By RANDY GONZALES

rgonzales@dailynews.net

The Monarchs scored more points in one quarter than they did in an entire game last year.

Scoring four touchdowns in the second quarter, the Thomas More Prep-Marian football team rolled past Kinsley 33-6 in Friday night's season opener at Lewis Field Stadium.

Last year, the most points the Monarchs had in a game was 26 in a win over Larned.

"Being able to score, score again is a tribute to these kids," TMP-Marian coach Gene Flax said.

After a scoreless first quarter, TMP-Marian scored 27 points in the second quarter. Senior Andrew Allen, at running back again after playing on the line last season, bulled his way over Kinsley defenders for 168 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns. He had 118 of those yards in the first half, including 98 in the second quarter.

"The line blocked for me," said Allen, a running back his first two seasons before being moved to the line last year. "It was open field for me most of the time."

Allen scored the game's first touchdown with 9:17 left in the first half. After TMP-Marian recovered a muffed punt, the Monarchs got the ball at the Coyote 33. Three plays later, TMP-Marian had fourth-and-1 at the Kinsley 24 when Flax called a dive play. The line provided a gaping hole for Allen, who sprinted into the end zone. The Monarchs failed on a 2-point conversion.

"We went to the simple dive," Flax said. "The line did a great job zone blocking it."

On Kinsley's next play from scrimmage, Monarch senior cornerback Jacob VonLintel intercepted a pass by senior quarterback Reed Strate and returned it 24 yards to the Coyote 11-yard line.

Monarch senior quarterback Andrew Heimann scored three plays later on a sneak from the 1-yard line. Allen ran in the 2-point conversion for a 14-0 lead with 8:08 left in the second quarter.

After a Kinsley punt, the Monarchs marched 79 yards in nine plays, capped by another 1-yard sneak from Heimann. Allen's PAT kick made it 21-0 with 2:18 left in the first half. Allen carried the ball four times for 30 yards and caught a pass for 22 yards in the drive.

After the ensuing kickoff, Kinsley lost a fumble on the second play from scrimmage. The Monarchs capitalized, going 36 yards in seven plays for the score. Allen scored on a dive play from the 1-yard line with 16 seconds left before halftime to make it 27-0.

A Monarch squib kick to start the second half was recovered by TMP-Marian at the Kinsley 31. The Monarchs drove to the Coyote 1, but lost a fumble.

Kinsley was unable to move the ball, and senior Cesar Hernandez's punt was blocked in the end zone, with Monarch senior lineman Gus Konz recovering the ball for a touchdown.

"Special teams were better than we anticipated the first week," Flax said.

Kinsley avoided a shutout in the fourth quarter. Strate hooked up with senior Tanner Rilsoe for a 31-yard TD pass with 7:32 left in the game.

Other than that one big play, the Coyotes were manhandled by an aggressive Monarch defense. Kinsley had one first down in the first half -- on the last play of the second quarter, and had five for the game. The Coyotes had 121 yards of total offense.

"We were as physical as any team I've had the last four, five years," Flax said.

Senior middle linebacker Preston Werth roamed from sideline to sideline, making tackles.

"Preston had a great game, no question about it," Flax said. "But you've got to give credit to the defensive line."

Jesse Barnes, a 300-pounder, and 223-pounder Steve Woo, both senior defensive tackles, tied up the Kinsley offensive linemen, allowing the linebackers to make plays.

"They have improved so much," Flax said of Barnes and Woo.

The offensive line opened holes for Allen and senior Nathan Zimmerman, who rushed for 56 yards before spraining an ankle in the third quarter and did not return.

"Our line did a great job zone blocking," Flax said. "We felt we could run dive against them."

That meant a heavy workload for the 193-pound Allen, one of the bigger backs the Monarchs have had in recent years.

"He's durable, that's something we look for in a back," Flax said. "He ran hard. He's run hard since Day One we put him there.

"I feel sorry for the scout team defense. They're freshmen; he runs over them," Flax added.

Allen found out the first day of practice that he was returning to running back.

"It was awesome," Allen said of playing his first game at running back since 2007.

Not as awesome were the turnovers. The Monarchs forced five turnovers but also had five of their own.

"Those are hard to take," Flax said.

Turnovers hurt TMP-Marian last year in a narrow loss to Kinsley to open the season. That made Friday's win feel even better, Allen said.

"A little repressed anger," Allen said. "Get them back a little bit." TMP-Marian last won its season opener in 2003. Next up is a road game Friday at Ness-Dighton.

""We can't wait until Friday to get better," Flax said. "We've got to be better every day."