MONROE — JJ Jerome rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns and Zach Zimmerman threw two touchdown passes to Shanden Mixayphone as Monroe clinched a playoff spot with a 28-16 victory over Mariner in a Wesco 4A football contest on Friday night.
The Bearcats (4-2 in league, 6-2 overall) jumped out to a 21-3 lead on the Marauders in the first half, but Mariner )3-3, 3-5) fought back in the second half.
“I was very pleased with our ability to win the ugly one,” Monroe coach Brett Jay said. “It’s an important thing for teams to learn how to do, and I was pleased with our young men for managing to pull it out when we weren’t firing on all cylinders. Give credit to Mariner for coming out fighting. We had some opportunities to put the game away and we didn’t do that.”
Jay gave credit to defensive coordinator Pete Hartzell for holding the powerful Mariner rushing attack in check on Friday night.
“Coach Hartzell called a great game and credit goes to our players for executing our game plan,” Jay said. “We bowed our backs in the red zone a few times and kept fighting. We really focused on stuffing the run and did a great job of reading our keys and reads.”
Zimmerman went 8-for-14 for 88 yards and two interceptions to go along with the two touchdown passes, but Jerome picked up the slack on the ground.
“JJ did a great job moving the chains,” Jay said. “Our offensive line made some seams for him.”
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