MONROE CENTRAL’S Michael Bunting (81) runs with the ball after catching a pass Saturday night. He follows the blocking of Garet Cramer (76). The Seminoles defeated Strasburg, 46-6, in Division VII, Region 27 playoff action.

WOODSFIELD — It had been so long since Monroe Central had won a home playoff game that even long-time head coach Jay Circosta couldn’t come up with an answer when asked. A even tougher question was when had the Seminoles last won a home playoff game?

Both questions became relevant Saturday night after the 16th-seeded hosts dominated Strasburg, 46-6, on the natural grass surface at Monroe Park in Division VII, Region 27 first-round action.

Well, the victory was Monroe Central’s first in the postseason since it upset Centerburg, 15-9, in 2013. It was also the Seminoles first playoff win on their home turf since edging Nelsonville-York, 9-7, on Halloween Night of 2003 in Division V, Region 19.

The win was truly a team effort on the Seminoles part as head coach Josh Ischy and his brother John, the Seminoles athletic director and assistant coach, coached from the automobiles from the end zone facing the scoreboard. They are both under quarantine from COVID tracing until Friday and have been so since Wednesday. The watched live action from tablets and communicated with assistant coaches on the sidelines via headsets.

“This was a community effort. I will say that about Woodsfield and the Monroe Central community in general. They come together for our kids,” Josh Ischy said through the window of his SUV. “That was definitely on display tonight as Coach Circosta, Michael Jorris, a couple other guys and our boosters who are always there.

“Everyone went above and beyond their duty tonight in getting organized with John and I both out,” he added. “We didn’t find out until Wednesday mid-morning.”

Monroe Central (4-3) scored on four of its first five possessions and was never threatened by the 17th-seeded Tigers (2-4) who were playing for the first time since Sept. 25.

Senior Alex Kilburn tallied the first two six-pointers when he rambled for 51 yards to make it 6-0 on the fifth play of the contest. After the Seminoles stopped the Tigers on a fourth down, the 5-11, 215-pounder scooted 20 up the middle. He then latched on to the 2-point pass from classmate Malachi Rose-Burton for a 14-0 reading with 4-minutes, 6-seconds left in the first quarter.

“We came out those first two series on offense and set the tone. I thought we were physical, fast and we executed pretty well,” Josh Ischy said. “That has been the story for us all season. When we come out and set the tone physically, that kind of decides how the season has gone. If you look at our results from earlier this year, when we’ve been able to establish the running game, we’ve been pretty successful.”

Rose-Burton got into the scoring act with runs of 4 and 44 yards as the margin increased to 26-0 after both PAT passes failed.

Rose-Burton then picked off a Strasburg pass and returned it to the Tigers’ 40. Kilburn picked up 32 yards on first down and three plays later, he lumbered around right end from 6 yards out for a 32-0 advantage.

On the Seminoles next set of downs, Rose-Burton found Auston Hogue for 32 yards down the near sideline as Hogue made a fantastic one-handed grab while being closely guarded. Two plays later, Rose-Burton hooked up with Michael Bunting from 11 yards out and Garet Cramer made it 39-0 with a PAT kick.

David Habig intercepted a Strasburg pass to set up Kilburn’s fourth touchdown run, this one coming from 10 yards out in the third quarter. However, he was met by two defenders in the backfield as he took the handoff from Rose-Burton. Kilburn kept his powerful legs churning, spun to his left and found himself with wide-open running room into the end zone.

“I can’t say enough about him,” Josh Ischy praised of Kilburn. “He had two amazing runs. One on that end of the field and one right here in front of us where we didn’t execute our best and he made a man’s run.”

While Kilburn and Rose-Burton were powering the offense, Cramer was leading a defensive unit that limited the Tigers to nearly nothing for three quarters. Other standouts on defense included Habig who charted a dozen tackles in addition to his pick; Bunting with 10 stops and two INTs; Payton Robinson with seven tackles; and Kilburn and Hogue with half-a-dozen each, with Kilburn also logging two quarterback sacks.

“He’s such a smart player and that goes unnoticed a lot,” Josh Ischy noted of Cramer. “We’ve moved him around to just about every position on the defensive front seven. He’s done an exceptional job wherever he’s played. He’s gifted physically, but above his shoulders he’s the quarterback on that defense.”

Kilburn finished with 154 yards on 14 carries while Rose-Burton added 97 on eight trips. He also passed for 119 yards on 7 of 12. Bunting caught four passes for 66 yards.

Monroe Central advances to meet top-seeded Trimble Friday in Glouster. Kickoff is set for 7.