Box Score 10/9/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – In a seesaw, back-and-forth game that delivered on every football lover's metric, the Lackawanna College football team fell just short, losing 49-48 in overtime to the Monroe College Mustangs on Saturday, October 9^th at Scranton's Memorial Stadium.
 
Lackawanna College had a chance to win, after scoring a 27-yard touchdown in the overtime period, when they went for two on the extra point try. Quarterback Barry Brown took the snap, hesitated for a second, then darted forward, but was tackled short of the line to gain, fumbling the football in the process. The Falcons jumped on top of it, and carried it into the end zone, but, by rule, the play is blown dead and the ball cannot be advanced on the fumble, giving Monroe College their first win over Lackawanna since 2014.
 
The 11^th ranked Falcons (3-2) racked up 557 yards of total offense, including 378 yards through the air from Brown, but the 12^th ranked Mustangs (4-0) matched them stride-for-stride, throwing for 323 yards and just over 400 yards of total offense themselves.
 
The win preserves Monroe College's undefeated season, and gives the Mustangs the NEFC championship. With ASA College New York's team not participating this season, Monroe and Lackawanna College were the only two teams competing in the NEFC.
 
The Falcons couldn't have started much better, taking the opening kickoff and marching down the field for a one-yard X'Zavion Evans touchdown run, giving the Falcons an early 7-0 lead just six minutes in.
 
Lackawanna College would find the end zone again, later in the first quarter, when Brown found Colbie Young deep down the left sideline for a 50-yard touchdown. It was 14-0 Falcons, after Cameron Ceccotti's extra point, with a minute to play in the first quarter.
 
The Mustangs, who came into the contest averaging 12.0 yards per attempt (1^st NJCAA), finally got the offense up and running, as Shelton Applewhite, Jr. connected with Lamarcus Brand for an 18-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7 early in the second quarter. After a Lackawanna drive ended at midfield on an interception, Monroe struck again, this time on a 31-yard touchdown strike from Applewhite to Halim Dixon-King. Nikiema's extra point made it 14-all with six minutes to play in the first half.
 
Lackawanna College would answer back, as Brown moved the Falcons back downfield before finding Young again, this time from 33-yards out to make it 21-14 Falcons with 1:45 to play in the half. From there, neither team would find the end zone before the break.
 
The first possession of the second half swung the momentum completely towards Monroe College, as the Mustangs engineered back-to-back touchdown drives that gobbled up almost ten minutes of time, and went for a combined 18 plays and 141 yards. Monroe led 28-21 with 2:40 to play in the third quarter.
 
Seemingly pinned at their own 10-yard line, the Falcons offense would kick back to life, thanks to the insertion of Isaiah Edwards into the backfield. Edwards ran for 97 yards, all in the second half, and his running softened up the secondary for Brown to find his favorite target, Delvin Palmer, for a 25-yard touchdown to tie things up at 28 early in the fourth quarter.
 
After a third straight touchdown drive from Monroe made it 35-28 Mustangs, the Falcons, starting from their own 17-yard line, answered the bell once again, thanks to a long-pass play to Palmer and back-to-back chunk play runs from Edwards and Evans. It all set up Brown's touchdown pass to Nazir Armstrong. However, the extra point was blocked, leaving Monroe College in front, 35-34, with a little over eight minutes remaining.
 
The defense, thanks to some help from a bad fourth down snap, finally got off the field and gave the Falcons the ball on the Monroe 49 with 4:12 to play. The Falcons would convert a long third-down with a 28-yard strike to Palmer in the corner of the end zone. A Brown two-yard scamper would give Lackawanna College the lead once again at 42-35 with 1:10 remaining.
 
It would be just enough time for Monroe to answer once again, as the Mustangs went from their own 35 to the Falcons' 1-yard line in just four plays. An Applewhite 1-yard run would put things back on even terms with 18.5 seconds left. A last gasp heave down the field from Brown resulted in another interception, and Monroe ran the clock out to get to overtime tied at 42.
 
In the overtime period, the Falcons won the toss and deferred to go second. It took Monroe all of two plays to score, when Applewhite hit Dixon-King for a touchdown for the second time on the night, making it 49-42, Mustangs in front.
 
The Falcons would answer with another massive third down conversion, this time as Barry Brown found Cohen Russell in the left corner of the end zone, falling to the turf. That made it 49-48, and set up the dramatic final play.
 
It was a game that saw 97 combined points, 47 combined first downs, and 963 combined total yards of offense. Brown would finish with 378 yards passing on 20 completions and six touchdowns, a career-high, to go with his two interceptions. Palmer finished with eight catches for 133 yards and two scores. Russell had four catches for 94 yards and a score, while Young had two catches for 83 yards, both touchdowns. Edwards led all Falcon rushers with 97 yards, while Evans had 33 yards and a touchdown.
 
Avanti Lockhart led the Falcons with seven tackles, while Harold O'Neal had four tackles, including one tackle-for-loss. Cotrell Hatchett had three solo tackles, three helpers, and 1.5 sacks on the night for the Falcons.
 
Lackawanna College will head into the bye week this next weekend. The Falcons will be back on the field on Sunday, 24^th, when they travel to take on Hocking College in a neutral site match-up at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. The game is set for a 3:00pm ET kickoff.