Monroe Golden Tornadoes blow away Columbus

ALBANY — The winds have settled down now at Hugh Mills Stadium but Thursday night the Golden Tornadoes of Monroe High School were in full force as they blew out the visiting Columbus Blue Devils 57-7 in front of a large homecoming crowd.

“It was a great effort by our guys,” said Monroe head coach Lacey Herring. “We were able to sharpen some things we need to do before the playoffs. We still don’t have a definitive answer for who we will face in the first round. One of the advantages of a bye going into the playoffs is having an extra week to prepare but since Harlem and Morgan County are playing for the region championship next Friday, we’ll have to wait and see who we play.”

The storm Thursday night began so quickly that many of the fans were not even in their seats before the Tornadoes blew into the end zone for their first touchdown of the night.

Monroe took the opening kick and after one play got no yards on a rushing attempt, senior quarterback Corey Randle threw a strike in the middle of the field to his brother Camryn Randle who raced 59 yards for the touchdown. At that point, 36 seconds had ticked off the game clock.

Monroe’s next possession took a little longer, but not much. Randle connected with senior Jacobe McDonald for a pass play that ended at the Columbus ten-yard line. The Blue Devils calmed the Tornadoes for the next three plays but on a fourth and four play the Randle brothers connected again when Corey threw to Camryn in the corner of the end zone for the second Monroe touchdown.

The Blue Devils tried to get the air game going but the constant pressure of Monroe’s defensive front seven kept quarterback Robert Hartford in panic mode on most every play. That led to Monroe senior Janorris Winkfield picking off a Columbus pass and returning it all the way to the four-yard line before being stopped. Moments later, running back Demarcus Freeman blew through the Columbus defense into the end zone and Monroe was up 21-0.

The three touchdowns in the first quarter put Monroe up 21-0 but in the second, the Golden Tornadoes added four more touchdowns to lead 50-0 at the half.

Randle found wide receiver Talun Jones wide-open for a 59-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. The next TD pass went to Raymond Tinch in the corner of the end zone but the big play was another pass to McDonald who finished at the 10-yard line a couple of plays earlier.

Columbus’ punter got a workout Thursday night but booted some strong punts that kept Monroe in their territory for a play of two. After his next punt, the Tornadoes started at the 25, but Monroe threw to Jones again and he outran every defender into the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown to push the lead to 43-0.

The final touchdown of the first half was a 71-yard strike to Jordan Washington.

Monroe finishes the regular season 6-3 overall and 3-2 in region play. The Tornadoes will be the No. 3 seed from Region 1-AAA heading into the state playoffs. The Tornadoes will play the loser of the battle between Morgan County (8-1) and Harlem (7-2) who play next Friday for their region title. Morgan County routed Cross Creek Friday night 51-6 and Harlem smashed Salem 42-6. Either way, Monroe will be on the road as the No. 3-seed.

By Joe Whitfield
Sports EditorJoeWhitfield[email protected]