, this time successful, gave the Hurricanes possession at the 35-yard line going in. Stewart made quick work of the Utopian defense, charging through for 35-yards on the one play possession for the score. The extra point by Torres was no good, and the score stood at 49-0.

The Hurricanes fumbled on their next possession, but got the ball back quickly, with a Cam Johnson interception that put the Hurricanes on the march again. Six plays and 62-yards later, the Hurricanes were in the end zone for the final time in the first half, this time on an eight-yard run by Maddox, his second score of the evening. Martin-Garcia added another PAT, and the score was 56-0 at the half.

The second half was a running clock from the kickoff, and the younger Hurricanes took over both offensively and defensively. The only score in the time shortened half was made by freshman Cam Franklin on an 11-yard run. During the drive for the score there were some big plays coming from receiver Dan Cooksey with a 25-yard reception of an Owen Houston pass on 4th down for a conversion, and a big 12-yard run by Cam Johnson to get the Canes out of a hole caused by a sack. Torres completed the scoring by striking through the extra point, and the final score stood at 63-0, Hurricanes.

This Friday night, the Canes will host the Academy for Classical Education (ACE) Charter School Gryphons . The two programs are familiar with each other, having played at the end of spring practice, as well as two JV competitions this fall.

ACE will be making the short trip from Macon boasting a 6-4 record, making the playoffs as an at-large team after finishing fifth in region 2-A. The Gryphons have a balanced offense, throwing and passing for over 1,000 yards as a team in both categories. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. with tickets for sale on GoFan for the first round at $10 each. The Hurricanes would love to have a large crowd out to cheer them on, so wear purple and be loud!

Go Canes!

SCORING

1 2 3 4 Final

Utopian 0 0 0 0 0

Monticello 36 20 0 7 63

Monticello TDs Stewart 3 TD run (2,3,35), Maddox 2 TD run (20,8), Thomas TD run (19), Owens INT TD (55), Greene TD rec (35) from Thomas, Franklin TD run (11)

PAT Martin-Garcia 4/4, Eaton 1/1, Torres 2/3, Epps 2 pt. run

Box Score Monticello Utopian

First Downs 11 3

Rush Att./Yards 24/267 20/-29

Com./Att./Int. 9/12/0 8/25/6

Passing Yards 139 35

Individual Stats

Rushing Stewart 6/128/3, Chance Ross 3/48, Maddox 3/47/2, Thomas 2/23/1, Franklin 2/17/1, Cam Johnson 2/19,

Isaiah Jackson 1/6, Sentrez Culp 2/-8, Houston 3/-9

Passing Thomas 2/2/0/44/1, Maddox 2/3/0/45/0, Houston 5/7/0/50/0

Receiving Greene 1/35/1, Dan Cooksey 1/25, Nolan Dean 1/24, Jackson 1/21, Jay Vinson 1/9, Culp 1/13, Franklin 1/7, Lucas Sprayberry 2/5