#1 Chaminade (6-3) vs. #2 Moore Catholic (5-3)
When: Saturday November 20th, 2021 @2pm
Where: Mitchel Field Athletic Complex 1 Charles Lindbergh Blvd, Uniondale, NY
Livestream: Click for Broadcast by Varsity Media
Previous Meeting: First Meeting of the Season
By Matt Diano:
Synopsis: The clash of defending champions that many regarded as inevitable has come to fruition as the 2019 Double-A-1 titlist from Mineola [Chaminade] will square off with the reigning AA-2 kings hailing from Staten Island [Moore Catholic]…The owners of matching 6-3 records this fall, both the Flyers and the Mavericks were very much in the hunt to earn berths to the Triple-A bracket before coming up just short during the last week of the regular season…Turning disappointment into opportunity, while the intended/desired prize may no longer be on the table, there is most certainly honor and achievement in hoisting a title on Saturday afternoon!!….On paper, the top-seeds from Long Island likely open as prohibitive favorites, but the separation, if any, is so minimal that the only prediction we will make is that we are anticipating a great game that has the potential to be the best of the triple-header at Mitchel Athletic Complex! Let the battle of the shades of red commence!
Chaminade, who steps onto the field on November 20th boasting both the most prolific offensive
attack(29.8 points per game for the entire season; 36.5 versus AA-1 opponents) and the top-ranked defense (16.9 allowed overall; 3.5 against double-A foes w/three shutouts), knocked off their four fellow AA-1 schools in statement-making fashion, but having not faced an opposition as balanced and talented as the Mavericks in any of those previous appearances…Utilizing a run-heavy scheme that features star senior running back, Christian Alacqua (1,327 yards and 16 touchdowns on 148 carries), the Cornell (lacrosse) bound 12th grader is not just one of the finest backfield options in the NYCHSFL (currently 2nd in both yardage and TDs), but in the entire Empire State as a whole (9th in yards, top-20 in scores). Gaining 100 or more yards in eight of nine outings in his swan song and scoring two or more touchdowns in six of nine, Alacqua is fresh off of a 147-yard/2TD performance in the 31-0 semifinal victory against Fordham Prep. If he is allowed to run wild, there might not be a path to victory for Moore Catholic; he must be contained, because he absolutely possesses the ability to win a game single-handedly if need be…Should the Mavs elect to stack the box and force the Crimson & Gold to rely on an air raid, look for senior field general, Thomas Stueber (48-for-87, 674 yards, 4 TD throws) to be the one that Coach [Kevin] Dolan entrusts to make the adjustment in game-plan. Platooning with junior, Matthew Dieguez (25-of-56, 318 yards, 6, touchdown tosses) for much of the fall, Stueber put forth such an amazing game last week (season-highs with 124 yards and 2 TD on 5-of-7 hurling) that we feel that the Flyer staff may opt to ride the hot hand and allow their experienced vet to close out his scholastic career with fate resting in his control…No matter who takes the snaps, Chaminade should feel confident as the receiver trio of Michael Miller Jr. (21 receptions, 343 yards, 5 TD grabs), Gavin Creo (22 catches for 311 yards, w/4 scores), and Anthony Koehler (15 receptions, 217 yards) are all capable and would easily have far superior stat lines if strategy was more oriented to a pass-first system. Miller was especially dangerous in the semifinals, hauling in 4 balls for a season-best 124 yards while being on the back end of both of Stueber’s pair of TD throws. When the Marianists won the title in 2019, it was a receiver (Donovan Wood) walking away with Offensive MVP honors; any one of these three student-athletes could follow in that path…
Defensively, the onus of trying to stop and/or limit the damage done by the top dual-threat QB in AA-1(MC’s John Michalski) will fall on the broad shoulders of front-7 members Charlie Battaglia (82 tackles, 12 TFL, 2 sacks), Thomas Kemp (80 stops, 20 TFL, 3 sacks), Anthony Scala (72 tackles, 14 TFL, 3 sacks), Matthew Rappa (56 stops, 9 TFL, ), Dean Aquilina (48 tackles, 13 TFL, 5 sacks), Luke Ventura (45 stops, 10 tackles for a loss), and Hagan Wagner (67 stops, 9 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 INT, 3 PDs), not to mention a last line of defense comprised of, Bryan Freel (46 stops, 2 picks, 2 pass break-ups), Michael Maggio (44 stops, 1 interception, 3 pass break-ups), Angel Jimenez (40 tackles, 3 picks, 5 PDs), and Terrell Mompoint (41 stops, 1 INT, 4 pass defenses)…Ventura (10 tackles, 2 TFL), Rappa (10 stops, 2 TFL), Scala (8 tackles, 2 stops for a loss, 1 sack), and Aquilina (7 tackles, 3 hits for negative yardage 1 sack) were particularly domineering/impactful in helping the Flyers pitch that third defensive goose-egg last weekend versus the visiting Rams!…If the difference between triumph and heartache is settled via an 11th hour field goal, sophomore kicker, Timothy Tomlinson (5-for-8; 30-for-33 on PATs) has one of the best boots in the nation among sophomores and has infinite range. Last weekend, he broke his own school record when he converted a 54-yarder on home soil!
Moore Catholic, who should never be counted out when you consider they are led by the top AA-1 passer/#4 rusher (Michalski), the top-2 receivers in the division (Nick Jordan and Matthias Lighten), an emerging star running back (RJ Pacheco), and a “D” anchored by senior linebacker extraordinaire/tackle machine, Troy Telesford, are quite formidable in their own right…6-0 versus their double-A peers this fall, the Mavericks have averaged just under 26 points per game (25.8) and allowed an impressive 11.3 in those contests…When addressing the gifts possessed by their aforementioned signal caller, Michalski (106-for-183, 1,677 yards, 15 TD throws; 542 yards and 6 scores off of 58 carries), a man could spend every moment of his life singing the kid’s praises and still die having not told the whole story. Coming off a modest game by his lofty standards, #11 connected on just 3-of-9 pass attempts for a season-low of 59 yards (+2 interceptions). On flip side, the quarterfinal round bared witness to the full extent of his abilities as he accumulated 379 yards of production (303 in the air, 76 on land) and recorded four touchdowns (2 throwing + 2 rushing). And if we had to bet which version is showing up in the ‘ship, our money would go in the corner of the gunslinging, slasher/dasher that has been present for the majority of the fall…If he is on his “A+” game aerially, the Mavs become a borderline impossible team to keep off the board when you take a gander at all the weapons the 11th grade stud has at his disposal…When surveying the gridiron, every direction offers an option as good as, if not preferrable to the last. There is no “bad decision” when choosing among Jordan (46 receptions, 599 yards, 6 TD catches), Lighten (34 snatches for 623 yards, 4 scores), or Michael Zeh (14 grabs for 359 yards, 4 TDs). All three are homerun hitters anytime the ball lands in their hands. Because Michalski struggled with the conditions, their respective numbers were down a bit during the semifinals (Jordan did had a 46-yard TD on his only reception), but they showed what they are capable of doing the prior week when Jordan had 4 grabs for 29 years (1TD), Lighten posted a season-high 137 yards receiving (1 TD) on two catches, and Zeh played pitch-and-catch with his quarterback on two bombs (totaling 110 yards)…Another invaluable component to this game that could sway the “w” into the grasp of Moore Catholic has been the postseason coming of age of the freshman RB, Pacheco. Inserted into the line-up at the very end of the regular season, it has not taken the rookie long to make a name for himself. In two playoff appearances the past two weeks, he has amassed
211 of his 303 yards (140 on 20 carries in the semis) and posted the first rushing TD of his career a week ago. Pacheco can also be used as a target out of the backfield, which he has proven with three grabs for 30 yards in the two playoff wins!….Telesford (96 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 INT), Dowan Coachman (59 stops), Zeh (53 tackles, 1 pick), Gio Maniscalco (48 stops, 3.5 sacks), Eduardo Pierre (42 tackles, 2 sacks), Lighten (41 tackles, 1 interception, 4 pass break-ups), Anthony Martelli (28 stops, 1 INT, 3 PDs), Arshad Meredith-Smith (27 tackles, 2.5 sacks), and Jay’len Johnson (20 stops, 1 sack, 3 INTs) find themselves with the unenviable challenge of trying to put a lid on the #1 offense in the AA-1 classification…Thus far in the postseason, Telesford has registered 22 tackles, 2.5 sacks, an interception, and returned a fumble for a score; Maniscalco and Meredith-Smith enter with momentum after posting respective 7 stop/2.5 sacks and 6 tackle/1 sack performances in the semis; Pierre has notched one sack in each of his two playoff outings; Johnson had pick in the quarters and then added a sack last week (to go along with 4 total tackles); Lighten (9 stops in two playoff contests) had an interception in the quarterfinals!
Best of luck to both teams!