PARKER CITY — Jarrett Helman watched from the sideline, holding his helmet in his hand as he chatted with his wide receivers throughout the fourth quarter.
Shenandoah’s senior quarterback wasn’t injured. He had just done everything he needed to do in the first three quarters. The Raiders took care of business on the road against Monroe Central, winning 44-13 in their regular-season finale. Shenandoah scored all of its points in the first half, including 29 in the first quarter, to put the running clock in play for the entirety of the second.
Helman played a near-perfect game, completing 9-of-11 passes for 171 yards with three touchdowns and running for another touchdown. After another great individual performance, he was quick to direct praise to the Raiders’ skill position players following the game.
“My playmakers made my job so easy,” Helman said. “Taking swing passes to the house, and Cash (Cowley) being such a threat in the run game, just giving opportunities to pull it and walk in for a touchdown. The playmakers around me make my job really easy.”
Those playmakers include a trio of senior wide receivers — Karter Gray, Garrett May and Blayne Stevens — that Helman has developed strong chemistry with over their years playing together. Each of the three has caught at least 20 passes for over 300 yards this season, and all three hauled in a touchdown against the Golden Bears.
“I have three (WR1s),” Helman said. “Whatever the concept is, I’m confident throwing to any of the three, because I know that they’ve got me and I’ve got them. Just confidence and reps, we’ve been working at it for two years, and we’re all coming together now.”
Helman took over as the starting quarterback last year as a junior and has made significant strides in his senior season. He has already thrown for more yards and touchdowns in nine games this season than he did in 11 games last season while improving his completion percentage from 52% to 72%. Most importantly, he has taken much better care of the football with only two interceptions this season compared to 10 last year.
Shenandoah coach Jake Stilwell knows better than anyone how important Helman is to what the Raiders do, but it is his quarterback’s humility and quickness to praise his teammates that consistently impresses him the most.
“It’s just what we preach,” Stilwell said. “It’s everybody together. It’s every man for every man out there, and as much as they wouldn’t say it, it just ultimately comes down to winning. They want to do what it takes to win. There’s not a lot of selfishness on this team, they want to execute at a high level, they want to go score, and they want to play great defense.”
Cowley, a junior running back and defensive lineman, had a big game on both sides of the ball. He rushed for 170 yards with two touchdowns — one from 27 yards out and another from 44 — and made multiple tackles behind the line of scrimmage on defense. While Helman has emerged as the star of the Raiders’ offense, Cowley has made their ground game just as big of a threat as their aerial attack and is approaching a 1,000-yard rushing season.
“I value a lot that teams gameplan around me and Jarrett,” Cowley said. “It feels great to know that me and him have people game-planning for us and going out and still performing well even when the gameplan’s against you.”
Shenandoah’s opponents don’t just have to plan for how to stop Helman and Cowley — they also have to make sure the duo doesn’t stop them. Helman is the team’s leading tackler for the second season in a row and has brought in four interceptions, while Cowley leads the team in sacks and tackles-for-loss as a consistent force on the defensive line.
“(Helman) just does so many things for us, offensively and defensively, you can’t really put it into words — he’s extremely important to what we do,” Stilwell said. “You’ve got to have an Energizer Bunny, and (Cowley) sure is for us. He will churn, he will fight, and he will do everything he needs to be ready to help put this team in a position to be successful.”
Shenandoah finishes the regular season with a 6-3 record and will return to its home field next week for a Sectional 38 quarterfinal matchup with Northeastern. The Knights are 8-1 on the year, but that one loss came in a back-and-forth, high-scoring affair with Shenandoah on Oct. 3. The Raiders managed 487 yards of offense and won 50-43 thanks to a touchdown run by Helman in the waning seconds.
Northeastern will certainly be looking for a get-back game, but the Raiders are ready for the challenge as they begin their quest for their first sectional title since 2014.
“They’re out for revenge, and we’re out for respect,” Cowley said. “I’m hoping respect wins in that scenario.”
Monroe Central finishes regular season at 4-5
For Monroe Central, it was a tough loss to endure, especially on senior night, but the Golden Bears fought until the final whistle. In the fourth quarter, the Golden Bears forced a turnover on downs and recovered two fumbles, while senior running back Ethan Hunt punched in a pair of touchdowns to get them on the scoreboard.
“We’ve got great tradition against them, and we’re not that right now as far as being able to compete with them,” Monroe Central coach John Hochstetler said. “Their legs are back. That’s a good football team, so credit to them, they’re doing what they’re supposed to, and the challenge for us is to find a way to be better.”
Monroe Central will host 0-9 Cambridge City Lincoln in the Sectional 44 quarterfinals as the Golden Bears seek their first sectional trophy since 2018.
Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Jarrett Helman, Cash Cowley star in Shenandoah’s regular season finale win over Monroe Central
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
