Linton holds on late in penalty-laden game WR Oliver grabs two touchdowns, QB Goodman tallies two scores

Russell Goodman (6) spins out of a tackle in the backfield. Filling in for an injured Paul Oliver, junior, at quarterback, he rushed for a 5-yard score, tossed a 32-yard touchdown to Oliver and had a rushing two-point conversion. No. 8 Linton Stockton picked up its first win 22-20 over No. 18 Monrovia on Friday.

Photo by Hunter Tickel

Linton Stockton found a way through to its first win of its football campaign on a night aptly described as patchy.

The Miners topped Monrovia for the fifth time in the past six matchups, 22-20 on Friday.

Junior Paul Oliver lined up outside due to an ailing throwing shoulder and he resembled the antithesis of a decoy out of the gate.

He had a couple of toe-taps in the back right corner of the end zone with a defender draped over him for the opening Linton score.

“The first win is always special,” Oliver said. “To come in here and fight...we never gave up. We never got the calls but they didn’t either. We still kept competing and we just did what we did.”

The perpetual playmaker on the outside tacked on another touchdown from 32 yards.

“Paul is just outstanding, honestly,” junior and starting quarterback Russell Goodman said. “He just tracks balls so well, catches, his hands are great, his routes are amazing. You got to love having him.”

He nearly made it a hat trick but had a third score called back on a holding call in the second quarter.

After falling behind less than three minutes in, the No. 8 Miners (1-1), Class 2A USA Today state poll, put up 22 unanswered points before holding No. 18 Monrovia at bay.

Throughout the contest, junior linebacker Corey Andrews made several fierce hits and had a relentless nose for the ball. This included the final series to put this game to bed with less than 40 seconds left, on 4th-and-4 the ball sailed to the grass on the Linton 30.

Photo by Hunter Tickel Linton’s defense held Monrovia to 20 points on Friday with hard-hitting. The Miners won 22-20 to avenge last year’s double-overtime loss in this matchup.

“Well, my heart rate was probably going a little faster at that time, so many things can go on at that time, “ Coach Brian Oliver said. “The main thing I was so proud of..you look at Cooper [Smith], he made plays. Corey is just a dude. He’s going to lay the lumber every time he gets a chance on someone.”

Smith, a junior defensive back, put pressure on this defensive stand, resulting in a tackle in the backfield and an assisted tackle on another to ratchet up the pressure during the game-winning halt.

“Getting that final stop was [really] big,” Smith said. “The team really got up once we got down there, we [got] the sidelines into it like I said. Once that happens, I just give it everything I’ve got.”

After Oliver’s second receiving score with 10:44 left in the half, things got hairy.

Almost one hour of real-time expired for the completion of the second frame as a hail storm of yellow flags poured down on Roy Williams Field.

“It might have been the longest second quarter of my life,” Oliver said.

It started when senior Jesse Voigtschild fumbled at the Monrovia 20 after getting airborne during a rush. After a lengthy discussion — one of several the rest of the way — the call was overturned and the ball was given back to Linton.

The Miners proceeded to have the next two snaps go for touchdowns that were called back for holding calls.

Next, an outside screen pass to senior wideout Hayden Feltner resulted in a first down that drew more yellow — block in the back.

“You make a good play, you see a flag come back it breaks spirits down a little bit but you just [have] got to keep getting it up,” Smith said. “Really get the sidelines into it, get all the fans in there, get them going loud. Whenever we get the sidelines loud it’s hard for the [opponent] to get the plays in.”

The Miners nearly converted a 4th-and-21 from the 25 on a hook-and-ladder but came up a few yards shy.

The Bulldogs (1-1) looked set to waltz across the goal line following a 60-yard burst outside down the left sideline by senior Ryder Pool.

Their series was killed by a personal foul as a Monrovia player swung and made contact with senior Hank Gennicks’ face mask as he was on the ground after his tackle.

The Miners went ahead by 15 points to close the half as Friday’s starting quarterback Russell Goodman barreled across the plane as left guard Gennicks operated as a pulling lineman to the right side.

“I got to thank my linemen, honestly, they keep me protected and they help me run the ball,” Goodman said. “They make gaps for me.”

It was 9:18 p.m., at the break of this tilt. Linton didn’t score in the second half and Monrovia paid dirt with 10:18 left in the third quarter for nearly 2 1/2 hours between scores in real time. Senior Jozy Hand had Monrovia’s three scores on the ground in the game.

Photo by Hunter Tickel Monrovia was stymied at the Linton 30 on 4th-and-4 in the final minute of the game as Linton held on for a 22-20 win.

Six minutes earlier, Oliver nearly sealed the win getting loose for a 55-yard bomb but the sequence ended up stalling at the Monrovia 10.

“No, I didn’t want to take some hits to the shoulder but I still did and I feel fine so it’s good and ready to play next week,” Oliver said.

The Miners avoided just a second 0-2 start since 1994 and avenged last year’s one-point loss in double overtime to Monrovia.

“Coming into this game, all our coaches, their coaches, they said it on the news, we are all blue-collar boys,” Smith said. “We like to hit. Whenever we get hit, we don’t like it so we hit harder. I feel like a few times it was just tripping on someone accidentally but ever since that happened we just gotta get through it and come together as a team.”

Linton 22, Monrovia 20

SCORING PLAYS

First Quarter

Jozy Hand 8-yard rush, 9:10 (Emery Newlin kick).

Braylond McBride 5-yard pass to Paul Oliver, 1:37 (Jesse Voigtschild 2-pt rush).

Second Quarter

Russell Goodman 32-yard pass to Oliver, 10:44 (Goodman 2-pt rush).

Goodman 5-yard rush, 16.7 seconds (2-pt no good).

Third Quarter

Hand 14-yard rush, 10:18 (Kick no good).

Fourth Quarter

Hand 3-yard rush, 9:15 (Newlin kick).