Turnover-prone Monessen pulls out sloppy win over Serra Catholic

By: Liam Belan
Friday, September 12, 2025 | 11:47 PM

Previous Next

A bizarre beginning to Friday’s game between Monessen and Serra Catholic foreshadowed a contest marred by turnovers and mistakes. In the end, it was Monessen that picked up a 13-6 win to kick off Black Hills Conference play.

After six-and-a-half minutes of action, there already were five turnovers as Serra Catholic (0-4, 0-1) opened the contest with three straight offensive drives.

The first two drives for the Eagles ended in three-and-outs, but they recovered muffed punts both times. On the first punt, a short one from Nate Loughner, the ball struck a Monessen (4-0, 1-0) player in a scrum, and Chris Green fell on it and gained some yards for Serra Catholic.

Then, after another three-and-out, Loughner booted a much better effort that slipped right through the grasp of Monessen’s main playmaker, Tavian Taylor. This time, it was Serra Catholic’s Cordarrell Rogers who fell on it and put his team in great field position inside Monessen’s 40.

The Eagles crossed the goal line on the next play as Green scampered for a long run, seemingly setting the home squad up with an early lead. However, it was called back for a hold, and, on an attempted screen pass on third down, Green was intercepted to finally give the Greyhounds their first possession of the game with 5:53 left in the first.

Green, who is filling in admirably for the injured Rayshawn Pritchard, finished 10 of 18 for 94 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. His head coach commended his efforts.

“Chris Green has stepped up big as a freshman coming in and learning on the fly,” first-year coach “Keem” Robinson said. “This was our first time this season having the same quarterback in back-to-back weeks, so shout out to Chris Green.”

Monessen’s first drive was short-lived as Taylor spilled the ball on his first carry, giving possession right back to Serra. Then, on his next touch once the Greyhounds got the ball back, he fumbled again for his third of the contest.

Despite the win, Monessen coach Wade Brown wasn’t satisfied with the start or much else related to his team’s performance.

“We had too many turnovers, too many penalties. At one point in the first quarter, we had more turnovers than plays ran,” Brown said. “It’s very frustrating when you’re trying to get something going and you’re playing like that. I’m not happy about this performance at all.”

It wasn’t until there was 3:10 remaining that Taylor took a carry and kept possession for a 6-yard run and then a 20-yard scurry. However, Monessen didn’t score, and the Eagles didn’t manage to, either, in the first half.

After Green tossed another interception on an underthrown deep ball in the second quarter, he ripped it out of the hands of Kayden Kolbeck and regained possession.

At the halftime break, both teams hoped to come out and perform better, and there was improvement from both sides despite more penalties.

While Monessen was gaining enough yards in the first half around its turnover issues, it needed to finish drives. The Greyhounds improved on that in the final two quarters with one touchdown in each, and the Eagles also showed more on offense.

First, it was Monessen that put a scoring drive together, striking first when Kaier Payne corralled a low snap and found Michael Hines, who took off for a 30-yard touchdown that made it 7-0 once Roodly Destyl hit the extra point. Payne posted 64 passing yards, one score and one interception.

Serra Catholic then squandered an opportunity to score when it recovered another Monessen fumble at the Greyhounds’ 15. The Eagles were pushed back 2 yards before settling for a 34-yard field goal from Loughner, who was pummeled on the play yet didn’t draw a flag as the refs ruled that the ball was touched by Monessen before he was hit. After that kick was no good, the action slowed down until the fourth quarter.

Serra Catholic’s special teams again came up with another play on a punt as Loughner dropped one that rolled perfectly and was downed at the 1-yard line. Monessen was clearly uncomfortable there, as it ran a QB sneak before chucking a deep shot that was intercepted by Rogers.

He brought it all the way to the Monessen 11, and the Eagles took advantage of their field position, this time when a circus play saw two Greyhounds crash into each other trying to break up a pass and Brayden Graham making a phenomenal catch by sliding underneath it. But just when things were looking up for the home squad, the point-after snap was rolled into the holder and couldn’t even be kicked before the Monessen field-goal unit swarmed the Eagles.

Leading 7-6, Monessen’s Kayden Kolbeck ran for a 24-yard touchdown to finish the scoring.

With 32 seconds remaining and Serra at the Monessen 33, Torrence Taylor picked off Green to seal the victory as the Eagles continued to battle until the end.

Up next for Monessen is a battle at Fort Cherry, and Serra Catholic will host Summit Academy.

Tags: Monessen, Serra Catholic