Hays Post
OAKLEY â The TMP-Marian Monarchs rallied from down two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to beat the Oakley Plainsmen Friday night 28-20 and move into a tie for first place in the district with two weeks left in the regular season.
Oakley Plainsmen got on the board first, taking advantage of a roughing the punter penalty after it looked like the Monarchs had forced a three-and-out to start the game. Oakley scored on a 25-yard touchdown run and led 7-0 with just over seven minutes left in the first quarter.
The TMP offense struggled to get going for most of the night, punting on three of its first four drives and turning the ball over on downs twice.
After the Monarchs' first three-and-out, Carson Liles pinned Oakley inside the four and on third down, Caden Dinkel intercepted a pass and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown cutting Oakleyâs lead to 7-6 with just under four minutes and thirty seconds left in the first quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, Oakley put together a 12-play touchdown drive, capped off by a one-yard touchdown run, making it 13-6.
Both teams moved the ball in the third quarter, but the score remained 13-6 until Oakleyâs broke on the scoreboard with just over 10 minutes left, scoring a one-yard touchdown run for a 20-6 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, the team got a great kickoff by Adler Brown to their 47-yard line. Four plays later, they scored on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Liles to Jacob Seib. The same two connected on the two-point conversion as the Monarchs cut the deficit to 20-14 with 9:20 left in the game.
An Oakley fumble near midfield gave the Monarchs the ball back with less than eight minutes left, and they again proceeded to drive down the field on a 10-play drive, converting on a fourth-and-16 and a third-and-21 before Liles scored on a nine-yard touchdown run, tying the game at 20.
The Monarchs lined up to kick the extra point, and on a bad snap, Liles picked up the pass, his pass was deflected by a TMP player and ended up in Brownâs hands for an improbable two-point conversion to put TMP up 22-20 with just over three and a half to play.
Oakley fumbled on their next offensive possession deep in their territory, and Liles capped off a short scoring drive with a little more than two minutes to play, putting TMP up 28-20. TMP would go on to win by that score.
TMPâs Carson Liles completed 15-of-23 passes for 170 yards and added two rushing touchdowns. Jacob Seib hauled in seven receptions for 90 yards, and Issac Purington added seven catches for 71 yards.
TMP improves to 4-2 on the season and 2-1 in district play.
Oakley drops to 2-4, and they are also 2-1 in the district.
TMP hosts Syracuse next Friday at 6 p.m. at Lewis Field in Hays.