by TYLER HATHAWAY
HENRIETTA- N.Y— One of the biggest goals that Monroe head coach Terrell Cunningham had when he took the reigns of the Red Jackets in 2021 was to turn the team into not only one of the premiere programs in Section V, but all of New York.
On Saturday night, the Red Jackets solidified their place in the New York high school football hierarchy. Top-seeded Monroe (9-0) jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead and went on to win 40-0 over No. 3 seed Honeoye Falls-Lima in the Section V Class B championship game, giving the Red Jackets their second sectional title in three years and improving their record over that span to 27-4.
“We’re with these guys literally throughout the year, 12 months,” said Cunningham. “And the expectations never stop for us. I couldn’t be more proud of a team.”
“I’m blessed,” said senior wide receiver Messiah Hampton about the win. “God has put me around some amazing people that made me better. We made each other better.”
Prior to winning sectionals in 2023, Monroe hadn’t won a Section V title since 1979. Just this past week, the New York State Sportswriters Association ranked Monroe the #1 Class B team in the state for the first time in program history. Now, the Red Jackets have the opportunity to once again play in the state playoffs after reaching the state semifinals two seasons ago.
“We’ve grown to become a premiere program in a state, and that was always the goal,” said Cunningham. “I believe that when you have great leadership in your school, from the top down, with the principal, athletic director, and everybody on the same page, this is what we can do in the city. There’s a lot of negativity when it comes around city schools, black and brown kids. But at the end of the day, this is a testament that those kids, that a lot of people counted out and doubted, can come together to achieve a common goal.”
Terrell “Pooty” Cunningham Jr. was named the game’s MVP. The junior quarterback ran for a touchdown and threw for another.
“It means a lot,” said Cunningham Jr. about winning the award. “I know I have a lot of doubters, and people that think because I’m undersized that I’m not gonna be able to get the job done.”
The Red Jackets are only one of two teams in Section V to be undefeated after sectionals. Monroe hadn’t played a game in three weeks before Saturday night due to getting a bye in a Class B bracket that didn’t start play until last week.
“Hard work, perseverance, a testament to the man upstairs for good health, and keeping guys engaged,” Cunningham said was the reason for the excellent consistency the Red Jackets showed. We are coming off a two-week bye. So essentially, we had to keep these guys motivated and engaged, knowing that they didn’t have games for 2 weeks. So they did a great job and we’re only going to continue to keep going.”
Terrell Cunningham Jr. ran in a touchdown for the games first score with 2:57 left in the first quarter one play after wide receiver Messiah Hampton took a punt return back to the 10-yard line. After forcing a three and out, the next drive for the Red Jackets was another quick one, ending with a 13-yard end around touchdown to Hampton that made the score 12-0 early in the second quarter.
The Red Jackets’ defense forced two turnovers and three three-and-outs in the first half that helped set the offense up with short fields.
“We are a heavily, heavily defensive minded coaching staff,” Cunningham explained. We’re (the Monroe coaching staff) all defensive guys. Our goal and our mentality is literally to shut out everybody. Everything we do all year round, we’re looking to dominate people. And I refuse to be out prepared by anybody when it comes to scouting, and we’re going to continue to do that over these next few weeks to ultimately win that state championship.”
“It’ll help us make a run,” Hampton said about the team’s ability to play complimentary football. “You know the motto is defense wins games and defense wins championships. Our offense relies on our defense, and our defense relies on our offense.”
After Jovan Bennett recovered a fumble to again set up Monroe just outside the redzone, Cunningham converted a fourth and two with a seven-yard run before Jermaine Montgomery ran in a 13-yard touchdown and converted a two-point conversion to make it 20-0 Monroe.
Honeoye Falls-Lima looked like they were going to respond after moving the ball towards midfield, but an interception on a deep pass by D’Markos Trammell helped the Red Jackets stabilize. A long run by Montgomery helped Monroe flip the field, and a 30-yard catch followed by a one-yard touchdown run by Raymond Garcia helped bring the game to its halftime score of 28-0.
The Monroe offense was able to find success despite pouring rain throughout much of the game and a lighting delay that made halftime last nearly 45 minutes.
“One day last week we ran practice in snow,” said Cunningham Jr. “So I don’t think that compared to what today was.
I mean, I know the weather was going off today. I say we held our own today.”
The Red Jackets came out of the delay with a bang, as Garcia busted off a 70-yard touchdown run on the second play of the half that boosted Monroe’s lead to 34. The defense forced another interception and a pair of turnover on downs, and a 21-yard touchdown pass from Cunningham Jr. to Luis Falu early in the fourth quarter brought the game to its final score.
“I’m most proud of how we all just stay together,” said Hampton. “I’m most proud of how we all believe in one another. That’s the biggest thing, how we all believe in one another, because I can’t do anything if I don’t believe in a guy next to me to make his play. And the actual, truly biggest thing is all of us believe in God, we’re a faith-driven team, and I think that’s what’s going to take us to that state championship.”
Monroe advances to the Class B Far West Regional to face Lackawanna (VI) at All High Stadium in Buffalo next Saturday.
“We’re not done,” said Cunningham. “We know we got a few more games to ultimately get to what our ultimate goal is, which is the state championship. And with this group, I believe the sky’s the limit.”
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