In final season, Monroe still living up to the hype

Posted 10/22/14

It would have been impossible for Tom Centore not to notice Marquem Monroe’s talent, in a different way than he’d noticed players in the past.

The next big thing, certainly at Cranston East, …

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In final season, Monroe still living up to the hype

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It would have been impossible for Tom Centore not to notice Marquem Monroe’s talent, in a different way than he’d noticed players in the past.

The next big thing, certainly at Cranston East, and maybe in the state of Rhode Island or even beyond, was making just about every other 14 and 15-year-old football player in his way look foolish.

And it was happening at the bottom level of Centore’s program, on the freshman football team.

It wasn’t unusual for the coach to take inventory of who his better freshman players were. This time, though, it wasn’t just inventory. Centore knew he was looking at the player that might lead his program toward the top of Division I.

“I know he was going to be a special player,” Centore said. “He certainly hasn’t proven us wrong.”

That was in 2011, when Monroe led the Thunderbolts’ freshman team to a Division II state championship. His play wasn’t just standout – it was the quintessential man-among-boys situation.

Bigger, stronger and certainly faster than everyone on the field, Monroe ran for 244 yards and five touchdowns in the freshman Super Bowl, as his team enjoyed a blowout victory.

It was an eye-popping performance, and the first of many eye-opening ones in Monroe’s now illustrious high school career.

“I remember being a young kid, having fun, trying to win a championship, trying to make a good impression before I played varsity or JV or anything,” Monroe said.

He made an impression then, and he hasn’t stopped making them ever since. Monroe has emerged as perhaps the best player in the state, and one of the best that Rhode Island has seen in a very long time.

A rare talent who has excelled ever since playing for the Edgewood Eagles Pop Warner program beginning at age 7, Monroe, now a senior, has dominated football fields from the defensive backfield, as a running back and out wide as a receiver since he burst onto the varsity scene in 2012 as a sophomore.

He’d led East in all-purpose yards in each of the last three seasons, and he’s scored an incredible 47 touchdowns over that span.

“He’s by far the best player in Rhode Island,” Centore said. “There’s no disputing it. He’s just a different player. Sometimes it’s a lot to ask of one kid, and we ask a lot of him.”

Every step of the way, despite all that has been asked of him, Monroe has risen to the challenge.

As a sophomore, it took him some time to get up to speed, but he still racked up almost 1,000 all-purpose yards, had 14 touchdowns and was named first-team All-State as a defensive back.

Last season, he took a giant leap forward, becoming the most versatile player on one of the top offenses Rhode Island has ever seen. Teaming up with quarterback Alex Corvese and receivers Marven Beauvais, Monroe helped bring East to the Division I Super Bowl, where they came up just short in a 45-34 loss to Bishop Hendricken.

Despite all the talent around him, particularly Beauvais – who now plays at the University of Rhode Island – Monroe was still the team’s most impactful player.

He had over 1,800 total yards and scored 23 touchdowns. He was again named first-team All-State, this time as a wide receiver.

This year, in his final season, he’s doing it again while East tries to break in a new supporting cast. The ’Bolts are just 1-3 in Division I, but Monroe has scored 10 of the team’s 16 total touchdowns, and he’s thrown for another. He’ll surely be an All-State selection for a third consecutive year.

None of those statistics take into account his dynamic play from the secondary, either, where he is East’s best defensive player.

“It’s a lot on him sometimes, where the expectation of him is to try to dominate the game,” Centore said. “He can only do so much. He’s our best defender. He’s our kick returner. He’s our punt returner. He’s our fullback on punts. Offense, we put him as a receiver, a lot, a running back. He gets beat up a little bit. But he’s special.”

With his increased role on the field has come an increased voice. Not normally vocal, Monroe is a captain for East and made his presence as a leader felt more than ever last Friday night, following a 31-14 loss to La Salle.

“I told them that it’s not over,” Monroe said. “We’re going to keep our heads up, try to stay humble and we can still be in this. The playoff race is tight right now but we just need to win the rest of our season and hopefully we’ll get in.”

There is a precedent for East getting back into playoff contention after a tough start, and it comes from last year’s magical season. The ’Bolts started out 1-3 that season as well, but didn’t lose again until the Super Bowl.

That’s the team’s, and Monroe’s, goal for this season.

Beyond that, though, there could be so much more for Monroe in the world of football.

Monroe is ranked No. 1 in the National Underclassmen Rankings for the four New England states outside of Connecticut and Massachusetts. The No. 2 player on that list, Hendricken’s Lee Moses, has already committed to play Division I football at the University of Massachusetts.

Over the summer, Monroe attended camps at Boston College, UMass and Maryland, and he caught the attention of the coaches at every stop.

All of those places are Division I, and they’ve all shown interest. To Centore, who took notice of Monroe four years ago, that makes perfect sense.

“He wants to play D-I football,” Centore said. “He’s been to Boston College, UMass, Maryland, and he’s always come out as a top five or six guy at the camp. I’ve had coaches tell me, he’s an NFL-body player. One guy compared him to (current Jacksonville Jaguars running back) Jordan Todman. That’s pretty high praise.”

The dream of playing at that level is within reach for Monroe, but he still has some work to do. He’s planning on attending junior college first in order to get his academic situation up to speed, and he may enroll as early as this January. Dean College is the likely destination.

That’s only the next stop, and hopefully not the last.

“I just love to play football,” Monroe said.

If everything falls right, he should have every opportunity to play the game he loves at a high level for the next few years, and potentially beyond that.

That’s not a common thing. Very simply, in Rhode Island, players like Marquem Monroe don’t come around all that often.

“He’s just a different player,” Centore said. “He’s the most talented player I’ve ever coached.

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