Monolith Rhinos 28, Cortex Foxes 23
Week 1 · Regular season · round 9 · Wednesday 30 September 2026
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MNL Monolith Rhinos | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| CTX Cortex Foxes | 10 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 23 |
Game recap
Down but not out, the Monolith Rhinos rallied past the Cortex Foxes for a 28-23 win in round 9 of Week 1. They trailed by as many as 10 points, and their chance of winning dropped as low as 11%.
The Foxes opened the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run by Kian Morrow with 2:15 left in the first quarter. At the break the Rhinos were up 14-13. In the fourth quarter: an 18-yard touchdown pass from Brandt Kessler to Ivo Underwood for the Rhinos (1:38 left, 28-16); a 3-yard touchdown pass from Ezra Vale to Rafe Ellison for the Foxes (0:08 left, 28-23).
The biggest swing of the game came with 3:00 left in the third quarter: Kickoff, 58 yds. It moved the Rhinos' chance of winning from 32% to 47%.
Top performer: Titus Okafor (RB, Rhinos), with 21 carries for 154 yards and 2 TD. Elsewhere, Ezra Vale (Foxes) had 22 of 33 passing for 180 yards, 1 TD; Kian Morrow (Foxes) had 19 carries for 97 yards and 1 TD; 2 catches for 8 yards; Rafe Ellison (Foxes) had 9 catches for 72 yards and 1 TD; Brandt Kessler (Rhinos) had 12 of 19 passing for 178 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT.
The Foxes move to 3-5-1 and the Rhinos to 4-4-1 this week.
Scoring summary
| Time | Team | Play | MNL-CTX |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2:15 | Foxes | A 7-yard touchdown run by Kian Morrow | 0-7 |
| Q1 1:36 | Foxes | A 36-yard field goal by Wendell Montague | 0-10 |
| Q1 0:48 | Rhinos | A 19-yard touchdown pass from Brandt Kessler to Orson Jovanovic | 7-10 |
| Q2 2:15 | Rhinos | A 12-yard touchdown run by Titus Okafor | 14-10 |
| Q2 1:11 | Foxes | A 23-yard field goal by Wendell Montague | 14-13 |
| Q3 2:35 | Rhinos | A 13-yard touchdown run by Titus Okafor | 21-13 |
| Q3 1:34 | Foxes | A 36-yard field goal by Wendell Montague | 21-16 |
| Q4 1:38 | Rhinos | An 18-yard touchdown pass from Brandt Kessler to Ivo Underwood | 28-16 |
| Q4 0:08 | Foxes | A 3-yard touchdown pass from Ezra Vale to Rafe Ellison | 28-23 |
Team stats
| MNL | CTX | |
|---|---|---|
| Total yards | 405 | 279 |
| Passing yards | 178 | 180 |
| Rushing yards | 227 | 99 |
| Completions | 12 of 19 | 22 of 33 |
| Offensive plays | 53 | 61 |
| Third downs | 3 of 6 | 4 of 13 |
| Fourth downs | 1 of 1 | 2 of 2 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 1 |
| Sacks allowed | 1 | 0 |
| Time of possession | 5:46 | 6:06 |
Monolith Rhinos box score
Passing
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandt Kessler | 12/19 | 178 | 2 | 2 |
Rushing
| Player | CAR | YDS | TD | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titus Okafor | 21 | 154 | 2 | 22 |
| Valen Falkner | 12 | 73 | 0 | 12 |
Receiving
| Player | REC | YDS | TD | TGT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orson Jovanovic | 5 | 72 | 1 | 5 |
| Rory Blackwood | 3 | 42 | 0 | 8 |
| Hector Quarles | 2 | 35 | 0 | 3 |
| Ivo Underwood | 2 | 29 | 1 | 3 |
Defense
| Player | TK | SK | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nils Sandoval | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Roman Underwood | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bastien Sandoval | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Emeric Hargrove | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Emeric Varga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cyrus Varga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Cortex Foxes box score
Passing
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ezra Vale | 22/33 | 180 | 1 | 0 |
Rushing
| Player | CAR | YDS | TD | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kian Morrow | 19 | 97 | 1 | 15 |
| Fabian Esposito | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
Receiving
| Player | REC | YDS | TD | TGT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rafe Ellison | 9 | 72 | 1 | 13 |
| Cassius Ashford | 4 | 48 | 0 | 4 |
| Tariq Coventry | 4 | 28 | 0 | 6 |
| Zane Montague | 3 | 24 | 0 | 6 |
Defense
| Player | TK | SK | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonas Pellegrini | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Elio Hargrove | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nils Lachance | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bram Brennan | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Roman Zamora | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Valen Ingram | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Kicking
| Player | FG | LNG | XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wendell Montague | 3/3 | 36 | 0/0 |
Watch the replay
Every play of this game can be replayed on the big screen, with the play calls, the win probability and the commentary: replay Monolith Rhinos 28, Cortex Foxes 23 on Snapline. More about the teams: Cortex Foxes · Monolith Rhinos.