Alright Bastrop, you can let out that sigh of relief.
Josiah Monroe is playing Friday against Manor.
Head coach Gerald Perry said Monday that Monroe, who was ejected during last Friday’s loss to Bryan-Rudder, “will be eligible to play.”
“He will receive the same punishment as any other (player) that receives a personal foul penalty,” Perry said. “(Josiah) is very embarrassed by what happened.”
Perry didn’t elaborate on what that punishment is.
On Monday, University Interscholastic League compliance director Ed Stidham told The Bastrop Advertiser that any further punishments stemming from Monroe’s ejection would be left up to Bastrop.
“Once I get the game incident report, I will forward that on to the athletic director and they will impose any further punishment,” he said.
Stidham went on to say that the UIL does not issue suspensions for an ejection. Monroe was ejected with 1:03 left in the first half for a “punch to the helmet.”
Bastrop was never the same without their quarterback, only producing 44 yards of offense for the remainder of the game and giving up 14 points on two turnovers on special teams.
Backup punter Daniel Rivera muffed two snaps on a punt attempt that put Rudder on the Bears 1-yard-line and 25-yard-line. The Rangers scored after each fumble.
“When (Josiah) was ejected it hurt us,” Perry said. “But this loss wasn’t centered around one event. It was an overall failure. We couldn’t get anything going.”
In an effort to have another quarterback threat, Perry said sophomore Alec Kana will be moved up and officially become Monroe’s backup.
Kana had a great spring and shinned in the Maroon-White game in May.
After Monroe’s ejection, wide receiver D.J. Gaines took over at quarterback, but Bastrop’s offense wasn’t the same.
Gaines did put together one scoring drive late in the fourth quarter when he found Buddy Nunn for a 64-yard touchdown pass with 5:29 left in the game.
It was the only amount of offense Bastrop could put together, although a special teams touchdown by Mustafa Akbar — a 92-yard kickoff return — did keep the Bears in the game.
Perry said Bastrop is hoping to put Friday’s game in the past and move on to this week’s opponent — Manor, which was blasted 48-0 by Hutto last week.
“It’s time to regroup and get after it,” Perry said. “We have a sense of urgency to get a win, but it’s too soon to panic.”
And it is too soon to throw the season in the garbage.
Bastrop could win its remaining five games and still win the district championship.
After all it was just one game that Bastrop should have won, according to Perry.
“(Rudder) was a weird game out of the sails,” he said. “We did everything we could to stay focused. We got Rudder’s ‘A’ game.”

BASTROP AT MANOR
Records: Bastrop is 3-2, 0-1 in District 16-4A. Manor is 4-2, 1-1 in District 16-4A.
Last Week: Bryan-Rudder defeated Bastrop 27-21. Hutto defeated Manor 48-0.
Last meeting: In 1971, Bastrop defeated Manor 39-0.

BASTROP VS. MANOR
Year    Winner    Score
1971     Bastrop    39-0
1970    Bastrop    60-6
1969    Bastrop    18-7
1968    Bastrop    15-0
1954    Bastrop    26-0
1953    Bastrop    19-0
1952    Bastrop    40-6
Bastrop leads series 7-0.
— Michael Adams