Monror College Athletics

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y., November 11, 2023 – The Monroe College Mustangs football team welcomed No. 5 Snow College to New York for the first time ever on Saturday, taking on the Badgers at The Stadium at Memorial Field. The Mustangs held their own for most of the game against the highly ranked Badgers, but were unable to pick up the win, falling by a deceptive score of 32-13. The Mustangs fall to 6-4 on the season with the loss, while the Badgers head back to Utah at 9-2.
 
The Badgers moved quickly on the opening possession of Saturday's matchup. Donovan Smith hit Tyrique Carter for 14 yards on the first play from scrimmage, and then Spencer Lambert took a carry 36 yards into Monroe territory. Lambert had a 13-yard run to make it goal-to-go for the Badgers. On third down, AJ Tillman finished the job with a three-yard touchdown run to put the Badgers up, 7-0, less than three minutes into the game.
 
Both teams made stops on defense before the Mustangs went on a very long drive. Taking over with 10:11 on the clock, the Mustangs took their time driving down the field. Kyon Barnes made an eight-yard reception from Mason Boothe to move the chains early in the drive. Trevion Thomas later made a 12-yard catch for another first. Facing 2nd-and-6, Boothe's pass missed Thomas and hit a defender in the chest, popping up in the air and into the arms of Charles Alia, who made the reception for 13 yards and another first down. The Mustangs later faced 4th-and-11 on the Snow 28-yard line, but Boothe found Alia again on a checkdown, allowing him to just get enough for the first. Two plays later, Boothe made a terrific throw to the back corner of the end zone where Kristen McAdams tapped his toes to stay in bounds and secured the ball for the touchdown. The ensuing extra point was blocked, but the Mustangs were back within one at 7-6, after a 15-play, 89-yard drive that took 8:58 off the clock.
 
Snow was driving into the second quarter, getting the ball near the red zone. On second down, Darrien Lewis was able to catch up to Smith for a one-yard sack. The Badgers later went for it on 4th-and-8, but Xavier Belton and Sekou Kromah immediately snuffed it out for another sack to force a turnover on downs.
 
On the following drive, the Mustangs were able to get down into Snow territory, but the unfortunately also turned it over on downs. Snow took advantage of this to put more points on the board. After a penalty backed them up, Smith found DJ Overstreet for a 28-yard gain down to Monroe's 16. A couple penalties deep in Monroe territory hurt the Mustangs, eventually setting up the Badgers on the two-yard line. Austin Bell was able to punch it in from there for the score. After the extra point, Snow pushed its lead to 14-6 with 5:35 left in the half.
 
Snow got the ball again later in the second quarter looking to add to the lead before the half. A second-down pass from Smith to Jared Wilson for 15 yards put the Badgers in the red zone. A holding call had Snow facing 3rd-and-20, but Smith was able to find Overstreet again right up the seam uncovered for a 29-yard touchdown. The snap on the extra point was muffed, leaving Snow up, 20-6.
 
The Mustangs got the ball back with 1:17 to go in the half. The Mustangs were moving, but a roughing the passer penalty on Snow provided a big assist on the drive. Boothe then hit Thomas for 12 yards down to the 21, where Monroe called timeout with just one second left on the clock. Patrick Fisher-Butler lined up for a 38-yard field goal, but the Badgers blocked it, keeping their 20-6 lead through halftime.
 
The Mustangs made a gutsy decision on the first drive in the third, going for it on 4th-and-2 on their own 28. The pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage, allowing Snow to take over in great field position. However, Hyrum Boren took a carry for Snow on first down, but Anthony Henriquez stripped the ball away and recovered the fumble, getting the ball back for the Mustangs.
 
Rafael McCoy caught fire on the next drive, making three straight receptions for 10, 18 and 12 yards to get the Mustangs down to Snow's 28. A holding penalty set the Mustangs back, and then Boothe was sacked on both second and third down, forcing Monroe to punt it away.
 
On a 2nd-and-21 on Snow's next drive, Henriquez came up with another huge play, diving in front of the route for a magnificent interception, getting the ball back for Monroe on Snow's 31-yard line. McCoy stayed hot for Monroe, making a 17-yard reception down to the 10, and then finishing it up with a 10-yard touchdown catch, bringing the Mustangs closer at 20-13.
 
The Badgers took over on their own 31-yard line, but quickly got themselves into Monroe's side of the 50. They gained 29 yards on the first three plays of the next drive to get to Monroe's 40. On a 3rd-and-14, both teams committed personal-foul penalties, one on Monroe on the play and one on Snow after the play, resulting in Snow getting a first down without the line of scrimmage changing. Snow later needed a yard on fourth down, but was bailed out on a pass interference call to get into the red zone. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Smith called his own number and took a draw right up the gut for a 13-yard touchdown. The Mustangs then got a stop on an attempted trick-play two-point conversion, keeping the score at 26-13.
 
The Mustangs could not get anything going on their next possession, punting the ball back to the Badgers early in the fourth. Snow put together a slow drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock. The Badgers eventually had 1st-and-goal on the two, but the Mustangs kept them out of the end zone on three straight plays. On fourth down, Snow tried once more to get across the goal line, but Jessiah Gildersleeve and Mysonne Pollard were immediately in the backfield, dropping Lambert for a six-yard loss to take over on downs.
 
The Mustangs tried to make their way down the field needing two touchdowns to get back into the game. They immediately faced 4th-and-9 on their own eight-yard line, but Boothe was able to get just enough on a nine-yard completion to Jamel Stubbs to move the chains. A pass to Barnes for 16 yards got things moving again, but that was the last first down the Mustangs were able to get, eventually getting stopped on fourth down near midfield.
 
Snow had one final drive late in the fourth. On Monroe's 41, the Badgers converted a 4th-and-6 with a 20-yard pass from Smith to Wilson. A couple plays later, Smith completed a pass to Lambert, who took it the rest of the way for a 26-yard score to make it a 32-13 game. The Mustangs then forced an incompletion on a two-point attempt to keep the score right there, but the Mustangs ran out of time on the next possession.
 
Mason Boothe's impressive run of statistical performances continued on Saturday. He completed 35-of-47 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns. That was Boothe's career-best completion percentage (74.5 percent) and makes it six-straight games for Monroe's signal caller with at least two touchdown passes. Boothe has had two-or-more scores through the air in seven of Monroe's 10 games. He has also now passed for more than 270 yards in 5-of-6 games.
 
McCoy had a great day, catching seven passes for 74 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's game. Thomas added six receptions for 54 yards. Barnes caught six passes out of the backfield for 53 yards. Stubbs made another six catches for 38 yards. McAdams added four receptions for 24 yards and a touchdown.
 
Henriquez was incredibly effective in Saturday's game, making five tackles, a tackle for loss, forcing a fumble that he also recovered, and also intercepting a pass. Gildersleeve led the way for Monroe with 10 total tackles in Saturday's matchup. Sekou Kromah had 1.5 tackles for loss, including a half sack with Xavier Belton. Lewis also had a sack in the game. Nareece Wright added two pass breakups to his six tackles. Pollard picked up eight tackles in the game.
 
The Mustangs have one game left on their regular-season schedule. They are set to take on Sussex County Community College next Saturday, Nov. 18. Saturday's game is set to kick off at 1 p.m., but a location has yet to be announced for the game.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 28 teams competing across nine sports. There are 20 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well the Monroe College marching band, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has seven 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 Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs). Read Full Article