By MIKE ROSE
BATAVIA, N.Y. — The Monroe Red Jackets made one thing very clear Friday night, they are to be feared in Class B this season. They proved as much as they went on the road and dismantled the defending Section V Class B Champion Batavia Blue Devils 40-0. The game was a rematch of last season’s sectional finals but it certainly never felt like it.
While last year’s tilt saw Batavia hoist the sectional block after a prayer was answered on the final play of the game, in this year’s matchup the Red Jackets walked in looking to leave nothing to chance. They dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides and made big plays in the passing game when needed to move to 3-0. While Monroe Head Coach Terrell Cunningham was happy to enact some revenge he made it clear this was the expectation.
“We did what we were expected to do. My coaches know I said 40-zip, that was the score that I announced this week and my players and coaches were able to go out and execute ultimately resulting in that score 40-0,” Cunningham said.
Right out of the gates, Monroe seized control. The scoring began on a 25-yard TD pass down the right sideline by Khaya Moses to Messiah Hampton. A two-point conversion made it 8-0 Red Jackets.
Monroe’s defense stifled anything Batavia attempted to do with the football throughout the first half until the offense was able to strike again late in the second quarter. This time Moses found Landan McKnight for the score to make it 16-0 at the break.
The second half is where the Red Jackets began to firmly assert themselves. A botched snap from Batavia went sailing over the head of quarterback Bronx Bucholtz, turning into a 57-yard scoop and score from Robert Arnold. Just like that it was 24-0.
McKnight got loose again in the secondary later in the third for a 65-yard touchdown catch to make it 32-0 before Moses tacked on his fourth passing score of the evening, finding Zae’Quan Terrell-Lathrop for an 18-yard strike, to make it 40-0. McKnight finished the night with six catches for 167 yards and two scores and said his team took last season’s loss personally.
“We took this game very personally. We came in thinking we have a chip on our shoulders and have something to prove,” McKnight said.
Monroe’s defense never relented down the stretch, suffocating the Blue Devils offense to the very last whistle. Arnold, along with Dashon Constantine, Amire Thompson and Nazhier Wilson seemed to find themselves in the backfield on nearly every play.
Arnold finished the night with 10 tackles and three sacks, Wilson added 12 tackles and two tackles for loss, Thompson posted eight tackles, a sack and a forced fumble and Constantine racked up eight tackles and two sacks. Offensively Moses finished the night 14-for-20 for 253 yards and four touchdowns.
Cunningham made it clear postgame that he believes his team is good enough to beat anyone, anywhere.
“It’s real simple for us this year, the goal is to finish. We feel like there is nobody with helmets and shoulder pads on that can stop us on the field. The only team that can stop us is us. As I told the team at the end, we know why we’re here. We want sectional championships, we want state championships. We feel like we’re the best team in New York State in Class B and our goal is to show everybody that,” Cunningham said.
It’s certainly tough to argue the results thus far as Monroe has outscored its opponents 142-6 through three games. The Red Jackets also posted the first shutout of the Batavia program since before former Batavia Head Coach and six-time sectional champion Brennan Briggs took over the program in 2012. Although the Monroe program has not won a sectional title since 1979, it is safe to say all of Class B was put on notice Friday night.
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