October 8, 2005
Never say Never! Monarchs, Roncketti rally past Averett 29-28

DANVILLE, Va. – Chris Roncketti was determined not to let his Methodist Monarchs drop their USA South Athletic Conference showdown at Averett on Saturday. With that in mind, he literally put his team on his shoulders when it counted.

The senior quarterback paced Methodist to 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Monarchs rallied late to prevail 29-28 over Averett at Cougar Stadium. The victory is the fourth straight for Methodist, which improves to 4-1 overall. More importantly, Methodist remains in the heart of the USA South race undefeated at 2-0.

Methodist trailed 22-9 entering the fourth quarter when the Monarchs took advantage of a missed Averett field goal. Roncketti completed an eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring keeper to pull the Monarchs to within 22-16 with 12:11 remaining.

The Monarchs then dodged two potential disasters. After Averett recovered a Mike Hill fumble on the Methodist 25-yard line with 7:40 remaining, the Cougars drove to the Monarch 4. However, the Methodist defense held on downs and took over on the Averett 9.

On the second play of the drive, Roncketti’s pass was intercepted by Calvin Hall on the Methodist 15, and Hall returned it for an apparent Cougar touchdown. However, a pass interference penalty against Averett gave the Monarchs a first down and new life. Methodist took advantage of the Cougar miscue, driving 84 yards on six plays where Mike Hill’s 13-yard scoring run gave the Monarchs a 23-22 lead with 2:20 remaining.

But Averett wasn’t backing down. After a 42-yard kickoff return and a personal foul against Methodist, Cougar quarterback Todd Parsons connected on a 26-yard touchdown pass to Eric Sicre with 1:54 remaining. Averett missed the two-point conversion, and the Cougars clinged to a 28-23 lead.

Methodist, however, had one final shot, taking over on its own 41 with 1:47 remaining. Roncketti accounted for all 58 of the 59 yards on the final drive – 21 yards rushing and 37 passing. His 30-yard pass on third down-and-10 from the Averett 35 gave the Monarchs first-and-goal from the Cougar 4. Two plays later, Roncketti scored what would be the game-winning touchdown on a four-yard keeper off a draw.

After completing only 1-for-7 passes for 16 yards in the first half, Roncketti responded by passing for 164 yards in the second half on 12-for-19 pass attempts to finish with 180 yard through the air. Hill, meanwhile, recorded his fourth straight 140-yard-plus game rushing with 177 yards on 32 carries with a pair of touchowns. He scored the first Monarch touchdown of the game on a 13-yard scoring jaunt early in the third quarter.

Hill now has 723 yards rushing this season, and he’s only 22 yards shy of breaking the Methodist single-season rushing record of 744 yards, set by former All-American DeCarlos West in 1996. Only a sophomore, Hill also eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing for his career, becoming the eighth Monarch player in school history to accomplish that feat.

In addition to Roncketti and Hill, Sands had three receptions for 82 yards, while Antwin Shuford recorded 14 tackles defensively, followed by Daryl Lawrence with 11 and Max Pope with 10 tackles.

For Averett, Parsons completed 19-for-34 passes for 275 yards and four touchdown passes. He gave the Cougars a quick 14-0 lead with first quarter touchdown passes of 26 to Sicre and 38 to Jeff Hughley. He also connected on a 65-yard touchdown pass to Sicre midway through the third quarter.

All three of Sicre’s receptions were touchdown receptions accounting for 117 yards. In addition, running back Kyle Wilson gained 109 yards rushing on 24 carries for Averett (2-3, 0-2).

Next up for Methodist is a Friday night (Oct. 14) USA South showdown against Ferrum at Franklin County High School in Rocky Mount, Va.