Xaverian Brings Home Sought After Title

By Matt Diano: The wait is over for Xaverian!!! After two straight seasons of advancing to the Division A title game only to endure the bitter taste of defeat, the Mike Jioia led Clippers would finally seize the hardware following a 31-14 victory ov
er Cardinal Spellman this afternoon at the Michel Athletic Complex.

Xaverian, who improved their record to 3-0 this season over the Pilots to finish 2015 with an overall mark of 8-3, would score all of their points in the opening 24minutes, commencing with a 68-yard flee flicker from Phil DePaulis to Vincent Finizio on the first play from scrimmage to give the Brooklyn based school the immediate 7-0 lead.

After a Lenward Williams 1-yard TD run half way through the first quarter cut the lead to 7-6, the top-seeded Clippers would waste no time in going back on the attack and creating a cushion for themselves as senior running back extraordinaire, Brandon Peterson, would make his presence felt in the return game, bringing the ensuing kickoff back to the opposing 15-yard line to set up a Christopher Monti field goal to increase the lead to 10-6.

Shortly after, it would be Peterson striking again, taking the direct snap out of the Wildcat formation and punching it in from a single yard in the opening minute of the second quarter to really blow open the game,
17-6.

After a successful defensive stop, the two stars of the game, DePaulis and Peterson, would hook-up on a 73-yard screen pass in which the latter went pretty much untouched on his way to the house.

Already deep in a 24-6 hole, things would continue to go from bad to worse for Spellman when their first play following the TD pass to Peterson would result in a fumble recovered by Xav
erian’s Michael Marinelli on the Pilot 22 yard line….DePaulis would make his foes pay, hitting junior TE, Julius Arcaro, on the next play for his third touchdown pass of the day to round out the scoring for your new champs as they took the 31-6 advantage into the break.

The only tally of the second half would come in the final 45 seconds of regulation when Williams, who had his number called throughout most of the drive, would take the pitch out wide and find the promised land from about seven yards away to record his second touchdown of the game…Fellow senior, quarterback, Marcus Ciccone, would scramble for the 2-point conversation to account for the final score.

Quarterback Phil DePaulis was the Offensive MVP of the Game going 7 for 9 for 179 yards and 3 Touchdowns.

Defensive Lineman Michael Marinelli was the Defensive MVP for his outstanding effort on the Defensive line.

Today’s title Is in the second in the history of the Xaverian football program, as it joins the AA crown won by the Clippers in 2006.

Game Stats

November 21, 2015   A Championship – Xaverian vs. Cardinal Spellman

 Cardinal Spellman

Rushing             

 Passing    

 Receiving

Xaverian

Rushing

 Passing    

       Receiving