Falcons set the bar high for teams of the future
By: Kenny Weingartner
Over the past decade, there have been few football seasons to rival the one recently completed at Monroe High School.
The only one that might compare came in 2001 when the Falcons rallied around Sean Denehy, who suffered a spinal cord injury in the team’s first game, and closed the campaign with a flourish including a rousing Homecoming Day victory over rival Spotswood when Denehy led them onto the field.
But in some ways, this was a season that has never been equaled before.
The Falcons set a school record for wins, with seven, and had one of the top players in the Greater Middlesex Conference in running back Jarred Jimenez. But turning a 1-9 campaign in 2004 to 7-3 this year was as much about what happened off the field as on it.
From Day One, the Falcons told anyone who would listen that this season would be different. The key was offseason conditioning. Not only did Monroe’s players become stronger, they developed a deep commitment to each other as they pushed each other through their summer workouts. As second-year coach Pat Dowling noted, more and more players got involved in the workouts as the summer progressed.
Another factor was new defensive coordinator Chris Beagan. The coach would downplay his role in the Falcons’ success, but the players frequently mentioned his name when discussing the program’s revival. He might not have been selling anything different from previous coaches, but the way he sold it appeared to make a difference. The players believed in him and wanted to perform their best for him.
It added up to a defense that registered three shutouts and held another team to six points.
Monroe proved it could play with the majority of teams in the GMC White Division even beating playoff qualifier Colonia on the road but still has losses to Carteret and New Brunswick as motivation to keep working hard. Also, the Falcons missed reaching the state sectional playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker another reason players probably were in the weight room as soon as the season ended.
The Falcons will say goodbye to a number of seniors who have left their mark on the program. In addition to Jimenez, Monroe bids farewell to Keith Douglas, Dan Steadman, Justin Meccia, Nikko DeLiberto, Matt Sussman, Nick Zirkel, Justin Lupo, Derek Melnyk, Rick Sandhu, Kyle Faughnan, Scott Hyman, and Joe Krzaczkowski.
Jimenez ended the season with a school-record 1,615 yards one of the best totals in the state and 21 touchdowns.
Softening the loss of Jimenez will be the return of junior quarterback Ryan Cushman, who passed for more than 700 yards and had his best game of the season in the finale, a 61-36 victory over Princeton. Also returning will be junior receiver David Gregor, who led the squad with 17 catches for 384 yards, as well as junior T.J. Denehy, who emerged as another threat.
Junior Mark Gulick, who ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns in Monroe’s season-opening win over Cardinal McCarrick, classmate Gabe Lawrence and sophomores Christian Hanley and Ryan Meseroll also were key contributors during the course of the campaign.
Following is a brief review of the season, game by game:
Monroe 55, Cardinal McCarrick 6 Jimenez ran for 229 yards and five touchdowns in about 13 minutes of work. The defense held the Eagles to 90 yards and stopped half of McCarrick’s 36 plays in the backfield for losses. "This is the new Monroe," Jimenez said.
Monroe 40, Spotswood 0 Monroe reached 2-0 for the first time since 1999 by scoring four times in the first quarter and never looking back. Cushman and Gregor hooked up twice for touchdowns and Jimenez had two scoring runs, finishing with 136 yards on 18 carries. Zirkel had a fumble recovery for a TD. Mike Sullivan and Hanley had interceptions as the Falcons yielded a measly 23 yards to Spotswood.
Monroe 26, Colonia 14 After a sluggish first half, the Falcons rolled after the break as Sussman’s fumble recovery on the first play of the third quarter led to a Jimenez touchdown run. Jimenez ended with 231 yards in addition to an 89-yard kickoff return for a score. Monroe gave up just 59 yards over the final 29 minutes and improved to 3-0 for the first time since the mid-1980s.
Monroe 21, Perth Amboy 14 Monroe reached 4-0 for the first time in history by rallying from a 14-0 deficit to win in overtime. An interception by Hanley turned the tide and led to the Falcons’ first TD, by Jimenez. Cushman and Gregor connected to tie the score and Jimenez won it with a touchdown run on Monroe’s first play of OT. A year earlier, the Falcons had lost to Amboy in overtime.
Monroe 8, South River 0 Melnyk recovered a fumble in the first quarter and Jimenez converted it into points as the Falcons won in a rainstorm. It proved to be Monroe’s second win over a playoff qualifier (Colonia was the other).
New Brunswick 27, Monroe 6 The Falcons played tough against one of the state’s top-ranked teams, trailing only 14-0 entering the fourth quarter, but came up short on a blustery day at Hugh Walsh Field. Cushman-to-Gregor on the final play gave Monroe its points.
Monroe 10, South Plainfield 0 Monroe’s defense held the Tigers to 38 yards, intercepted three passes, recovered a fumble and blocked two punts one for a safety. A fumble recovery by Sussman set up a TD by Jimenez for the Falcons’ only trip to the end zone.
Carteret 47, Monroe 14 The Falcons failed to get untracked at Carteret and saw Jimenez, Cushman and Meseroll knocked from the game by injuries against one of the state’s Top 20 teams.
Somerville 21, Monroe 0 Another playoff-bound team kept the Falcons from achieving their final remaining goal, a school-record seventh win.
Monroe 61, Princeton 36 The Falcons got their seventh win at home and did it convincingly against one of the better teams from Mercer County, exploding for a 48-8 halftime lead. Jimenez ran wild, rushing for a school-record 331 yards and six touchdowns. Douglas intercepted two passes, returning one for a score.

