Monroe-Woodbury should approach the rest of October like a new season.
The 0–5 start happened. Nobody inside that program wanted it, and one win does not erase it. But the Crusaders cannot let five losses make their decisions for the next three weeks.
Friday’s 31–22 win over Kingston put Monroe at 1–5 overall and, much more relevant to the postseason race, 1–1 in Class AA qualifying games. In the current standings, Monroe is inside the four-team playoff field, with its place tied and its seed unsettled.
There is still something to play for. A lot, actually.
Shut out the noise
Borrow Nick Saban’s “rat poison” idea: outside opinions cannot become the voice running your program. The verdicts about an 0–5 team are distractions if they pull attention away from preparation, execution and the games still ahead.
Friday gave Monroe a result to build from. The Crusaders led Kingston 17–0 at halftime, saw the Tigers pull within two in the fourth quarter and finished with a nine-point win.
They needed to finish a game. They did. Now the job is to carry that into another week, rather than let either the losing start or the relief of one win take over.
Valley Central and Pine Bush have to be taken seriously
Monroe visits Valley Central on October 16, travels to Middletown on October 23 and hosts Pine Bush on October 31. All three games count toward the Class AA playoff race.
Valley Central and Pine Bush are two matchups Monroe needs to target as wins. Neither should be treated as an automatic result.
Valley Central is 4–2 after its 29–7 loss to Middletown. Pine Bush is 1–5, but it was tied 7–7 with the unbeaten Middies at halftime a week earlier before losing 28–13. We have seen enough to know that looking at the final record alone can hide a tougher game.
Monroe must prepare for the teams on the field today—not the versions it remembers from another season. Valley Central’s Newburgh game is still ahead on October 30, so that comparison remains to be played.
The qualifying record is the opportunity
The Kingston win matters because overall records and playoff-counting records are different. Monroe’s 1–5 overall mark tells the story of its start. Its 1–1 Class AA mark tells us the postseason race is still open.
Wins over Valley Central and Pine Bush would strengthen that position and give Monroe valuable head-to-head results against direct competitors. Middletown sits between those games, and every qualifying result and applicable tiebreaker still matters. Monroe has not clinched.
The opening five weeks cannot be changed. The remaining three games can.
Shut out the noise. Prepare for Valley Central. Go win the next one.
Monroe–Valley Central Game Center → · Class AA standings and tiebreakers · Playoff Lab
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