It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Monarch can now relate to. They fell just short of the Mesa Ridge Grizzlies by a score of 34-31 on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Coyotes have suffered since October 26, 2023.
Despite the loss, Monarch had strong showings from Malakhi Payne, who rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown, and Riley Montemayor, who threw for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
Mesa Ridge's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Bryce Riehl led the charge by throwing for 319 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 13.9 yards per attempt. Riehl has been hot recently, having posted four or more passing touchdowns the last three times he's played. Kobe Dooley was Riehl's top target, picking up 191 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Monarch moved to 9-3 with that defeat, which also ended their six-game winning streak. As for Mesa Ridge, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season.
As of now, neither Monarch nor Mesa Ridge have any future games scheduled.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
