WOODSFIELD — Monroe Central High coach Jonathan ‘Fin’ Calder said his team “needs to stack up some wins” if his Seminoles are to move up the Region 23 ladder.

Celebrating homecoming Friday night at Memorial Park, the ‘Noles used dominant work in the trenches to allow senior AJ Rutter (112 yards) and junior QB Cooper Howell (4 TDs, 119 yards) to top MOVL rival Shenandoah, 35-12.

“We had an excellent first half from our linemen on both sides of the ball,” said Calder, “and it was good to see our game plan with the run make a difference.”

Monroe scored on its opening drive when Howell, who completed 11-of-12 passes for 133 yards, scampered up the middle on a QB draw. Wyatt Cohen’s perfect PAT made it 7-0 at 7:32.

Shenandoah wasted little time scoring as Caden VanFossen took the ensuing kickoff at his 15, broke several tackles on his half of the field and darted the MC side of the field to complete an 85-yard TD return. The PAT kick failed, but it was 7-6.

Howell made it 14-6 with a 39-yard TD run set up by a 21-yards catch by junior Corbin Farnsworth. Cohen’s boot was true at 3:59.

The ‘Noles recovered a Zep fumble at the visitors’ 17 late in the quarter to set up a third score. Rutter chewed up 16 to the one yard-line, where Howell found paydirt on the opening play of the second. Cohen’s kick made it 21-6.

The hosts’ o-line of center Parker Sefert, guards Talin Stein and Lukes Stiver, tackles Brayden Baker and Jared Seebach, and tight end Farnsworth were in complete control prior to halftime as MC had 218 ground stripes at the break.

Howell’s third TD made it 28-6 with 5:53 showing in the half after Cohen’s PAT.

Karylyn Steed drew the gold rose to be crowned homecoming queen, while Blake Yontz was named king.

Rutter found the end zone on a two-yard burst with 2:07 showing and Cohen split the uprights for a 35-6 spread.

The Zeps, now 3-4 on the season, host to River next Friday, added a TD when Ethan Cutlip hauled in an Ethan Brown aerial covering 23 yards at 3:48 in the third.

“It’s a good win and the line was the key tonight,” Calder added, as the 3-4 record Seminoles travel to Toronto next Friday.

Defensively, junior tackles Drew Landefeld and Ashton Lumbatis were effective, as were ends Farnsworth and Stiver. Gabe Eing was solid in the secondary.

Including the Woodsfield years, the ‘Noles lead the series 44-14-2. It was the first time in Monroe Central history the players wore all-black.