Game Report: Class 3A Monticello at Benton Round 3

The Benton Rangers football team was back at Tabor Field for an Illinois High School Association (IHSA) showdown with the Sages of Monticello this past Saturday afternoon. <hr /> Benton won the toss elected to defer to the 2nd half. The 2nd play from scrimmage, 2022 WR/DB Reid Baumgarte intercepts 2022 QB/FS Joey Sprinkle to give the Rangers an excellent field position. 2022 QB [player_tooltip player_id="65707" first="Keegan" last="Glover"] drives the ball down to the 5-yard line before punching it in the endzone himself up the middle through traffic for the games first score, making it 7-0 at the 8:24 mark in the 1st quarter. <span style="font-weight: 400;">Sprinkle tried to get the offense off the ground but was halted by 2022 DL [player_tooltip player_id="155333" first="Patrick" last="Stanley"] with a 3-yard sack to put the Sages on long 3rd down that helped the Rangers get the ball back. The Sages held the offense in check on the ensuing drive that led to an impressive punt by Glover pinning them on their own 2-yd line. On the second play of the drive, Sprinkle dropped a beautiful 45yd air ball to a wide-open 2022 </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">WR Peyton Scott for a 98-yard touchdown pass with 4:35 in the first quarter, making the score 7-6. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The Rangers jumped on the scoreboard again rather quickly with some big plays putting them on the 5-yard again to set Glover up for another score up the middle with 2:45 in the first quarter, making the score 14-6. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Glover intercepts Sprinkle with 30 seconds left in the first quarter while the Sages were mounting a drive. That led to Glover connecting with his favorite target Reid Baumgarte for a 73-yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds left, making the score 21-6. </span> <h5>End of the 1st Quater Benton 21 Monticello 6</h5> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Early in the 2nd quarter, as the Sages were again driving the Rangers 2022, LB Jayden Ford recovers a fumble to set up a 52-yard touchdown pass from Glover to Baumgarte to make the score 28-6. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">2023 RB/LB Wyatt Upton intercepts Sprinkle with 2:32 left in the second quarter. Setting up another Glover touchdown pass to 2022 WR Zach Howell from 32-yards out with 25.8 left in the 1st half. Giving the Rangers a comfortable lead to making the score, 35-6.</span> <h5>End of the 2nd quarter Benton 35 Monticello 6</h5> The Sages didn’t give up they came out strong after an opening stop of the Rangers to start the half with a Sprinkle touchdown pass. Glover connected with Baumgarte with a 42-yard touchdown pass to put the game away, making the score 42-14. https://twitter.com/ryan_bennett77/status/1457086737495306246?s=21 <h5>End of the 3rd quarter Benton 42 Monticello 12</h5> The Rangers ran the ball throughout the 4th quarter, grinding the clock down. 2022 S/WR [player_tooltip player_id="155522" first="Chase" last="Thomas"] led the defense with big stops all over the field all day long. Especially in the 2nd half, he took over, creating havoc for the offense with [player_tooltip player_id="155333" first="Patrick" last="Stanley"] getting in the backfield regularly. <h5>Final Benton 42 Monticello 12</h5> [player_tooltip player_id="65707" first="Keegan" last="Glover"] Stat Line 18-24 (75%) 291 Passing 4 TD 124 Rushing 2 TD QBR:154 Interception on Defense <hr /> The Benton Rangers have advanced to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. They will hit the road to face an undefeated Mt. Carmel team this Saturday at 2 pm.