Thomas Dale Knights Tough It Out For 16-8 Win!
On your way down Iron Bridge Road there is a crossroad, an intersection named Jessup Road. It is literally 2 minutes away or 1.1 miles from where the Monarchs football team calls home. While Wyatt Jessup was not the road to victory in this one, Cole Lienberger was as his name will not be forgotten in the land of Monarchs. Without Cole’s relentless play and drive, the Knights may have fallen instead of the Monarchs.
Messy First Quarter
If I had to describe the first quarter to anyone, messy would be the best word. In a game that saw 22 penalties called against them, 7 of those penalties took place in the first quarter. On top of that you had Meadowbrook with the first turnover of the night when Kanyen Wronge intercepted Wyatt Jessup.
A great defensive play, it unfortunately for the Monarchs setup the first points of the night for Thomas Dale. The Monarchs were backed up at their own 12 yards line and instead of moving forward that Knights defense kept pushing them back. Ultimately it was Cole Lienberger making the tackle that forced the ball loose. Meadowbrook recovered to avoid the Knights a TD but not enough to avoid the safety.
That safety came with 3:32 to go in the first quarter.
Tying It Up
The Knights of course got the ball back following the safety and three minutes & 5 plays later they were in the end zone but scoring a touchdown this time. The first offense score of the night for either team came about when Wyatt Jessup hit Daniel Lewis from 38 yards out. The Knights failed on the two-point conversion but they had a lead, 8-0 heading into the second quarter.
That lead lasted about five minutes. In a matter of five plays the Monarchs had answered the Knights with their own scoring drive. A drive that saw Deshaun Chisem throwing it up three times and connecting twice with the pass to Anthony Broadie extending the drive on 4th & 7. That pass put the ball on the 2-yard line and that was all Ricari Enoch-Bailey needed. Ricari backed up the TD with a 2-point conversion.
What followed was 30 minutes & 47 seconds of shutout football as the two defenses flexed their muscle.
The In Between
Thomas Dale had the ball 4 times in this time gap and went three and out twice with penalties stifling the drives just as much the Monarch defense. The Knights had a drive stall after stretching the field 32 yards but Kanyen Wronge & Ricari Enoch-Bailey stepped up and slowed down the developing drive when it mattered the most.
Meadowbrook on the other hand had drives but they could never make good on them. Penalties were beneficial to those drives as well. One such example was when Meadowbrook was punting on fourth down and the Knights were called for running into the kicker. A bad call by many along the visitor sideline but that was the call that extended the drive. Then there was another questionable call when Cole Lienberger was hit with a roughing the passer call. That came on third down and gave the Monarchs another set of downs.
The Monarchs would not fair so well on fourth & 7 as they themselves were called for a false start. On 4th & 12 the Monarchs went for but the pass fell incomplete with the receiver falling down. There were a little over 4 minutes left in the third quarter at this moment.
Meadowbrook had a moment where it felt like the stars might align. Meadowbrook blocked the punt setting themselves up at the Thomas Dale. A third down pass in the end zone would be broken up by none other than Christopher Ward who would later come up with a key interception. This pass breakup setup the final ten exciting minutes of play…
Final 10 Minutes
The final minutes were something you had to see to believe but I will try to paint a picture for you here.
To set it up we have to dial it back to the 10:15 mark of the fourth quarter. That is when Meadowbrook missed a field goal.
Thomas Dale marches 71 yards to the Meadowbrook 9-yard line to setup camp in 10 plays. Two Jaiden Hite & one Cole Lienberger carry later the Knights are facing 4th & 1 with the ball at the 1! Cole goes high but the Monarchs defense is ready and they stop him short! It took a few seconds for the ruling to be made but from those standing in the back of the end zone (myself) you could clearly see he never got through.
The Monarchs defense stood tall and now it was up to their offense to make the big play. That wasn’t going to happen against this Knights defense in crunch time. Backed up at their own 6 the Monarchs failed to move the ball on two straight pass attempts. On 3rd & 10 Cole Lienberger and Javaris Thomas-Tucker made themselves a Deshaun Chisem sack sandwich. The Monarchs 3 & out giving the Knights another chance.
There is less than a minute remaining in the game. The fourth quarter has been a methodical hijacking of time of possession for the Knights. On the return there is a bit of a trickery involved that nearly cost the Knights the ball near midfield but they survived until Wyatt Jessup went airborne and found Kaden Jones of Meadowbrook instead of his own man. The would be TD is now an INT and touchback for the Monarchs.
With time ticking the Monarchs chose to go for splash instead of safe route and play for overtime. On the very first play, 1st & 10 at their own 20 Chris Ward of Thomas Dale jumps in front of Dashod Singleton at the Meadowbrook 30 along the visitor sidelines and snatches the ball away. A reversal of fortune if you will. Ward almost returns it for a pick-six but is shoved out by Elijah Crooker at the 4-yard line.
One play later it is Deja vu with the Knights again at the 1-yard line. This time Cole Lienberger does not go high, he plows through and he has to work for it but he bust through to the end zone. Seconds later he does it again for the 2-point conversion.
Meadowbrook is able to get off two plays but run out of time and sustain their first loss of the season as the Knights rejoice as they remain undefeated.
Thomas Dale 16, Meadowbrook 8 – Box Score
| Play | Score | Time |
| Safety (Cole Lienberger) | 2-0 Thomas Dale | 1Q – 3:32 |
| 38-yard pass Wyatt Jessup to Daniel Lewis. 2 pt. conversion no good. | 8-0 Thomas Dale | 1Q – :33 |
| 1-yard run from Ricari Enoch-Bailey. 2-pt. conversion good. | 8-8 Meadowbrook | 2Q – 7:01 |
| 1-yard run from Cole Lienberger. 2-pt. conversion good. | 16-8 Thomas Dale | 4Q – :14 |
Players of the Game
This is pretty simple for Thomas Dale… it’s Cole Lienberger. On the defensive side of the ball Cole forced a fumble that resulted in a safety, had a fumble recovery and a sack. Not enough? How about the game winning touchdown on a night where he carried the ball just 5 times for 20 yards.
As for Meadowbrook… although he needs no intro, I present to you Kaden Jones. Jones had 7 catches for 93 yards for the Monarchs. Then on defense, his biggest play was an interception in the first quarter to challenge the Knights passing game.
Coach Speak
Post Game Nuggets
Thomas Dale improves to 11-1 all-time when meeting Meadowbrook as an undefeated team.
Meadowbrook falls to 1-5 all-time when meeting Thomas Dale as an undefeated team.
16 points was the fewest Meadowbrook had held Thomas Dale to since their 2015 meeting when the Knights scored just 14.