UNIONDALE, N.Y., September 17, 2022 – Things clicked on all cylinders for the Monroe College Mustangs football team on Saturday in a 23-7 victory over NJCAA Div. III No. 2 Nassau Community College at the Mitchel Athletic Complex. The win improves the Mustangs to 1-2 overall, while the Lions fall to 2-2 on the season. The win also marks the first of Head Coach Kevin Pulley Jr.'s tenure at the helm of the program.
 
After a pair of tough games to open the season, the Mustangs looked like a refreshed team in Saturday's matchup on Long Island. The highlight on offense for the Mustangs was the play of quarterback Mason Boothe, who completed 20-of-31 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns, all of which are season-highs for the redshirt freshman. Defensively, the Mustangs totaled four interceptions, as well as four sacks and a fumble recovery, to help keep the momentum in Monroe's favor for most of the day.
 
Seven plays into Nassau's opening drive of the game, following a devastating penalty by the Mustangs that gave the Lions new life on the drive, Jayshawn Hardy jumped a receiver's route for an interception, returning it 55 yards before being forced out of bounds at Nassau's five-yard line. However, Nassau managed to turn the table right back on the next play, as Khristan Hernandez picked off a 50-50 ball in the corner of the end zone to keep Monroe off the board and give the ball back to the home team.
 
Nassau was stopped on the ensuing drive on its own 17-yard line and was forced to punt. The snap was dropped by punter Nick George, who was taken down at Nassau's four-yard line after recovering the ball. After losing two yards on a run on first down, the Mustangs found the end zone for the first time on the day on second down with Boothe hitting Tavon Granison on a fade to the back-left corner of the end zone, putting the Mustangs ahead, 7-0, midway through the first quarter.
 
Boothe and the Mustangs had some poor luck later in the quarter. Looking at third-and-six on Nassau's 13-yard line, Boothe's pass went off the hands of a receiver, was then tipped up in the air by a defender, and then intercepted by Nassau's Hernandez in the endzone once again. The defense then backed up Boothe once again, forcing a quick three-and-out to get the ball back for the offense.
 
The Mustangs had another miscue early in the second quarter. After another stop by the defense, a punt return was fumbled away by the Mustangs, giving the Lions another opportunity with plenty of time left in the half. However, two plays later, quarterback Luke Sprague felt the pressure and tossed up a deep ball into double coverage, which Nazaiah Paul came down with for Monroe's second interception of the half.
 
Though the Mustangs did not come away with any points on the next possession, the defense managed to come up big once again after Nassau got the ball back. As Sprague looked to escape pressure, Jonah Kurker trucked him from behind, jarring the ball loose, allowing Xavier Marquez to pounce on top of it and recover it for Monroe.
 
The Mustangs still led by seven when Nassau got the ball back with 4:41 left in the first half. On third-and-two from midfield, the Mustangs jumped offsides, giving Nassau a free play. Sprague took advantage, dropping one in the bucket to Mark Callanan down the right sideline for a 50-yard score, tying the game at 7-7 with just 3:20 to go before the break.
 
The Lions had another strong opportunity with just over two minutes remaining in the second quarter after taking over at midfield. A third-down conversion was wiped out by a holding penalty on the Lions, backing them up to their own 49-yard line, needing 11 yards to convert. Sprague looked deep down the left sideline on the next play, but Tyee Martin Jr. looked to be the one running the route, as he cleanly picked it off at Monroe's 10-yard line next to the receiver to effectively end the half with a 7-7 stalemate.
 
The Mustangs did not waste much time with their possession to open the second half. With a long second-and-21 on their own 13-yard line, Boothe saw Jamarii Robinson quickly get a step on the defender down the right sideline, hitting him in stride to lead him down the sideline toward the end zone. The defender nearly caught him at Nassau's 10, but Robinson shut him down with a stiff arm to take it over the goal line for an 87-yard touchdown, giving the Mustangs the lead once again at 14-7 early in the third quarter.
 
 The Mustangs did not give Nassau room to breathe on the next drive, capping it off with a third-down sack by Kurker to force a punt. Monroe then went on a long drive to put more points on the board. Boothe dumped it off to Caleb Curcio on second down for a 23-yard gain to midfield. Curcio then rushed for 12 yards to keep the chains moving. A 23-yard completion to Jessie Parson had the Mustangs in the red zone, but they were stymied from there, forced to try a 30-yard field goal. Sebastian Aranda was good from that distance, pushing Monroe's lead to 17-7 with 7:10 left in the third.
 
Nassau came back with an 11-play drive, pushing it down to Monroe's four-yard line for a fourth down and inches. Brian Lowry got the handoff, but Michel Lucien got into the backfield and took him down a yard short of the line-to-gain, getting the ball back for the Mustangs.
 
Early in the fourth, Nassau could not take advantage of a short field after starting on Monroe's 25-yard line. Kurker notched his third sack of the day on third down, forcing the Lions to attempt a field goal from 39 yards out. The kick went wide left, as the Lions came up empty once again to keep Monroe up by 10.
 
The Mustangs made the Lions pay on the ensuing drive. On a second-and-seven from Monroe's 38, Boothe found Rashann Tompkins across the middle five yards ahead of the line of scrimmage. Tompkins shook off a defender to get across the line-to-gain, but he then picked up a head of steam to escape two more oncoming defenders. Tompkins juked around another would-be tackler and stiff-armed another, giving him nothing but daylight in front of him as he crossed the Nassau 40. One more defender caught up to him at the 20, but another stiff arm threw the Lion off balance, allowing Tompkins to finish his run to the end zone for a 62-yard catch-and-run touchdown. The extra-point was missed, but the Mustangs still pushed the lead to 16 points at 23-7 with 9:33 left to play in the fourth.
 
As soon as the Lions got the ball back, they gave it away once again. Nassau returned a short kick to midfield, but Sprague was picked off for the fourth time on the day on first down, this time by a diving Ian Brown at Monroe's 39-yard line.
 
Monroe chose to let the ground game run out most of the clock on the next two drives, while still keeping the Lions off the board. Nassau was able to get to the red zone with time running out, but the Mustangs kept their hosts from scoring before time expired, completing the second-half shutout to win the road game by 16.
 
Robinson finished with four receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown on the day, his second 100-yard performance of the season. Tompkins had three catches for 78 yards and his long score. Granison totaled 21 yards on two receptions to go with his touchdown that opened the scoring for the day.
 
Kurker was a force to be reckoned with on defense on Saturday. He finished with three sacks, a forced fumble and five total tackles on the afternoon. Marquez and Sekou Kromah combined for another say, while Marquez also recovered a fumble and finished third on team with six tackles, including 2.5 for a loss of yards. Lucien totaled a team-high 10 tackles on the day, with one taking place in the backfield. Nareece Wright was second with seven tackles. Hardy, Paul, Martin and Brown had the interceptions for Monroe in the win, while Hardy, Brown, Jeffrey Wilson and Anthony Henriquez all registered a pass breakup.
 
The Mustangs outgained the Lions with a 368-298 advantage in yards from scrimmage in the game. Neither team had much going on the ground in this one, but the Mustangs still nearly tripled up the Lions with 64 rushing yards compared to just 22 for the home team. Nassau made three trips into the red zone in the game, but did not come away with any points on those drives.
 
With their first win of the season in-hand, the Mustangs will look to turn it into a winning streak when they play next on Sunday, Sept. 25, with a road contest in Fairfield, Conn., where they will take on the Sacred Heart University JV team. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 35 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well the Monroe College marching band and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 11 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
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