Spotswood no pushover for football Homecoming

By: Ken Weingartner
   If there was any temptation for the Monroe Township High football team to take arch-rival Spotswood lightly, it could be erased by merely looking in the mirror.
   Spotswood was winless last season, but won its first three games this year before falling to South River last week.
   It’s not unlike the turnaround enjoyed by the Falcons, who went 1-9 in 2004 before winning the first five games last season on their way to a program-best 7-3 finish.
   "They’re the ‘us’ of last year," Monroe coach Pat Dowling said. "Now, teams aren’t marking them off as an easy win, or Spotswood is making them pay for it. They’ve got the attention of our kids, and they realize Spotswood is better than last year. We were once that team everyone took for granted."
   Monroe hosts the Chargers on Homecoming Day Saturday at Hugh Walsh Field. The Falcons are 3-1 overall after beating John F. Kennedy, 50-28, last week and possess an offense that averages nearly 31 points per game.
   "I’d rather they were coming in here undefeated than off their first loss; they can be a dangerous animal," said Dowling, whose team beat Spotswood, 40-0, last season. "They’ve got the revenge factor; they’re going to be motivated and want to knock us off our perch."
   Spotswood is 3-1 in the Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division while the Falcons, who lost to South River two weeks ago by one point in overtime, are 1-1. South River is 2-1, with a loss to JFK (1-2).
   "We’re both playing for survival," Dowling said. "It’s like a championship game because the loser is out of the division race. There’s plenty to be playing for when you cut through all the pomp of it being homecoming and Spotswood-Monroe."
   The Falcons are coming off an impressive win over JFK in which quarterback Ryan Cushman threw for four touchdowns and 165 yards on 9-for-15 passing. David Gregor, back from an injury that kept him out of Monroe’s first three games, caught two touchdown passes, as did T.J. Denehy.
   Ryan Meseroll had 130 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Kyle Gigliello returned an interception 50 yards for a score, accounting for Monroe’s other touchdown.
   "It’s the closest we’ve played to a complete game to this point, but we still let it be too much of a shootout early and let JFK hang around in the first half," Dowling said. "I’m not getting cocky; I know we scored 50 points and had almost 400 yards of offense. But we have to eliminate some of our mistakes to take our game to the next level."
   Monroe was locked in a 22-22 tussle after a fumble by Cushman led to a JFK touchdown with 1:19 remaining in the first half. The Falcons, though, ran the 2-minute drill to perfection and Cushman connected with Denehy on a 28-yard scoring pass just prior to intermission to take the lead for good.
   Gigliello’s interception return on JFK’s first possession of the second half gave the Falcons all the momentum they would need.
   "I liked that after the fumble, we went right down the field without skipping a beat," Dowling said. "They followed that up by taking care of business in the second half; those were the two best quarters we played all year."
   Now, the Falcons need to take care of business against Spotswood before three consecutive road games.
   "We have to play a solid game and limit our mistakes," Dowling said. "We have to really be up to the challenge of them throwing everything at us that they’ve got; they’re going to reach into the bag of tricks and pull out the whole playbook. Our kids have to answer. They’ve been doing a pretty good job of that, but this one is going to be more physical and more personal, I think. We need to stay focused on what we need to do and not get caught up in everything surrounding this game."
   And to do so, it will only take a look in the mirror.