ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — In one of the most anticipated regular season Section V football games in years, East/WOIS stormed back to beat Monroe 17-14. Both the Eagles and the Red Jackets won sectional titles last year, advancing to the state semifinals. Monroe was in Class B last year, but their attendance moved them up to Class A causing the much-hyped regular season showdown as well as a potential matchup in the playoffs. "It was a great team win. I can't say it enough," said East/WOIS co-head coach Steve Flagler. "I told them that no one's going to shine in this game, it's going to be all about the team and we just had to get it done that way. They bought in." The Red Jackets scored the first 14 points of the game thanks to the strength of their special teams. In the first quarter, Power 4-recruit Messiah Hampton took a punt return 55 yards for a touchdown and an 8-0 lead. In the second quarter, East had a bad snap on a punt. By the time their punter got the chance to send off a kick, he was swarmed by a host of Red Jackets and the punt was blocked. Monroe took just one play to cash in as Pooty Cunningham connected with Luis Falu for an 18-yard touchdown. Yusuf Abdi made a field goal for East at the end of the first half to make it 14-3 at the break. The Eagles stuck with their ground game in the second half, using primarily direct snaps to their running backs. East/WOIS drove 65 yards on their first drive of the third quarter, with Da'Mari Green taking a direct snap 30 yards for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 14-10. In the fourth quarter, the Eagles were faced with a fourth and two at midfield. They turned to their workhorse back, Jeremiah Tucker, and he broke off a 46-yard touchdown for a 17-14 lead. "We had touched on it all week that it's going to take time, we had to weather the storm," said Flagler. "They're a big-play team. They have a lot of explosive players. When you pound the ball it pays off at the end of the game. We kept telling them. They believed. They bought into what we were doing and it went as we thought it would." The Eagles needed to get two defensive stops to seal the game. The first came when Monroe failed on a fourth and three in the red zone. The final came as time expired, with a 30-yard Cunningham Hail Mary falling incomplete. "I'm so proud of my defense. We did amazing," said East/WOIS defensive back Kendric Jackson, who was primarily tasked with covering Hampton. "We had a crazy comeback. I knew it was going to be like this, we knew it was going to be a hard game. I'm just proud of my defense." "The fire was lit," said East/WOIS co-head coach James Vann. "As a team approach, when the little bros get out of pocket, big bros step up and put them in their place" East/WOIS (3-1) will host Wilson on Friday, November 4th at 6:00 p.m. Monroe (3-1) will face another tough test next week when they travel to take on undefeated Canandaigua on the same evening. In the latest NYSSWA rankings, the Gray Wolves were ranked fifth in the state. Monroe came into Saturday's matchup ranked seventh with East/WOIS slotted at #17.