Mount Vernon, NY – Despite forcing four turnovers on the day, the Monroe University football team suffered a heartbreaking defeat to No. 11 Lackawanna College, 28-20, on Saturday night at The Stadium at Memorial Field.
Monroe's defense set the tone for three quarters, limiting the high-octane Falcons to two scores and forcing numerous miscues by the two-loss team. But a 14-0 run across the final 15 minutes of action proved costly for the upset-minded Mustangs.
Freshmen
Dylan Davis and Mohammed Kelleh, and sophomres
Loic Germain and
Joseph Pommier all forced fumbles in the contest, with three of them being scooped up by the Mustangs. The defense also blocked a punt and forced a turnover on downs in the early going.
However, Lackawanna came up with the key plays, as a forced fumble by the Falcons led to the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute remaining. A pick-six then cemented the comeback victory for the nationally ranked program.
After a quick three-and-out by the offense, the Mustangs defense halted Lackawanna's ensuing drive at their own 27. With neither team making up much ground on their respective second possessions, redshirt sophomore
Trei Dansby came up with the first big play of the game, blocking a punt and pinning the Lackawanna defense inside its own redzone.
Freshman
Donovan Brown delivered the first score of the game as Monroe took a 7-0 lead.
The following drive saw
Raeden Oliver find redshirt freshman
Lasalle Rose for a 30-yard touchdown to put Monroe up two scores. Monroe's ferocity didn't falter, even after Lackawanna got on the board to close the half.
In their previous meeting on October 5, the Mustangs trailed 30-6 at halftime. Their inspired play this time around continued into the second half, as another forced fumble led to a scoop and score from sophomore
Theodore McDuffie.
Despite the Falcons cutting into the deficit on the next possession, Monroe continued to compete. A fourth down stop to start the fourth quarter set the tone and a third recovered fumble by the home team with 6:49 remaining looked to seal the upset.
But the Falcons, who survived another fumble with 3:12 left to play, capped off an elongated drive with a quarterback keeper, putting them up 21-20 with 46 seconds remaining. A pick-six on the first play of the drive signaled the end of the line for the Mustangs.
With two games remaining on the schedule, Monroe will have one last chance at knocking off a ranked opponent when it travels to Ephraim, UT to take on No. 6 Snow College on Saturday, November 9 at 9:00 pm EST.
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE UNIVERSITY
The athletic program at Monroe University encompasses a total of 28 teams competing across nine sports. There are 20 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as the Monroe University 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.MonroeUMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
Monroe Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (
@MonroeMustangs) and Instagram (
@monroemustangs).
