No. 13 Monroe Football Shatters Records in Regular-Season-Closing Victory over Hocking

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y, November 10, 2018 – The No. 13-ranked Monroe College football team had a night to remember on Saturday, shattering numerous team records en route to a 69-28 victory over Hocking College to close out the regular season at Joseph F. Fosina Field. The Mustangs improve to 7-1 on the year, while Hocking drops to 1-8. The Mustangs' 69 points are a new single-game record for the Mustangs, surpassing the previous record of 58 set last season in a win over Thaddeus Stevens College. The record-breaking night also included the team's most ever all-purpose yards (852), total offense (719), rushing yards (378), touchdowns (10), touchdown passes (6) and quarterback efficiency rating (268.5). It was the Hawks that got on the board first in Saturday's contest at Fosina Field. The Mustangs' first drive ended in a missed field goal, setting up Hocking on their own 23-yard line. An eight-play, 77 yard drive was capped off by a nine-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jamarius Stevens to give Hocking an early lead. Joshua Boyd then blocked the extra point, leaving the Hawks up, 6-0. The Mustangs responded quickly after falling behind. On second down, Jalen Brown hit Shawn McFarland, who broke a number of tackles for a 30-yard catch-and-run to set up the Mustangs on Hocking's 41-yard line. Two plays later, Brown hit Hodge over the middle of the field for a 36-yard touchdown, giving the Mustangs a 7-6 lead. Two plays into Hocking's next drive, Grant Melton jumped in front of a pass by Stevens, picking it off at the Hocking 33-yard line to set up the Mustangs with a short field. Unfortunately, the Mustangs were unable to take advantage, and ended up taking their 7-6 lead into the second quarter. Early in the 2nd frame, the Mustangs once again used big plays to get down the field quickly. Jarious Jones opened the drive with a 10-yard run, and followed it up with a beautiful 32-yard scamper down to the Hocking 38. Brown then completed a 17-yard pass to Keveon Clark down to the 21. Two plays later, Brown dumped one off to Victor Mintz, who had the blocking down the far sideline to take it all the way in for a 23-yard touchdown reception, pushing Monroe's lead to 14-7. The Mustangs forced the Hawks to punt with seven minutes to play in the half. Jevin Frett picked up a bouncing 41-yard punt, broke a few tackles, and saw nothing but daylight down the left sideline, taking it all the way for a 61-yard punt return touchdown to make it a 21-7 lead for Monroe. This was the Mustangs' third return touchdown in as many games. The Mustangs took over again with 5:11 left in the half. Brown kept the ball moving with a 21-yard run, and later a 14-yard pass to Hodge. With first-and-15, Zaire Jones blasted through a hole and took it all the way to the house for a 46-yard touchdown to make it a 28-7 game. The Mustangs got the ball back one more time with just 1:06 left on the clock, but had all three timeouts. Brown hit Hodge on three-straight plays to move the ball 34 yards down to the Hocking 29-yard line. After two incomplete passes, Brown hit Hodge in stride in the back of the end zone for a 29-yard score, making it commanding 35-6 lead for the Mustangs heading into the half. Hocking tried to get the ball back to open the second half with a blasted kickoff right at the Mustangs' front line, but Monroe was able to fall on it and start the half on their own 48-yard line. Jarious Jones wasted no time, blasting through the line for a 52-yard touchdown to immediately make it a 42-6 lead for Monroe. The Hawks quickly got themselves back on the board with a five-play, 68-yard drive that finished with a 42-yard touchdown for Tyrese Sherman, but a failed two-point conversion attempt left Monroe up, 42-12. The Mustangs had great field position on their next possession after Rashon McNeil returned a short kickoff 41 yards, which had a five-yard penalty tacked on to the end to leave the Mustangs on the Hocking 26-yard line. Jarious Jones quickly made it goal-to-go for the Mustangs with a 21-yard run to open the drive. Kyle DeOrio then completed his first-ever touchdown pass, a five-yard completion to McFarland in the back of the end zone to make it a 49-12 lead for Monroe with 11:31 still left in the third. After the Hawks and Mustangs traded fumbles, the Hawks managed to get on the board again with a 22-yard touchdown run by Sherman, making it a 49-20 game. The Mustangs recovered a fumble for the second time in the quarter at their own 18-yard line with 32 seconds remaining in the third. On third-and-two, Jarious Jones made another huge play, this time a 74-yard scamper for another touchdown to make it a 55-20 Monroe lead. Hocking responded with another touchdown for Stevens, this time from three yards out after a six-play, 46-yard drive, to make it a 55-28 game. The Mustangs did not waste much time scoring again, taking advantage of short field again to go 44 yards, concluding with a 14-yard touchdown pass from DeOrio to Nyjaliek Williams to set a new points record at 62-28. The Mustangs forced a punt from Hocking on the next drive, and took over on their own seven-yard line. Tyler Bailey appeared to break off a 39-yard run to start the drive, but it was called back due to a holding penalty. After he gained 11 yards on the next two plays, DeOrio threw a screen pass to the speedy Imhotep Cromer, who shook one defender and was off to the races down the sideline, scoring an 85-yard touchdown, a fitting end to a 69-28 win for the Mustangs. Brown finished 12-of-19 for 216 passing yards and three touchdowns, adding 34 yards on four carries. DeOrio matched Brown's three touchdowns, doing so at an incredibly efficient rate, completing 4-of-5 passes for 125 yards. Jarious Jones finished three yards shy of the program's single-game record, rushing for 201 yards on eight carries and scoring a pair of touchdowns. Zaire Jones carried the ball eight times, totaling 78 yards and a score of his own. Bailey added 77 yards on 14 totes. Hodge and Cromer both set career highs with 127 and 106 receiving yards, respectively. Hodge scored twice in the game on seven catches, while Cromer had the longest play of the game with his 85-yard score. McFarland added his first touchdown of the season and finished with two receptions for 35 yard. Mintz added two catches for 27 yards and a touchdown, while Williams scored a 14-yard touchdown. Keveon Clark made two taches for 32 yards. Grant Melton had a great game on defense, leading the team with nine tackles while also intercepting a pass and breaking up another. McNeil made six tackles, and also returned a short kickoff for 41 yards. Joshua Boyd broke up two passes, blocked an extra point and made three tackles in the win. Malcolm Martin and Victor King each recovered a fumble, while Jahron Gayle forced one. Suquan Stays had the Mustangs' only sack in the win. Frett returned four punts for 81 yards, including his 61-yard touchdown. As one of the top-ranked teams in the NJCAA, the Mustangs now await the possibility of a bowl-game invitation this season, which would be a first in the program's seven-year history. A bowl-game announcement would be made in the coming days. 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 18 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, and the newly added club men's volleyball team, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus as of the fall of 2017, has seven teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.