NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., October 12, 2019 – In a highly anticipated battle of Northeast Football Conference (NEFC) foes and Top-10 ranked NJCAA teams, the No. 7-ranked Monroe College football team suffered its first loss of the 2019 campaign, dropping a 30-17 decision to No. 3 Lackawanna College Saturday evening at Joseph F. Fosina Field. The Mustangs fall to 5-1 on the year and 0-1 in NEFC play, while Lackawanna improves to 6-0 and runs its active winning streak to 18 games, while finishing its NEFC slate at 2-0 to capture the conference championship.
 
A pair of records were broken by Mustangs in the game on Saturday. Emmanuel Appiah-Takyi, who had already set the Mustangs' career interceptions record, set a new single-season record as well with two interceptions in Saturday's contest to reach seven on the season. His seven interceptions lead the NJCAA. In addition, Clayton Scott picked up his 10th rushing touchdown of the year, breaking the previous record of nine set by former All-American Ryan Fulse back in 2016.
 
Saturday's matchup got off to an unexpected start, as special teams played a big role for both sides early on. Lackawanna's Delvin Palmer kicked off a big night with a 45-yard return on the opening kickoff to set up the Falcons on Monroe's 48-yard line. The Mustangs' defense bent, but did not break on the opening possession, making the Falcons settle for a 28-yard field goal to give them an early 3-0 lead.
 
Jevin Frett answered right back for Monroe on the ensuing kickoff, returning it 73 yards before an illegal block in the back penalty put the Mustangs on Lackawanna's 32-yard line to start their first drive. A 16-yard run by Dominique Shoffner set the Mustangs up with first-and-goal on the eight-yard line, but a penalty and a big loss on first down put the Mustangs on the 21-yard line. That proved to be no problem for Shoffner, who tossed one up for a diving Halim Dixon-King in the back corner of the nearside end zone for a 21-yard score, putting the Mustangs ahead, 7-3.
 
The Mustangs' lead did not last for long, as Palmer took the following kickoff 91 yards on an impressive return all the way to the house to give the Falcons a 10-7 advantage.
 
Monroe struggled to move the ball on the next possession, and Lackawanna's momentum continued with a blocked punt, setting them up on Monroe's 29-yard line. Three plays into the drive, quarterback Matt Cavallaro tossed one up to the end zone, where Appiah-Takyi took it away for his sixth interception of the season to keep the Falcons off the board.
 
The Mustangs' next drive was stalled by a strip-sack by Ja'yir Brown, which was recovered by KeShaun Moore and taken down to Monroe's five-yard line. Three plays later, Cavallaro checked down to Sameer Parks for a short five-yard touchdown, giving the visitors a 17-7 lead.
 
Early in the second quarter, the Mustangs took over on Lackawanna's 46-yard line. It took 11 plays for Monroe to move the ball 35 yards trying to battle against a challenging Lackawanna defense, but Idrissa Nikiema got the Mustangs back on the board with a 28-yard field goal, getting Monroe back within a score at 17-10.
 
After trading numerous punts back-and-forth, the Mustangs had an opportunity to score late in the half, despite taking over on Lackawanna's 44 with just 16 seconds left. Shoffner immediately completed a 26-yard pass to Keveon Clark down to the 18-yard line with under three seconds left. The Falcons then gifted Monroe an extra 14 yards with personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, putting the Mustangs on the four-yard line with time for just one play. The Mustangs elected to go for the touchdown, but Shoffner was quickly shuffled out of the pocket and found no room to escape, taking the sack to end the half.
 
After the first two possessions of the second half resulted in punts, Lackawanna came up with a big play on defense, picking up a first-down interception by Brown to take over on their own 37-yard line. The Mustang defense then backed up its quarterback, forcing the Falcons into a three-and-out, capped off by a Devin Love sack, to force another punt.
 
Two possessions later, the Falcons started a new drive on Monroe's 47. A 23-yard reception by Quentin Sanders on first down did most of the damage, while an 11-yard rush by Rashard Jackson put the Falcons in a good position to score. The Mustang defense once again did not break, allowing just one more yard on the drive to make the Falcons settle for a 34-yard field goal, but Lackawanna pushed its lead to 20-10.
 
On the first play of the next drive, Brown once again came away with an interception for Lackawanna back on the Falcons' 18-yard line. The Falcons went backwards on the ensuing possession, and a 32-yard punt put Monroe on Lackawanna's 48-yard line.
 
The Mustangs found a rhythm during their next possession. Shoffner completed a 10-yard pass to Yousef Alawie on second down, and later hit Frett for another 11 yards to keep the ball moving. Keveon Clark caught a 10-yard pass down to the Lackawanna 11, and then a pass interference penalty in the end zone set up Monroe with first-and-goal from the two-yard line. Monroe wasted no time from there, pitching it to Scott for the two-yard score, his 10th of the season, to get Monroe back within three at 20-17 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Another strong kickoff return by Palmer set up the Falcons on their own 40-yard line. A 26-yard completion to Tylon Papallo, and later, a 13-yard run by Jackson, got the Falcons down to the Mustangs' 17-yard line. Three plays later, Cavallaro once again found the tight end Parks for a 15-yard score to make it a 27-17 game.
 
The Mustangs were unable to get on the board on the next drive and had to punt it away. The Falcons capitalized this time, going on a nine-play, 54-yard drive, leading to a 23-yard field goal for Cameron Ceccotti to push the lead to 30-17.
 
The Mustangs once again had to punt the ball away, giving the ball back to Lackawanna with just 5:57 left in regulation. Four plays into the drive, the Falcons decided to pass, and Appiah-Takyi made them regret it, picking off Cavallaro for the second time Saturday evening for his seventh interception of the year to give the Mustangs one more chance to try and score. Unfortunately, they were once again stymied, and were unable to put any more points on the board.
 
Shoffner completed 13-of-27 passes for 129 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in the loss. Monroe held Cavallaro to just 10-of-23 passing for 123 yards, picking him off twice, but giving up a pair of scores through the air. Shoffner led the Mustangs with 50 yards on the ground despite being sacked six times.
 
Devin Love and Zharell Walker each picked up a sack in the game on Saturday. Walker led the team with 3.5 tackles for loss, while Nadir Pineda had 2.5 and Love had two. Tim Donnahue also had a tackle for loss, while Heath Stephen II and Samuel Ntui-Ebob each had a half tackle for loss. Stephen led the Mustangs with eight tackles in the game. Charles Amankwaa, Malik Gibson and Tyrik Carter each broke up a pass.
 
The Mustangs will look to bounce back on Saturday, Oct. 19, when they host Hudson Valley Community College at Fosina Field for their third straight home game. The game is set to kick off at 2 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 31 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 12 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe College Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).