Chase McMonagle, Tigers, turn it on in second half for Homecoming rout
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
Chase McMonagle missed a couple early throws Saturday night, including one that could’ve gone for a touchdown.
“I knew I had to adjust,” Fleetwood’s junior quarterback said. “I knew I had better.”
Turns out he had a lot better.
McMonagle, in only his second start, threw for 217 third-quarter yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Tigers roared back in the second half for a 28-0 Homecoming victory in non-league game against Kennard-Dale.
The Tigers (3-3) played poorly throughout a scoreless first half. They committed penalties, dropped passes, and fumbled the ball away twice.
Everything changed in the second half as McMonagle came out firing. He completed a 24-yard pass on the first play and continued to pick the undermanned Rams (2-4) apart. Overall, he completed 14-of-25 passes for 312 yards and three TDs, 250 of the yards after intermission.
“At halftime they told me they trusted me, they knew I could get the ball there,” McMonagle said. “Second half we delivered.”
McMonagle hooked up with Dayvan Moore on a 37-yard touchdown pass on Fleetwood’s second possession of the second half and on a 94-yarder to Tristin McFarland on the next series.
McFarland, who matched a program record for longest scoring reception, finished with seven catches for 185 yards – second-most in program history.
McFarland began the season sharing the quarterback spot with Chase Domenech. When McMonagle, who broke a bone in his back early in camp, was healthy enough to play McFarland and Domenech went back to playing wide receiver full time.
It’s worked out well for everyone.
“I’m loving it,” McFarland said. “This is my natural position. We have a dude here that’s just played to his full potential. I’m just so happy for him, and proud of the team for making the change.”
McMonagle got his first start in Week 5 and threw for 211 yards in a 31-23 loss to Garden Spot. Even after a shaky first half Saturday Tigers coach Steve Pangburn didn’t lose faith in him.
“We see what he does Monday through Thursday,” Pangburn said. “I mean the ball barely hits the ground in practice, so we know it’s there. It’s just a matter of settling him down.”
McMonagle threw a perfect deep ball to McFarland down the left sideline late in the third quarter to essentially put the game away. McFarland got open on a hitch-and-go, caught the ball near midfield, then was off to the races.
“I knew Tristin had the one-on-one match-up,” McMonagle said with a smile. “I’ll take Tristin over anybody, any day.”
Jason Petion, who ran for 128 yards on 11 carries, broke the scoreless tie with an 18-yard run 2 ½ minutes into the second half.
McFarland’s second TD catch, from 5 yards out, ended the scoring with 4:07 remaining.
McMonagle became just the fifth Fleetwood passer to top 300 yards; Jack Riffle set the program record last year with 415 yards in the Eastern Conference Class 4A championship game against Shamokin. Mason Musitano set the program record with 206 receiving yards in that same game.
The Tigers secured their first shutout of the season when Domenech intercepted a pass inside the 10 late in the third quarter, ending a 13-play drive that saw the Rams get to the 2 before being pushed back by a penalty.
The Tigers had a few penalties themselves – 15, which prevented them from breaking the game open earlier.
Their defense, sparked by sophomore Beau Fegley and seniors Brandon Delgrosso and Landen Hare, kept them from falling behind. Fegley had a game-high 12 tackles, two for loss. Delgrosso has two tackles for loss and two hurries. Hare had a pair of sacks.
Despite the scoreless first half McFarland said his side never lost confidence.
“We knew our team was better than theirs,” he said. “We knew we had a quarterback who can get us the ball. We had the confidence to come out in the second half and convert.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Kennard-Dale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fleetwood | 0 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 28 |
Scoring summary
| 3 | Fleetwood | Petion, 18 run (Cappellano kick) | 9:42 |
| 3 | Fleetwood | Moore, 37 pass from McMonagle (run failed) | 7:29 |
| 3 | Fleetwood | McFarland, 94 pass from McMonagle (McFarland run) | 1:24 |
| 4 | Fleetwood | McFarland, 3 pass from McMonagle (Cappellano kick) | 4:07 |
Team statistics
| Kennard-Dale | Fleetwood | |
| First downs | 14 | 16 |
| Rushes-yards | 44-159 | 23-126 |
| Passing yards | 50 | 312 |
| Total yards | 209 | 438 |
| Passes | 13-23-1 | 14-25-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-0 | 2-2 |
| Punts-average | 5-35.0 | 2-39.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-45 | 15-108 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Kennard-Dale: Neff 21-65, Green 7-45, McShane 14-33, Smith 1-25.
Fleetwood: Petition 11-128, Hare 3-8, Killian 4-6, McMonagle 1-(-1), Moore 1-(-2), Team 3-(-13) .
PASSING
Kennard-Dale: Neff 13-23-1–50.
Fleetwood: McMonagle 14-25-0–312.
RECEIVING
Kennard-Dale: Smith 5-15, McShane 3-8, Tarbert 2-17, Green 2-9, Warne 1-1.
Fleetwood: McFarland 7-185, Moore 3-75, Petition 1-24, Domenech 1-18, Ryan 1-7, Hare 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS
Fleetwood: Domenech.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Fleetwood: Cappellano 36.
