By Matt Diano: It’s that time of the week again as the NYCHSFL is privileged to have the opportunity to shine a light on five more deserving student-athletes from five different programs. Receiving the praise following their exemplary bodies of work during the fourth week of the season (October 2nd-4th) were:
Rory Allen; RB/CB – Fordham Prep Rams
The senior from Eastchester would be an offensive juggernaut this past Saturday night, scoring three of the Rams’ four touchdowns to account for 18 of his team’s 25 points in their 25-7 victory on the road against the Firebirds of Kellenberg Memorial…Unstoppable with both his legs and his hands, Allen would have a career night, just barely missing pulling off the rare 100/100 game as a dual-threat out of the backfield. Instead, he would have to “settle” for being on the receiving end of 177 of sophomore quarterback, Matt Valecce’s 232 throwing yards, making seven catches total, including touchdown grabs in the first and third quarters. He would be just as explosive on the ground, averaging nine yards per carry on 11 touches (99 yards), including the backbreaking score in the fourth quarter…On one of those nights where he just seemed to have a hand In every single key play, it should be noted that it would be his third quarter punt block and recovery on the KMHS 10-yard line that set up teammate, Joshua Johnson’s, touchdown run that gave Head Coach, Pete Gorynski’s squad a two TD lead.
Luke Brush; FS – Holy Trinity Titans
Legendary Coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant uttered the famous words, “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.” The senior safety would take these words to heart on Saturday afternoon, anchoring a Holy Trinity defensive unit that pitched their first shutout of 2015, 27-0 over Mount St. Michael Academy, as the Titans improved to 2-1 in AA league play (2-2 overall)…Brush, who as a wrestler for the Hicksville, NY based school, is no stranger to taking his foe to the ground with conviction, would compile six solo tackles and assist on a seventh to finish behind only fellow seniors, Colin Moran (LB) and Karl Henry (DE) for the team lead…The exceptional play of the 5’9, 160-pound Long Island native would also yield a pair of turnovers during the game, as he would step in front of a pass for the INT, as well as lay the smack down with a jarring hit that resulted in a forced fumble.
Aaron Griffin; RB – Holy Cross Knights
The first Holy Cross player of the Tim Smith era to receive this distinction, as the youngest of three siblings to attend Holy Cross, Griffin’s selection is the perfect blending of the old and new school chapters in HC football history…The 5’8, 180-pound senior sprinter from East Elmhurst would most certainly be wearing his track shoes on Sunday afternoon as he ran all over the Chaminade Flyer defense, racking up 246 yards on 17 carries (14.5/per carry average), including touchdown runs of 30, 36, and 20 yards in helping his team break into the win column with the 34-7 victory over their hosts from Mineola…Senior, Jeremiah Nelson, who also received due consideration for inclusion on this list, would dominate in short yardage situations, complementing Griffin with second half scoring runs from five and four yards out to finish the weekend with a multiple touchdown game of his own.
Bobby Wing; RB – St. Peter’s Boys Eagles
With the wind conditions being as brutal as they were on Saturday afternoon, Eagles’ Head Coach, Mark DeCristoforo knew that if his team was to get the “w”, they would need to lean heavily on the run game…With this in mind, it would be junior tailback, Bobby Wing, stepping into the role of workhorse for the Staten Island based school as their ball control focused offense would dominate time of possession (DeCristoforo estimated that they held an 80-20 advantage in this regard) en route to knocking Cardinal Hayes from the ranks of the unbeaten, 22-13…Wing, standing 5’9 and weighing 170-pounds is not who you would immediately identity as a typical powerback. However, despite his build, he would be a never-ending nightmare for the Cardinal defense, carrying the ball 47 times for a career high 253 rushing yards and recording all three of the Eagles’ touchdowns (the game clincher coming on a 10-yard run in the final three minutes of regulation). Per SI Live, Wing has now rushed for 697 yards this season, finding the end zone on seven of his 108 attempts….The win on the road improved St. Peter’s record to 3-1 (2-1 in AAA contests) this season.
Tom Walsh; QB – St. Anthony’s Friars
Entering Saturday night’s game as one of the most prolific passers on Long Island this season, the senior signal caller from East Islip would reach and exceed the 1,000 yard throwing mark in 2015 behind a 17-for-27 night that yielded 197 yards in the air…Battling rainy conditions and howling winds all night, Walsh would demonstrate a lot of poise, taking what the defense would give him as he led the still undefeated Friars to a 42-20 victory over Iona Prep in a rematch of the 2014 AAA semifinal game…With “vengeance” (the Gaels defeated the Friars twice last season) on the minds of Walsh and his teammates, the 6’3, 210-pound QB would use conservative, mid-range passes to set up two first quarter touchdowns for St. Anthony’s as they would lead 12-0 at the end of 12 minutes…With everything going the way of Coach Rich Reichert’s program, one of Walsh’s final acts of the game would occur with approximately 6:45 remaining in the third quarter when he found James Pryor in the back of the end zone for a nine-yard Touchdown pass (his fourth of the season) to increase the lead to 35-0…Walsh, who had thrown for 200+ yards in his first three games of his swan song campaign, would have easily made it 4-for-4 had he not sat out the entire 4th quarter with his team comfortably ahead…Also deserving of a shout out for his performance would be the person who served as the tag team partner on eight of Walsh’s 17 completions, junior running back, Tyler Palmintiri, who finished with 52 yards receiving while also punching in a pair of short distance TD runs in the first half.