Piper High School Holds Off Monarch 36-34 in Wild Finish

by Matt Rothman September 21, 2026

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D’Tyler Marc races outside and scores a touchdown. {Matt Rothman}

The Piper High School football team picked up its biggest win of the season Friday night, holding off Monarch High School for a thrilling 36-34 victory.

The Bengals came out flying, with Jonathan Rivera recording an interception on the first play. Piper also recovered an onside kick and quickly capitalized with a touchdown pass from Maksim Steuber to Chason Williams. Piper then extended its lead to 20-0 following another touchdown pass from Steuber to Jason Thomas.

Monarch responded with its first touchdown to cut the deficit to 20-6 before both teams traded scores late in the first half. Steuber connected with Marc for another touchdown, and Nat Rodriguez added a field goal before halftime to give Piper a 29-14 lead.

The Knights mounted a comeback in the second half, but Jonah Julien made a crucial interception in the fourth quarter. Marc followed with his second touchdown of the game, this time on the ground, to extend Piper’s lead to 36-20.

Monarch scored two late touchdowns to cut the deficit to two points but could not recover the ensuing onside kick. Piper ran out the clock to secure the victory and improve to 3-2.

The Bengals will have a week off before facing Deerfield Beach High School on Thursday, October 1, at 7 p.m. The Bucks are 4-1 this season, with their lone loss coming against Blanche Ely High School, after winning just one game last year.

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Matt Rothman: Matt Rothman is a 2018 graduate from Florida Gulf Coast University receiving his bachelor’s degree in journalism and then graduated from the University of Florida as a graduate student.