There’s a phrase Monroe-Woodbury doesn’t use. Rebuild. Ask around the program and you’ll hear a different word instead: reload.
That’s the tension sitting at the center of the Crusaders’ 2026 season, and it’s the first story we’re telling this year on Friday Night Films. Monroe-Woodbury has won Section 9 the last two seasons running. It also lost a significant chunk of the talent that got them there. The question hanging over this program right now is simple: can a team replace that much production and still win a third straight title, or does even a program this consistent eventually have to rebuild like everybody else?
Head coach James Sciarra doesn’t sound like a man worried about the answer. He’s been doing this 27 years, long enough to call himself one of the veterans left in Section 9, and he’s watched enough seasons come and go to know that pressure isn’t the enemy here. It’s the point.
“Every team does their thing now,” Sciarra said. “They want us, and our kids know that. And it does bring pressure, but you know what? Pressure is good for kids. Pressure allows you to not only be successful on the field, but off the field, because the game of football is more about the game of life, teaching these kids lessons and how do they deal with adversity.”
That philosophy runs straight through the locker room, starting with returning starting quarterback Ethan Maldonado, who’s been through this cycle of expectation before. Asked how he handles the pressure of a program that’s supposed to win every single year, his answer was short and direct: “I just take them to the chin. I just let it happen, put my head forward, just fight through all the challenges. Always expect to win around here. That’s our motto.”
The real work of turning that motto into a real season falls on how Monroe-Woodbury replaces what it lost. Maldonado described it as a big brother, little brother system, the players who’ve been through three years of varsity football now responsible for pulling this year’s younger guys up to speed.
“We definitely got to teach them what to do, get them in check and everything,” Maldonado said. “We just got to be the bigger guys and show them how they’re going to be, and show them what they need to be next year.” He added that the returning group is thinking beyond just this season too: “We’re making sure we can win now and help them win later.”
Sciarra sees the same dynamic from the coaching side, and he’s watched it happen without anyone having to force it. “The leaders are going to lead,” he said. “They kind of find their way regardless if they’re told to be leaders or not.” The players who spent three years learning under this staff, he said, remember exactly what it felt like to be the young guy still figuring it out, which makes them better at bringing this year’s sophomores and freshmen along.
There’s a generational thread running through this story too, one that goes beyond the roster. Sciarra and D.A. grew up together in Warwick, went to high school together, long before either of them ended up on opposite sides of a camera covering Section 9 football. That kind of history doesn’t show up on a stat sheet, but it’s part of why this program’s culture translates so clearly on camera: this isn’t a coach performing for an outside reporter. It’s two people who’ve known each other most of their lives, checking in on what the other one’s built.
Sciarra was also candid about how coaching itself has changed since his own playing days. “Back when we played, everybody got ripped a new one, no matter who you were,” he said. “Now you kind of have to be careful, because emotions… but each kid is unique. Every situation is different, every year is different, and as coaches, it’s our job to adapt to them.”
That adaptability might end up being the real story of this Monroe-Woodbury season. The talent that won back-to-back titles is gone. What’s left is a program with enough infrastructure, enough returning leadership, and enough coaching continuity to genuinely believe reload isn’t just a nicer word for rebuild; it’s an accurate one.
Friday Night Films will be on hand to find out. Monroe-Woodbury hosts Cornwall on September 18, and we’ll be there for it.
