Monroe @ Belleville

Monroe enters this game against highly ranked Belleville on the heels of a 62-28 thrashing of Woodhaven in the week 1 playoffs while the Tigers disposed of Dearborn 28-6. These two teams haven’t played since the old Mega-Red days. Monroe holds a 19-15 advantage, but that record has little to do with Friday’s match up.

Monroe: 7-3 (4-1, SEC Red)


Coach: Nick Notario


Players to Watch:


QB, Maleik Linton
RB, Jared Banks
RB, Jalen Johnson
LB, Hayes Brooks
LB, Anthony Harris
G, P.J. Brown
G, Joe Schnorberger
S, Cole Sulfaro
LB, Jace Clark

Monroe has an explosive offense that looked extremely fast on the turf at Woodhaven last week. The defense has been good enough this season, but will need to slow-down the high powered Belleville offense in order to stay in the game.

Belleville: 10-0 (7-0, KLAA-East)


Coach: Jermain Crowell


Players to Watch:


QB, Christian Dhue-Reid
RB, Deon Selma
OT, Devontae Dobbs
LB, Marvin Ham
DB, Julian Barnett
DE Tyrece Woods
DB, Andre Seldon
DE, Jalen Hunt

Belleville won 6 games against playoff competition this season and boast D 1 talent all over the field. The Tigers have been one of the top ranked teams in the state all season and have shown a nice knack for coming back and winning games after trailing.

This is a game where Monroe is a heavy underdog against the home team Belleville, but the Trojans have enough fire power on offense to score on the Tigers. Defensively, Monroe must prevent the big play from the Tiger’s offense and force them to put together long drives.

Chris’s Pick: Monroe 28 Belleville 27
Gary’s Pick: Belleville 35 Monroe 27 
Frank’s Pick: Belleville 48 Monroe 28