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Monrovia Bulldogs @ Linton Miners


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First home game for Linton and should be the first test for the Miners to see what kind of a team they have.  Linton is playing a lot of young players along with some seasoned veterans  returning at key positions, namely at QB, receiver, and running back.  Three tall receivers are good targets for senior QB Gennicks.  Gennicks is the leading rusher as well, taking one 96 yards last week at North Vermillion.  The first two games were running clock games and the varsity offense put up 106 points in the four quarters they played while the varsity D allowed 13 points.  Monrovia is much improved so we'll see if the Mines are deserving of the high rankings they have in the polls.  On a personal note, I didn't travel to the first two Miner games but I will be in attendance at this week's game, marking the 85th consecutive season I have attended Linton Miner football games.

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7 hours ago, kingtut said:

First home game for Linton and should be the first test for the Miners to see what kind of a team they have.  Linton is playing a lot of young players along with some seasoned veterans  returning at key positions, namely at QB, receiver, and running back.  Three tall receivers are good targets for senior QB Gennicks.  Gennicks is the leading rusher as well, taking one 96 yards last week at North Vermillion.  The first two games were running clock games and the varsity offense put up 106 points in the four quarters they played while the varsity D allowed 13 points.  Monrovia is much improved so we'll see if the Mines are deserving of the high rankings they have in the polls.  On a personal note, I didn't travel to the first two Miner games but I will be in attendance at this week's game, marking the 85th consecutive season I have attended Linton Miner football games.

What kind of size does Linton have across the o line. Any idea? And 85 years. That's awesome!!

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7 hours ago, combthehair said:

What kind of size does Linton have across the o line. Any idea? And 85 years. That's awesome!!

From a previous post...

"offensive line of Hank Gennicks (soph 6'2 240), Wrigley Franklin (Sr 6'3 225), Nathan Watson (Sr 6'0 255) Aiden Giles (Se 6'3 200) and Jacob Breedlove (Jr 6'7 300)"

 

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14 hours ago, kingtut said:

First home game for Linton and should be the first test for the Miners to see what kind of a team they have.  Linton is playing a lot of young players along with some seasoned veterans  returning at key positions, namely at QB, receiver, and running back.  Three tall receivers are good targets for senior QB Gennicks.  Gennicks is the leading rusher as well, taking one 96 yards last week at North Vermillion.  The first two games were running clock games and the varsity offense put up 106 points in the four quarters they played while the varsity D allowed 13 points.  Monrovia is much improved so we'll see if the Mines are deserving of the high rankings they have in the polls.  On a personal note, I didn't travel to the first two Miner games but I will be in attendance at this week's game, marking the 85th consecutive season I have attended Linton Miner football games.

Hats off to you for supporting HS sports! 85 years, man that is awesome!

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7 hours ago, Cappy said:

From a previous post...

"offensive line of Hank Gennicks (soph 6'2 240), Wrigley Franklin (Sr 6'3 225), Nathan Watson (Sr 6'0 255) Aiden Giles (Se 6'3 200) and Jacob Breedlove (Jr 6'7 300)"

 

Franklin Watson and Giles all started last year.  Giles started as soph.  Gennicks started 1st 2 weeks then hurt a knee in practice and was out all year til the finale with Mater Dei and he had to play due to an injury to DeBruhl in 2nd half.  Breedlove would have certainly gotten play time and possible cracked the starting lineup as a soph but... broke his leg playing basketball maybe 2 weeks prior to opening game, and he did not play at all.   

7 hours ago, Impartial_Observer said:

Hats off to you for supporting HS sports! 85 years, man that is awesome!

Tut IS one of a kind.  This history he can tell and the stories... very few, if any, Linton football...or just Linton people can recall what he still recalls with clarity.   Need to get these stories on paper or on tape....  Please!!!! 

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15 hours ago, SEAL_63 said:

All of the skill position players look to be good size for the Miners...Gennicks in particular especially for a QB. The kid is a load to get to the ground.

Three good receiver targets for QB Gennicks in Freshman Paul Oliver, 6-3, senior, Logan Webb 6-4, and junior, Braden Walters, 6-5.  All three are basketball players. Webb and Walters, two year starters and FB Coach Oliver's son, Paul a likely BB starter this season.  Walters just joined the team this year after being outstanding in middle school.  He is a great addition to the team.  6-3 Lineman, Franklin is also a BB team starter. 

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Coach Andy Olson brought his Bulldogs to the Roy on back to back road  wins at Ritter (40-12) and Edgewood (42-10).  They had done the same in 2021 at home then were handed a 34-8 from Linton in Monrovia. They would finish that season at 7-4, a turn around from Olson’s 1st season at 2-8. Monrovia came into Friday’s contest looking to end a Miner 3 game win streak over the Bulldogs.  The yearly series has swayed Linton’s way winning 7 of  the last 8 meetings.   Monrovia ruled the series early on with 5 straight wins from ’99 to ’01, and in 1989 and 1990.

For many people the Miners had simply not been tested yet in 2022.  Back to Back running clock wins with Varsity starters sitting both second halves brought up the question of 4-Quarter games and conditioning.  Monrovia was clearly an improved club, and featured a huge interior line with three 6’0+ kids ranging 280, 290 and 305.  Monrovia relied heavily on their ground game centered around Fullback Brayton Belcher, a 6’2” 195 Junior returning from a year leading the team as a sophomore.  Also returning  was starting QB Eli Wagner at 6’0 210.

Linton would get the ball first, and move the chains on a big early roll of dice converting a 4th and 1 at midfield on a Hunter Gennicks 11 yard run to the Bulldog 37.  Jesse Voigtschild nearly broke for 6 on the next play but still rumbled 21 yards to the 16. However the Bulldog defense stiffened, and another 4th and 5 play saw Braden Walter’s make a catch at the 2 and dive into the endzone for a Miner score at 8:14.  However as Jose’ Sevilla-Garcia lined up to attempt his 1st PAT kick of the year, the snap was low and Gennicks was tackled leaving the score 6-0 Miners.

Monrovia came out as expected.  Heavy dose of Belcher, who started with an 11 yard blow up the middle.  It appeared the MOnrovia front line was winning the initial battle as both Belcher and Dominic Kindle were able to pick up nearly 5 yards  a touch and roll the chains forward.  Belcher carried 6 of the first 7 plays to the Miner 30.  A false start pushed Monrovia back 5 yards, then a big stuff of Dustin Kostrzewski by Ty Boyd and Wrigley Franklin set up a 3rd and 13. That pass attempt from Wagner was knocked down by freshman Paul Oliver.  A huge 4th down saw Wagner drop back to pass, and finding both TE Corbin Byrnes and Kostrzewsky wide open, perhaps too wide open as his pass sailed over Kostrzewsky’s head in the endzone and a sigh of relief from Miner fans as Monrovia came away with nothing after a 10 play drive. 

As has happened the last 2 games, the Big Play, and the legs of senior Hunter Johns struck quickly; in fact, on the 1st play after the failed 4th down from Monrovia.  Johns burst off tackle and down the middle of the field a total 66 yards for a touchdown in the south endzone.  The only area giving Miner fans concern was once more showing as the 2 point pass play failed and for the 3rd week in a row Linton was up 12-0.

With 2:13 in the opening stanza Monrovia found themselves in unfamiliar turf.  The Minder this time stuffed both Belcher and Wagner on 2 running plays, then Wagner pass to Byrnes was broken up by Johns with QB pressure from Wrigley Franklin.  Dale Sweet’s only punt of the night was a bad shank that travelled 5 yards to the Bulldog 43.  Linton wasted no time with a 7 yard pass to Webb followed by a 14 yard pass play to Walters put Linton at the 22.  Next play had Gennicks blast through the final 22 on the 1st play in the 2nd quarter.  Again the 2 Point PAT failed, and Linton was up 18-0. 

It was starting to look like another Miner rout as on the 1st play of Monrovia’s drive, Belcher was hit by Hank Gennicks popping the ball out, where Paul Oliver fell on it at the Bulldog 29.  Gennicks then scrambled from pressure for a 19 yard carry to the Bulldog 6, but a holding penalty on the next play pushed the ball back to the 16.  It made no difference as Gennicks went the final 16 for the score.  Johns was true on the 2 point run, and at the 11:01 of Quarter 2 Linton was up 26-0.  Monrovia went back to what worked starting from their own 32. Belcher and Kindle both had physical carries, including a Wagner keeper on 4th and 1 from the Miner 26.  On the 11th play of the drive Belcher punched it in from the 5 yard lline.  Emery Newlin was perfect on the PAT kick, and Monrovia was on the board albeit down 26-7 with 5:46 left in  1st half. 

In bad need of a stop, the Monrovia defense could not initially stop the Miner attack. Voigtschild got 7, then Walters 5 up to the Linton 39.  Walters then got behind Jackson Faries and Gennicks pass was too long yet Faries had ahold of Walters jersey as well.  That 15 yard Pass Interference call gave Linton a 1t down at  the Monrovia 46.  But that’s where is died out on 2 incompletions and a loss of 2.  Paul Oliver booted his 2nd of  the year 35 yards setting up Monrovia at their own 22.   Needing to put points on the board, the Bulldogs converted a huge 3rd and 8 on a Wagner pass to Byrnes that looked to be a TD except Ashton White tracked Byrnes down at the Miner 48.  It was another Wagner to Byrnes connection of 18 yards to the Linton 25 that got Bulldog fans in a tizzy.  Linton stood strong but it was yet again another wide open Kostrzewsky that Wagner missed in the endzone.  Finally on a 4th and 5 from the Linton 20, Wagner didn’t miss Kostrzewsky this time and Monrovia pulled closer with 1:09 left in half 1, and they’d receive the 2nd half kickoff. 

Down 26-13 Monrovia felt much better than minutes earlier, and it appeared they would get  the big play they needed when Gennicks threw on the run down the middle of the field for Webb.  Both he and Kostrzewsky went for the ball but the Bulldog won with the interception at midfield.  Alas, among the celebrating green and white jerseys was a yellow penalty flag back at the point of the pass.  As Gennicks had thrown ball, and it was well released, Byrnes took a shot at him with a hit from behind that drew the legit roughing the passer call.  This was a major blow to Monrovia, as the next play Gennicks took off on a mind blowing expedition of power and yet elusiveness as he ran 42 yards til pushed out of bounds and the Bulldog 19.  A short pass to Walter put Linton closer to the 9, then Gennicks himself blew thorugh tacklers for the score with just 0:28 left.  Voigtschild ran in for the 2 point  conversion giving Linton a 34-13 lead.

 

It almost was worse for Monrovia, and in fact should have been.  Wagner went for the home run ball, but Voigtschild drew a bead on it making the pick near midfield.  He then carried to the Bulldog 9, where he fumbled forward but still recovered by the Miners.  Somehow the officials called an inadvertent whistle, although replay showed nobody stopping or even slowing duing the play.  This, along with an earlier overturn on a play where a Bulldog had fumbled and a Miner had recovered being overturned after each team had brought their others units on the field, would be the 2nd call taking away turnovers.  Monrovia ran one more play then  the clocked hit zeroes ending an  exciting half of football.

 

Despite the margin, the statistics were not overly dominating.  Linton with 284 yards to Monrovia’s 196. Belcher alreadt had 17 carries for 89 yards at this point,  But Linton’s Gennicks has 123 yards on just 7 carries with Johns another 76 on 4 touches.  The Bulldogs had the huge advantage in Time Of Possession 16:07 to 7:53, but that didn’t seem to affect the scoring. 

 

Monrovia went back to their strongpoint and Belcher opened with 11 yards as he did to start the game. Kindle gained d9 on a 3rd and 4 to Linton 38.  Monrovia got a gift on an offside call on a 4th and 1 at the Linton 24, but once more faced a 4th and 6 from Linton’s 20. Again it was a wide open Corbyn Byrnes on the catch in the endzone and with Newlin’s PAT the score tightened 34-20 with 5:51 in 3rd.  It was another long drive of 11 plays 64 yards but it ate 6:09 of the clock.

Could the Miners match that drive with the same result?  From their own 37 Gennicks hit for 13 yards, then Johns converted a 3rd and 3 for 6 yards to the Bulldog 32.  Johns once more converted a 3rd and 3 with 10 yards to the M19. Walters carried for 6 to the 1 yard line, another 3rd down conversion.  It was Walters who went in from 4 yards  to culminate a 12 play 63 yard drive that also chewed up 4:18 of the clock.  It was now 40-20 Miners with 1:33 left in 3rd.

 

The Bulldogs needed to answer quickly, but they stuck to the ground with 3 Belcher runs, gaining 20 yards before trying to catch Linton sleeping. However on 2nd 9 Wagner was dropped by lineman Christian Shonk for a sack and loss of 4.  #rd and 13 had Wagner looks deep for Kostrzewsky, but the throw was well off target and right into the hands of Hunter Gennicks at the 33 of Linton.  He followed his defensive mates, now offensive blockers up the middle and  to the right where he looked to be cornered until he hit another gear and zoomed into the endzone from 67 yards.  The 1st defensive touchdown of the year.  Linton now was up 46-20 with 10:59 in the 4th

 

Starting from their own 14 after a personal foul on the PAT attempt, the Bulldogs seemed to decide to stick to the ground game which would likely eat valuable  time from the clock.  Linton stopped Monrovia after Franklin dumped Kostrzewsky for a 3 yard loss on 3rd and 6.  However, Monrovia faked the punt as Belcher threw to a wide open Byrnes who rolled 24 yards to the Miner 49, and possibly a bunch more with a great open field tackle from Voigtschild.  From there Monrovia emptied  the playbook with a double handoff pitch back pass from WR Eli Welch to QB Wagner which is scraped off the ground for a catch at the Miner 36. After an unsportsmanlike conduct pushed the Bulldogs back to  the Linton 49, Byrnes slipped behind any defenders to be wide open yet again, and was hit mid stride and the Miner 38. He would have easily scored were it not for Hunter Johns speed catching him at the Miner 13. They would reach the Miner 5 and facing 4th and goal from  the 2, Wagner kept the ball up the middle for the score. Newlin  was perfect once more on the PAT, and 4:25 left on the clock and a 46 to 27 Miner lead. 

 

Linton  was not through.  Carries from Johns (15) and Walters (21) got Linton to the Bulldog 25.  Backup WB soph Eli Scott then scooted around the right side for an apparent score that was brought back by a holding penalty.  Facing a 3rd and 13 Hunter Gennicks made his last impressive run of the night breaking 5 tackles on the way to his 4th rushing TD of the night from 27 out.  The PAT misadventures continued as another bad snap ended the scoring at 52-27.

 

It was another impressive night for Linton’s offense.  They scored on 7 of 8 possessions, racking up 353 yards rushing and 416 total yards.  Hunter Gennicks with 164 yards on 11 carries led all, but he also threw for another touchdown on a solid 8 of 13 passing for another 63 yards. Add to that, he had an 67 yard Interception Return for yet another score.  He wasn’t alone though as Hunter Johns had his 2nd 100+ yard rushing game with 112 on 9 carries.  Braden Walters with 6 for 40 and a TD, Jesse Voigtschild 4 for 31 and Eli Scott with 2 for 6.  Walters caught 3 passes for 35 yards and a score, Logan Webb with 4 for 19 and Paul Oliver 1 for 9.  Monrovia despite all the work from Brayton Belcher’s 29 carries and 148 yards only finished with 219 on the ground with 52 carries.  They did get 166 passing for 385 total yards.  Dominic Kindle added  55 yards on 12 carries, Eli Wagner 8-9 and Dustin Kostrzewski 3 for 7.   Wagner was 7 of 15 for 124 with 2 TDs and a pick.  Belcher threw the fake punt for 24 yards, and Welchhad a throw for 8.  That was Wagner’s lone catch, but it was Corbyn Byrnes with a big night with 5 catches for 128 yards a score.  Kostrzewski caught 3 for 30 with the other TD.

 

It was also a big night for Junior ILB Ashton White who had 12 tackles.  A whole host of Miners had 8 Tackles—Bradyn Cox, Aiden Giles, Hunter Gennicks, Hunter Johns, Russell Goodman, and Hayden Feltner. Christian Shonk had 5 tackles, including a sack and 2 TFL.  Paul Oliver and Wrigley Franklin both had TFL.  Byrnes led Monrovia with 8 stops, Kindle 7 Asher CLements with 6.  Joseph Smiyh, Jozy Hand and Dustin Kostrzewski each with 5.

 

For Linton, it was good to face a  physical strong team for 4 quarters.  The starters proved they could go the distance, and the offense was nearly unstoppable with  their 3rd 50+ scoring game.  The defense certainly had a grind with the Bulldog big offensive line and the inside running of Belcher.  There were some issue in the pass defense that caused  Miner fans concern, and the PAT situation is always a concern when you look ahead at close games. But it was good to see Linton stand toe to toe and answer the blows with blows of  their own. It was truly stellar to watch the performance from Senior QB Hunter Gennicks on this night. 

 

It was great to see a lot of people at the Roy, and good to see both endzones active.  With a huge game coming up with rival Sullivan next week in what means a little more with both of us now in the same class and same sectional.  You know Arrow fans will come to Linton with a lot of intensity, especially with Linton now ranked #1 in both AP and Coaches Poll. It’s a dream situation for the Arrows to come in and hand Linton a loss on their home field, and knock down a few pegs. It would be an awesome sight to see Linton fans wrap around the Roy and  fill  the stands in support of these players and coaches.  I hope you agree!

 

 

1              8:14        L              BRADEN WALTERS 11 YRD PASS FROM HUNTER GENNICKS (BAD SNAP)

1              2:13        L              HUNTER JOHNS 66 YARD RUN (GENNICKS TO WALTER NG)

2              11:52     L              HUNTER GENNICKSS 22 YARD RUN (JOHNS RUN NG)

2              11:01     L              GENNICKS 18 YARD RUN  (JOHNS RUN)

2              5:46        M            BRAYTON BELCHER 5 YARD RUN (EMERY NEWLIN PAT_

2              1:09        M            DUSTIN KOSTREWSKI 5 YARD PASS FROM ELI WAGNER (WAGNER TO KINDLE INC_

2              0:28        L              HUNTER GENNICKS 8 YARD (JESSE VOIGTSCHILD RUN)

 3             5:51        M            CORBYN BYRNES 20 YARD PASS FROM ELI WAGNER  (EMERY NEWLIN PAT)

3              1:33        L              BRADEN WALTERS 4 YARD RUN  (GENNICKS TO OLIVER INC)

4              10:59     L              HUNTER GENNICKS 70 YARD INTERCEPTION (GENNICKS SACKED)

4              4:25        m            ELI WAGNER 2 YARD RUN (EMERY NEWLIN PAT)

4              1:04        L              HUNTER GENNICKS 28 YARD RUN (BAD SNAP)

 

 

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