Shoffner Scores Five Times to Lead No. 15 Monroe Mustangs Football to Shutout Victory over New Jerse

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., August 31, 2019 – Transfer quarterback Dominique Shoffner made just about as big of an impact as he possibly could in his debut, accounting for five touchdowns in less than a half to lead the No. 15-ranked Monroe College football team to a 71-0 shutout victory over the New Jersey Warriors on Saturday at Joseph F. Fosina Field. The Mustangs start the season 1-0, while the Warriors drop to 0-1. Despite departing from the game with time still remaining in the first half, Shoffner still managed to produce five touchdowns for the Mustangs in his first game in the gold and royal blue jerseys. He completed 9-of-14 passes for 215 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing three times for 50 yards and another score. On the Warriors second possession of the day, quarterback Brian Finucan was intercepted by Emmanuel Appiah-Tahkyi deep into Mustang territory. The Mustangs then put together a six-play, 78-yard drive, capped for by a 14-yard touchdown pass from Shoffner to Pierre Moudourou to make it a 7-0 game. The Warriors went three-and-out again on their next drive, and it did not take long for the Mustangs to capitalize on good field position. Two plays into the drive, Shoffner hit Jevin Frett deep for a 49-yard touchdown to put the Mustangs up by 14. Another punt put the Mustangs on their own 43-yard line. It took just seven plays for the Mustangs to put more points on the board, finishing the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Shoffner to Moudourou to make it a 21-0 game with time still remaining in the first quarter. The Mustangs took over again with 12:48 on the clock in the second quarter. After a five-yard run by Clayton Scott, Shoffner completed a 28-yard pass to Lucas Nunez down to the Warriors' 37-yard line. Shoffner wasted no time, once again looking for Nunez down the middle of the field, completing the deep ball while Nunez fought off defenders to dive into the end zone for another score, pushing Monroe's lead to 28-0. Three plays into New Jersey's next drive, Guirvenson Guillaume picked off Finucan to get the ball back for Monroe, but for the first time in the game, the Mustangs had a drive stall and had to punt the ball away. Jonathan Cardoza-Chicas managed to pin the Warriors down inside their own one-yard line on the punt. On the next play, quarterback Nick Kotova was under pressure and dumped it off to Jalen Glenn, who was tackled in the end zone for a safety to put Monroe up, 30-0. The Mustangs stuck to the ground game on the next drive, seeing Jayvon Benton go 10 yards on first down, followed by a seven-yard run on the next play. Shoffner then called his own number, hit the hole hard, shoved off a few defenders, and took it 33 yards to the house for his first rushing touchdown, pushing Monroe's lead to 37-0. On the third play of New Jersey's ensuing drive, Kotova was intercepted by Appiah-Tahkyi, who sprinted down the sideline all the way to the end zone for a pick-six, pushing Monroe's lead to 44-0. Kotova was once again picked off three plays into the next drive, this time by Heath Stephen II, who returned it 38 yards to the Warriors' 22-yard line. Jaydakis Scott followed with a 22-yard touchdown run on the next play to make it a 51-0 game. The Mustangs forced the Warriors to punt the ball away on their next drive, and responded with a five-play, 45-yard drive that was finished off by Scott's six-yard touchdown run, giving the Mustangs a commanding 58-0 lead before the half. The Mustangs finished up the second quarter with an interception by David Drouet with three seconds left to keep the Mustangs up by 58 heading into the break. The Mustangs took their time with the opening drive of the second half, taking 12 plays to go 74 yards. Jayvon Benton scored on a 25-yard touchdown run to cap off the drive and make it a 65-0 game. The Mustangs got the ball back again on the Warrior's 35 with 11:30 left in the fourth quarter. Raquan Tompkins took over the backfield, rushing five times for all 35 yards, including a seven-yard score. The extra point was blocked, but the Mustangs improved their lead to 71-0 shortly before the final whistle. Tompkins finished with 69 yards and a score on 12 carries to lead the Mustangs on the day. Clayton Scott rushed six times for 48 yards and caught one pass for another 29 yards. Benton rushed five times for 45 yards and a touchdown, while Jaydakis Scott had five carries for 36 yards and two scores. Nunez caught three passes for a game-high of 83 yards and a touchdown in the win. Frett caught two balls for 62 yards and a score. Moudourou scored on both of his receptions, totaling 25 yards on the day. The Mustang defense held New Jersey's quarterback trio to just 12-of-30 passing and five interceptions, while also pushing the Warriors backwards for -37 yards rushing on the day. Jeremiah Bryant, Diquill Neal, Tim Donnahue, Isaiah McNeil and D'Andre Satchell shared the team-high of four tackles in the win. Donnahue and Malcolm Martin each picked up a sack, while Jahron Gayle and Satchell combined for another one. Gayle led the team with 2.5 tackles for loss. Appiah-Tahkyi had a pair of interceptions on the afternoon, including one that he returned for a touchdown. He also broke up another pass on the day. Stephen, Guillaume and Drouet all had the other three interceptions on the day, while Drouet also broke up a pass. The Mustangs had 22 first downs on the day, while allowing just eight for the Warriors. They also totaled 507 yards of offense in the game, and yielded an incredibly low 74 total yards to the Warriors. The Mustangs converted 4-for-8 third downs and 2-of-2 fourth downs, while the Warriors did not convert on any of their 10 third-down attempts.