Sec V Monroe Perfect Season Complete

SYRACUSE – After 24 of the least impressive minutes by two teams in the history of NYSPHSAA football finals, Monroe High School finally showed why it opened the season as the odds-on favorite for a championship.

          The Red Jackets put a scoreless, schizophrenic first half behind them by scoring four third-quarter touchdowns and defeating Sleepy Hollow 34-0 for the Class B championship Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome.

          In doing so, Monroe completed a 12-0 season and became the first Rochester City School District team to earn a state football crown. The Red Jackets also broke a Section 5 dry spell that had been intact since Aquinas won a Class AA championship in 2018.

          Jermaine Montgomery’s touchdown run 2:47 after halftime was all Monroe would need. The senior broke an arm tackle on the left edge of the line of scrimmage and rolled 19 yards to the end zone to start the 28-point barrage.

          Junior quarterback Terrell Cunningham Jr. (13 of 18, 238 yards) followed tackle Alijiah Jones to the end zone from four yards out on the next possession, and the lead was 14-0.

          Oregon-bound senior receiver Messiah Hampton cashed in a Cunningham throw for a 41-yard scoring play, and then junior Ray Garcia made it 28-0 with a 25-yard run.

          Luis Falu capped the scoring midway through the fourth quarter on a 2-yard run.

          The scoring eruption came after neither team could move the ball in the first half.

Section 1 champion Sleepy Hollow managed only one first down, and Monroe proved more adept at moving backward than forward by facing third-and-35 and third-and-38 challenges on separate possessions.

          In some respects that made sense, given the uneven nature of Monroe’s season. Six of the Red Jackets’ first seven opponents lost six or more games, leaving some skeptical over a pair of 70-point wins.

          Even the playoffs offered scant insight into just how ready the team was to play into December and win the title. Monroe had a double bye into the Section 5 final against an opponent with a losing record, then beat the fourth-seeded Section 6 squad (Lackawanna) and the third seeded Section 4 team (Owego) to open the state playoffs.

          But holding Sleepy Hollow, 12-1 entering the game, to three first downs and 50 yards of total offense over 48 minutes confirmed this was a deserving champion.

Feature Image/Emily Croisdale