by TYLER HATHAWAY
ROCHESTER, N.Y– Trailing 7-6 entering the fourth quarter, Monroe (3-0) found the endzone and then made two stops on defense to seal a 12-7 win over rival East/World of Inquiry (1-1) in the 2026 Tree Bowl at East High School on Friday night.
“Honestly, we started off slow,” said senior quarterback Terrell “Pooty” Cunningham Jr. “We said at the beginning of the week, don’t start slow, but we did that. We ended up cleaning it up in the end.”
“I think it was our composure,” head coach Terrell Cunningham said as to what allowed the Red Jackets to clinch the win. “We train to put these guys in adversity throughout the year, whether it’s off-season training, CTC, seven-on-seven, and year round in practice. There’s nothing that can happen in a game that we haven’t prepared for. So it was just reminding them of that, and them going out and executing.”
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Cunningham Jr. was named MVP of the game and threw for two touchdowns, including one in the first quarter that was his 77th career passing touchdown, setting a new Section V record that was held by former Aquinas standout Jake Zembiec.
“It’s something I’ve been working towards for a long time,” said the quarterback. “Ever since I stepped foot on a high school field, I knew it was my turn, that it was going to be something special.”
“When I came over to Monroe in 2018 as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator, he was always with me on my hip,” said the elder Cunningham. “He’s been around this program for the majority of the years that we’ve had varsity football in some way shape or form. Whether he was up there at the field, running around, practicing with our guys. He’s been a major part of this program’s building. He’s just been very instrumental. We’ve had guys like him, Styhles Mckenzie-Baker, and Messiah Hampton that have come through to really allow us to grow the program. I’m thankful to be the head coach, and I’m really thankful to be his dad.”
The fourth quarter began with Monroe in the midst of a long drive that had gotten the Red Jackets just outside of the redzone, facing a fourth and four. Cunningham found receiver James Brumfield II for a diving grab to move the sticks before Cunningham delivered a strike to Jason Perry for a seven-yard touchdown pass that gave the Red Jackets the lead with just over nine minutes left.
“Don’t turn the ball over, just be patient,” Cunningham Jr said of his thought process on crucial downs. “Just be a quarterback, be a leader.”
After the score, the Eagles were in the midst of a methodical six-minute drive deep into Monroe territory, but two negative plays including a sack on fourth down gave the ball back to Monroe.
“These guys have been doing this forever,” coach Cunningham said of his team’s ability to make plays in big moments. “Most of these kids been playing together since they were five, six years old. They know what it’s like to be up in games, they know what it’s like to be down. They never sweat, they never waver, they never question the cause. They just go out there and get it done. That’s what they do.”
After Monroe had the ball for another few minutes, East/World of Inquiry got the ball back with just under a minute to play needing to go 90 yards to take the lead. On the fourth play of the drive, Jahmiere Westbrook forced a fumble that Terrance Barner scooped up to seal the win. The Red Jackets forced a pair of turnovers and made a few stops on fourth downs as well. Last week, the Eagles scored 49 points in a win against Aquinas.
“Last year we were I’d say one of the best defenses in the country,” said coach Cunningham. “We only gave up 32 points. This year we’re a little bit off, we had a little hiccup last week, today we gave up one. But overall we know that for us to be where we want to be at the end of the season, it’s going to start and end with defense.”
James Mobley Jr. scored a touchdown late in the second quarter that gave East/World of Inquiry the lead, Monroe’s first deficit of the season.
“We treat every game like it’s a championship game,” said coach Cunningham. “We don’t go into any game, half stepping. We don’t go into any game doubting our opponents. We know that East top to bottom may have just as many athletes as we do on the field, but ultimately tonight we were able to be successful. Our dogs that we expect to be dogs, were dogs in the field.”
Monroe will take on Honeoye Falls-Lima at home next week in a rematch of the 2025 Section V Class B title game.
“This team has shown that they can win different ways early out,” Cunningham explained. ”Last week, we scored in every facet that you possibly could score. Today, it took us an early one and then we got a late one. I tell my guys that I could care less if we win by half a point. The win is a win. They’ve shown that they can be relentless and ultimately get the job done.”
“We have a lot of young guys that are still learning,” said Cunningham Jr. “They’re like sponges, they’re still just soaking in information. The more we work and the more we put in, the more we’re going to get better.”
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