Monroe Central

Sectional Round 1: Tri 27, Monroe Central 22 The Monroe Central football team saw its 2026 season come to an end Friday night, falling 27-22 on the road to Tri in a hard-fought, back-and-forth first-round sectional battle. The game featured four lead changes, with Monroe Central taking a 16-15 lead early in the second quarter. But the Titans responded with two unanswered touchdowns to build a 27-16 advantage, then held off a late Golden Bears rally to earn the five-point victory and advance to next week’s sectional semifinal round. Both teams punted on their opening possessions, but Tri got its strong running game going from there, scoring on a 67-yard rushing touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 6:41 left in the first quarter. But Monroe Central punched right back, recovering an onside kick attempt and seeing quarterback Elias Hart find Carson Siekmann for a 70-yard touchdown pass on the first play of its ensuing drive. After a two-point conversion—a Hart pass completion to Leum Butler—the Golden Bears led, 8-7, with 6:30 left in the first quarter. Tri responded quickly with another rushing score, this time from 37 yards out on the third play of its next drive, and added a two-point conversion to retake the lead, 15-8, with 5:05 left in the first quarter. That score held until the second quarter, when Monroe Central used an 11-play, 49-yard touchdown drive to retake the lead, 16-15, with 11:51 left in the first half. Hart found Siekmann through the air once again, this time from 13 yards out, and connected with Knox Meyers for the two-point conversion. But Tri responded with its own 10-play, 57-yard drive, punching it into the end zone from one yard out to retake the lead, 21-16, with 5:49 left in the first half. That score held until halftime, as Monroe Central got as close as the Titans’ 10-yard line before time ran out. The Golden Bears went three-and-out on their opening possession of the third quarter, and the Titans seemingly took control from there, scoring on a 52-yard touchdown run on the ensuing drive to take a 27-16 lead with 6:20 left in the third quarter. But momentum soon shifted. Tri later drove to the Monroe Central 1-yard line, threatening to extend its lead. This time, however, the Golden Bears’ Carson Cruse punched the ball out, and Siekmann recovered the fumble at the 1. Four plays later, Siekmann, at quarterback this time, found Caden Dance across the middle on a short passing play. The speedy senior receiver did the rest from there, breaking away for a 97-yard touchdown reception to make the score 27-22 with 1:10 left in the third quarter. The Golden Bears’ defense held strong in the final quarter, but their offense got only as far as the Titans’ 45-yard line on Monroe Central’s final drive. Hart’s pass attempt to Butler on fourth-and-13 fell incomplete, allowing Tri to run out the remaining 2:40 off the clock. Hart completed 8 of 17 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns on the night. Siekmann had a strong all-around game on both sides of the ball. On offense, he completed 2 of 6 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown, ran the ball 11 times for a team-best 46 yards, and had three receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Dance had two receptions for 116 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. The Golden Bears’ defense was led by its front, with a team-best 11 tackles (one for a loss) by Peyton Cummins and nine tackles and a forced fumble by Cruse. Siekmann had seven tackles (three for a loss), a sack, and a fumble recovery, while Kaden Sullivan had two tackles for loss. Tri moves to 5-5 with the victory and advances to take on Lincoln (0-9) in next Friday’s sectional semifinal. Monroe Central’s season ends with a 3-5 record.