Friday result: Monroe-Woodbury 31, Kingston 22. Monroe earned its first win and is 1–5. Kingston is 2–4. The Crusaders are scheduled to visit Valley Central next Friday, October 16, at 6 p.m.
Original pregame analysis
Monroe-Woodbury beat Kingston 48–14 last season. On Friday, the Tigers get a chance to show how much that gap has changed.
Kingston arrives 2–3. Monroe-Woodbury is 0–5. Those records create an opportunity, but Kingston still has to win the matchup on the field. Kickoff is Friday, October 9, at 6 p.m. at Monroe-Woodbury.
The question is bigger than whether Kingston can keep this close. Can the Tigers finish enough drives to leave with a Class AA win against a program that controlled last year’s meeting?
For all the attention on Monroe-Woodbury’s record, this game still comes back to a simple question: which offense can finish enough drives?
Kingston has done this before
There is an important part of this history: Kingston beat Monroe-Woodbury 12–10 in 2024. Last year’s 48–14 loss was a very different game. The two most recent meetings show both the opportunity and the danger.
Listen, I would like Kingston more at home. But I also think this is a real chance for the Tigers. Monroe is struggling to generate points, and Kingston does not have to become an explosive offense overnight to win this game. It has to finish enough possessions and keep the Crusaders from getting easy ones.
The numbers entering Friday
| Team | Record | Points scored | Points allowed | Scoring average | Allowed average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | 2–3 | 99 | 87 | 19.8 | 17.4 |
| Monroe-Woodbury | 0–5 | 54 | 161 | 10.8 | 32.2 |
Through five games, before Week 5. Averages are points per game; totals include non-league games.
Kingston’s offense has produced 65 points in its two wins and 34 in its three losses. That split matters more to me than a season average. Can the Tigers find the version of their offense that finishes drives when another AA team is across from them?
Monroe’s scoring problem is recent—and real
Monroe-Woodbury has scored seven points or fewer in each of its last three games: seven against Cornwall, six against Minisink Valley, and seven against Newburgh Free Academy.
That does not mean seven is its season high. The Crusaders scored 20 against John F. Kennedy Campus in the opener and 14 against Washingtonville the following week. They have scored 54 points through five games, but only 20 across the last three.
Friday gives Monroe-Woodbury an opportunity to change that pattern at home. Kingston cannot approach this as a game already won because of the opponent’s record. It has to make the Crusaders earn their opportunities and avoid giving an offense a short field.
Closing the gap means finishing the game
A better score than last year would show progress. A win would give Kingston something concrete: a division result it can carry into the rest of October. The Tigers cannot treat a struggling opponent as a reason to wait for the game to come to them.
Our test is the second half. If Kingston gets a lead, can it protect possessions and add to it? If Monroe scores first, can the Tigers answer without letting one difficult series become two? Those are the moments we will watch to judge whether Kingston is ready.
Kingston has shown it can score
The Tigers opened with a 31–10 win over Mount Vernon and later beat FDR 34–14. Their three losses came against Goshen, Our Lady of Lourdes, and Valley Central.
Kingston scored 20 at Lourdes before finishing with seven in last week’s 20–7 loss to Valley Central. The challenge is turning its better offensive stretches into a complete game against another Class AA opponent.
A touchdown matters here. So does the possession after it. Kingston needs enough sustained offense to make Monroe-Woodbury chase the game rather than wait for one play to change it.
A division win matters beyond Friday
Both teams enter 0–1 in Class AA play. Kingston still has Pine Bush, Newburgh and Middletown ahead. Monroe-Woodbury follows this game with Valley Central, Middletown and Pine Bush. The schedule leaves neither team much room to keep waiting for an offensive breakthrough.
For Kingston, this is a chance to get back to .500 and earn its first division win. For Monroe-Woodbury, the first win of the season would also keep an 0–2 division start off its record. A loss would deepen the urgency with two of the section’s strongest teams next.
What decides Friday
Watch the short fields, the possessions that cross midfield, and what happens after the first score. If Kingston finishes drives and makes Monroe-Woodbury move the length of the field, the Tigers give themselves a strong opportunity.
If the Crusaders find early points and put Kingston in a position where it has to answer, this becomes a different game. Monroe-Woodbury needs more than a better-looking start; it needs an offense that can produce for four quarters.
Coach I’s pick: Monroe-Woodbury. For the pick, I am going with Monroe at home. But Kingston can absolutely make that pick wrong. To me, this comes down to whether Kingston can score on Monroe’s defense—and hold the Crusaders down long enough for its own offense to get those points.
A sixth straight loss would be a major moment for Monroe-Woodbury, especially coming off last year’s 28–21 AA championship win over Middletown. Kingston has a chance to be the team that makes the situation even tougher. Now it has to take it.
Kingston at Monroe-Woodbury • Friday, October 9 • 6 p.m.
Listen: Radio Kingston plans live coverage with Dan Reinhard and Jeff DeLisio.
The 2025 meeting, schedule and results were checked October 8 against Kingston’s schedule and Monroe-Woodbury’s schedule. Matchup analysis and picks are KOT845 editorial opinions.
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