Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders become Super Bowl champs
in youth football league
Marlboro /
| 20 Nov 2019 | 10:00
First row, from left: Zander Shepard, Xavier Vasquez, Aidan Halfon, Rowan Durkin, Fionn Healy, Justin Halfon, Aryston Ramphal, Maddox German, Jayden Ramphal and Lee Nagapen. Second row: Colin Frees, Paulie “Rhino” Bueti, Mathias Deleon, Andre Robinson, Joey Baur, Mikey Monda, Dylan Speca, Colin Ginty, Luke Carreras and Jake Thomas. Top row: Coaches Mike Halfon, Jim Durkin, Mike Deleon, Rob German, Rich Monda, Tom Ginty and Jon Nagapen. (
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The Monroe-Woodbury Youth Football D1 Crusaders finished off a highly successful season on Saturday, Nov. 16 with a 35-6 victory over the Middletown Middies at Marlboro High School.
The 2019 Monroe-Woodbury Division 1 team was the first in the program's history to advance to and win the Orange County Youth Football League Super Bowl.
After a 7-1 regular season and the second seed heading into the playoffs, the Monroe-Woodbury Youth Football Crusaders Division 1 team really began to turn it on.
Their first playoff game, against the Town of Newburgh, was a hard-fought contest that the team won 26-6. That win moved the team into the semifinals against a strong Washingtonville team that it had defeated 14-8 in Week 5 of the regular season.
The Youth Football Crusaders stepped up again, playing a solid all-around game to defeat Washingtonville 35-18 to secure their spot in the OCYFL Division 1 Super Bowl at Marlboro High School.
The Super Bowl was a rematch of the Monroe-Woodbury Youth Football D1 Crusaders' Week 6 game with the Middletown Middies. The team lost the earlier game to the Middies, 6-0, its only defeat of the season.
On Nov. 16, the Monroe-Woodbury Youth Football Division 1 Crusaders scored first, with Joey Bauer taking in a touchdown from 5 yards out, followed by an extra-point conversion by Rowan Durkin to put the team up 7-0.
The Middletown Middies moved right down the field on the ensuing drive to close the gap to 7-6 after a failed extra-point conversion. On the Crusaders second possession, Mikey Monda had a 67-yard touchdown run; Maddox German followed with a successful extra-point conversion to extend the Crusaders lead to 14-6.
The Monroe-Woodbury Youth Football Crusaders' defense stopped the Middies on their next drive to give the ball back to the Crusaders' offense. The Crusaders took advantage as Mikey Monda went in for his second score of the game from 8 yards out, moving the lead to 20-6.
With 20.3 seconds left on the clock and on the Crusaders' own 41-yard line, Mikey Monda hit Joey Bauer up the right side of the field for a 59-yard touchdown catch and run. That was followed by a successful extra-point conversion by Mikey Monda and a 27-6 lead heading into halftime.
Both defenses tightened up in the second half, but the Crusaders were able to get one more score as Xavier Vazquez moved the team down the field with several strong runs, capping the drive off with a 3-yard touchdown. Joey Bauer came in for the two-point kick conversion, which he hit successfully to complete the 35-6 Crusaders' victory.
Zander Shepard, Fionn Healy, Lee Nagapen and Colin Ginty were strong on defense throughout the game, and Mathias Deleon, Paul Bueti, Luke Carreras, Jake Thomas and Justin Halfon provided openings for the backs all day long.
To learn more about the program, visit https://www.monroefootball.com/ or e-mail mwyouthfootball@gmail.com.
Registration for the 2020 season will open shortly.