Monroe football motivated by crushing loss: Top players, schedule, what to know for 2023
Expectations are high for the Monroe football team after the Red Jackets came so close to winning last season's Section V Class B Championship.
Batavia edged Monroe 14-8, after a tipped pass was caught in the end zone with one second remaining in the sectional final and a point after conversion kick.
"We went to work that following week," Monroe coach Terrell Cunningham said. "We used that as motivation.
"You gotta finish, definitely finish. No ifs, ands or buts about it."
The Red Jackets want to finish at the very top of Section V Class B. If they make it there, Cunningham said there is enough talent on this Monroe team the Red Jackets could then make a strong run through the state tournament. The Red Jackets will have to get past Batavia and Honeoye Falls-Lima.
There are three 2022 Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Small School Team members back at Monroe. Junior defensive back and receiver Styhles McKenzie-Baker has scholarship offers from the State University at Buffalo, Campbell and Saint Francis. Landan McKnight, a senior who plays at receiver and returns kicks, has an offer from Division II Wheeling in West Virginia. He scored Monroe's touchdown during the 2022 Section V Class B final. Senior running back/linebacker Nahzier Wilson was named the most outstanding offensive player of the sectional final.
Sophomore receiver/defensive back Messiah Hampton could end up at a power conference college, as he has scholarship offers from Rutgers, Penn State, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, for starters. Khaya Moses, a senior, is in his second season as Monroe's starting quarterback. There are also seven starters back on Monroe's defense, which allowed a little less than eight points per game.
The last team from the Rochester City School District to win a sectional title is Wilson in 2017. Monroe came within a second of changing that last fall. No team in the city school district has won a state title.
"This team has the potential to do something that’s never been done before," Cunningham said. "We have to start with the end in mind."
Monroe football at a glance
Head coach: Terrell Cunningham
Classification: B
Last season’s record: 8-3, lost to Batavia, Section V Class B final
Last Section V championship: 1979
Monroe football schedule for 2023 season
Saturday, Sept. 2: (tentative) vs. Saint Paul (Ontario, Canada), 1 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 8: at Honeoye Falls-Lima, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16: vs. Rochester Prep/Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter, 1 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 22: at Batavia, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 30: vs. Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 7: vs. Vertus, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 14: at Wayne, Noon
Saturday, Oct. 21: vs. Geneva, 1 p.m.
Marquee matchups for Monroe
Both of the biggest games for the Red Jackets are on someone else's homefield. Week 2, Monroe is at Honeoye Falls-Lima, a team the Red Jackets beat twice last season and a contender to win the section's Class B title the last five years. Batavia, the two-time defending sectional champion, is Monroe's opponent in Week 4. The Blue Devils beat Monroe twice last season.
Monroe's top returning players
CB/WR Styhles McKenzie-Baker, OT/DE Dashon Constantine, WR/DB Messiah Hampton, DE ZaeQuan Lathrop, WR Landan McKnight, QB Khaya Moses, DB Terrence Nichols, OT Kenny Scott, RB/LB Amir Thompson, RB/LB Nazhier Wilson
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Monroe football 2023 schedule, top players, preview
