Monroe-Woodbury tops Kingston 49-21
Monroe-Woodbury scored twice in a 40-second span to thwart a Kingston High comeback Friday night in Section 9football.
Monroe-Woodbury scored twice in a 40-second span in the fourth quarter to thwart a Kingston High comeback Friday night in Section 9 football.
The Crusaders, who had managed 47 points in their first five games, finally broke out and outscored the Tigers 49-21 in a Class AA contest that featured a host of big plays.
Nick Scancarello rushed eight times for 107 yards and two touchdowns and also scored on an 86yard kickoff return to lead Monroe (2-4 overall, 2-3 in AA). Quarterback Anthony Campione threw for one TD and ran for 80 yards and another score.
Chapman Parker tried to rally the Tigers, completing 17 of 33 passes for 306 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. His favorite receivers were Daiveyon Jackson (six catches for 139 yards, one TD) and Shacorey Jones (five receptions for 133 yards, two TDs).
The game stayed tight for three quarters. Parker’s 46-yard TD to Jones pulled Kingston (2-4, 0-4) to within 28-14 with 9:29 to play.
Scancarello muffed the ensuing kickoff, but after the ball bounced
straight up, the senior scooped it up on the run, cut back and raced 86 yards for the score. On Kingston’s next play, C.J. Graham intercepted Parker and ran it back 24 yards for the pick-6 and a big 42-14 advantage.
Jones answered for the Tigers by bouncing off a defender and going 61 yards for his second TD catch to make it 42-21 with 6:05 left. An onside kick didn’t go the minimum 10 yards and the Crusaders took over. Six plays later, Ryant Delapaz rambled 9 yards to clinch the win.
Scancarello and Campion scored on runs of 12 and 2 yards, respectively, to put Monroe ahead in the first half.
Jackson turned Parker’s screen pass into a 74-yard score for Kingston. The Crusaders made it 21-7 just before halftime when Sean Neely made a juggling catch on his back in the end zone for a TD.
Justin Gumbs picked off Parker to stall a Kingston drive at the Crusader 14 to start the second half. Scancarello’s 4-yard TD run had Monroe up 28-14 late in the third quarter.
The Crusaders held the Tigers to just 39 yards rushing on 17 attempts. Kingston proved to be its own worst enemy, committing a dozen penalties for 85 yards. The Tigers were flagged seven times on offense for false starts.
“We played here at Homecoming in front of 4,000 people and we didn’t have this many false starts,” Kingston coach Quintin Johnson remarked. “Our mental toughness and our mental part of the game is what’s really lacking. I have to do a better job preparing us for that and we have to do a better job executing.”
The opportunities were there, but too many penalties, dropped passes and fundamental errors haunted the Tigers.
“We did so many things that we didn’t deserve to win this game. That’s the bottom line,” Johnson said.
“I don’t know what the answer is, but I know I’m not going to give up and I will not sleep until I find out how to do it. I told them that after the game,” he added. “I’m not going to stop coaching them. I’m going to find a way to make sure that we start mentally and physically doing what we are capable of doing.”
After three consecutive home games, Kingston is back on the road next week, playing at Newburgh on Friday, Oct. 18. The unbeaten Goldbacks erased a 14-point deficit and beat Pine Bush 45-35 Friday to raise their record to 5-0.