Scott, Monroe Beat Odds in Upset Win Over Reseda

Although Monroe High led by 3 points, the odds seemed stacked against the Vikings when they took the field for the second half of Friday night’s Mid-Valley League title game at Reseda.

Monroe had capitalized on a Reseda fumble and a short punt, driving 33 and 29 yards to score 13 points. The Regents, meanwhile, had marched 73 and 57 yards to score a touchdown and a field goal. And Reseda had outscored its opponents, 72-7, in the second half this season. Additionally, the Regents had shut down Monroe tailback Curtis Scott in the second quarter, holding him to 14 yards in 7 carries after he had run for 79 yards in 9 carries in the opening period.

But, despite the odds, Scott and Co. were not worried.

“I was a little bit more tired at halftime than usual,” said Scott, who finished with a career-high 231 yards in 37 carries and scored 26 points in the Vikings’ 28-10 win. “But I knew I was going to get the ball a lot in the second half. We had to just keep doing what we’d been doing in the first half.”

Though Monroe (7-1, 6-0 in league play) failed to score on its first possession of the third period, the Vikings set the tone for the half by driving 68 yards to the Reseda 13-yard line before Scott’s halfback option pass was picked off by Herbert Benjamin at the Regent 3.

Six plays later, Charles Patrick intercepted a Coley Kyman pass and the Vikings marched 34 yards on 5 runs by Scott, who added a 2-point conversion to take a 21-10 lead.

“I told the guys at halftime that if we could move the ball on Reseda on our first drive that we could beat these guys,” Scott said.

Scott proved a prophet as Monroe’s stacked-I offense wore down the Regent defense. Scott, the leading rusher in the Valley area, rushed for 93 yards in 16 carries in the first half and 138 yards in 21 carries after intermission.

“He just runs and runs and runs,” Monroe Coach Frank D’Alessandro said. “He never gets tired. He gets stronger and stronger as the game goes on.”