Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

Late drive stalls; Monroe falls in Class B semifinal

by Leave a Comment

By PAUL GOTHAM

CICERO, N.Y. — Senior end Robert Arnold pounced on his second fumble recovery of the fourth quarter, and Monroe took possession with 3 minutes and 54 seconds remaining in Saturday’s NYSPHSAA Class B semifinal.

Trailing by five points, the Redjackets needed to go 64 yards.

Seven plays later, Terrell Cunningham’s squad faced a fourth-and-six at the Maine-Endwell 41-yard.

Khaya Moses dropped back out of a shotgun formation and lofted a pass in the direction of Amari Colon running along the left sideline.

In a similar situation, the duo connected on a 58-yard strike to end the first half and gave Monroe its first lead of the game.

This pass, though, fell to the ground and with that Monroe’s season came to an end.

“We ran out of time today,” Cunningham said after Monroe’s 29-24 loss to the two-time reigning champion Spartans. “We were in position offensively with the ball…That’s an opportunity. You either get it done, or you don’t. We didn’t get it done.”

The Redjackets (11-1) absorbed an early flurry and rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to take an 18-14 lead at halftime only to find themselves in a nine-point hole early in the fourth quarter.

“It’s the game of football,” Cunningham said. “Sometimes, you can do everything right and still not be successful on the scoreboard. I’ve always believed that football is a microcosm of life. I hope the seniors that are graduating are going to be going on to their future endeavors understand that sometimes you can do everything you’re supposed to do and still not come out on top.

“But at the end of the day, as long as you continue to work hard and do what you’re supposed to do, you’ll always be successful. Sometimes the scoreboard doesn’t indicate that. As young men, I’m proud of every last one of my guys. I’m thankful to be able to spend the last three, four years with some of these guys and get to the point which we were today.”

Monroe put together a 10-play, 98-yard drive to get on the scoreboard early in the second quarter. Moses and Colon connected on an eight-yard pass for their first touchdown of the day.

The Redjacket defense stopped Maine-Endwell on the ensuing drive and took over 44 yards away from the end zone.

Landan McKnight beat his defender along the sideline and grabbed a Moses pass for a 33-yard touchdown with 4:05 left in the second quarter.

Three minutes later, Moses and Colon combined. Monroe had the lead.

“Second quarter, the game slows down,” Cunningham said. “It’s all about our guys seeing and adjusting to the game speed of the opponent. Once we were able to kinda get a feel for how they were trying to move and the speed, we were able to play our football, play fast football by being lined up properly and just making plays. We have some of the better athletes in New York State and a lot of these guys are going to go on to play collegiate football. But for us it’s all about having to mentally prepare and be in the proper position. For the most part, we were able to take advantage of that, but Maine-Endwell, they never wavered. They stay consistent and they did what they do.”

Colon, who later scored on a 41-yard rush, finished with three touchdowns on the day.

“We have guys that are fast. We have guys that are quick, but this kid (Colon) is the most electrifying kid in Section V. We just gave him the platform to show what he can do. Every week, he’s the most electrifying kid on both teams. For us, it was just a matter of finding ways to get him the football to make plays.”

Monroe had the ball in Maine-Endwell territory late in the third quarter, but a Landon Rollo interception stopped the Redjackets.

Monroe entered Saturday’s action outscoring opponents at an average of 47-1.

Maine-Endwell’s 14 first-quarter points was two more than the Redjackets had allowed in their previous 12 games combined.

“We did what we set out to do last year after the season ended against Batavia in the (Section V) Class B championship game at Brockport,” Cunningham said. “All we wanted to do was to have an opportunity to get to this point as a program and as a team. We put in the work and now we know what it takes to get to this level. Maine-Endwell is an established program – one of the premier programs in the state. We aspire to be to that level at some point in the near future.”

Jaden Branch scored from 17 yards out to give M-E a lead it did not surrender. Vinny Mancini added another touchdown.

Maine-Endwell also scored on a safety after Monroe recovered a fumble on its two-yard line.

The win was the 34th straight for the Maine-Endwell (12-0) which has won six state titles since 2011 including four straight from 2011 to 2014. The Spartans won a state record 64 straight games from 2011 to 2015. They will play Section I champion Rye next Sunday in the NYS Class B championship game. A noon kickoff is scheduled at the JMA Dome in Syracuse.

Monroe, which won its third sectional title but first since 1979 earlier this season, was making its first trip to the state final four.

“I truly intend to be back here next year. We have a young group of guys on JV who’ve never lost a high school game of football. They’re only going to be sophomores and juniors next year. I truly intend to continue to develop and prepare for them for these games. We’ll be back next year.”

New York State began high school football tournament play in 1993.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *